SB 555 - This act provides that a person who is injured by a defective or unsafe condition of a product or due to negligence in the design, manufacture, sale, or distribution of a product has 15 years after the sale or lease of the product to bring a claim for damages. The 15-year time limitation shall not apply to actions relating to real property, actions where a person has knowingly concealed any defective or unsafe condition or negligence of the product, actions for indemnity or contribution by a defendant, actions involving a product which has a warranty longer than 15 years, actions regarding negligent service or maintenance of a product, actions involving a product that is subject to a government mandated product recall related to consumer safety, actions where the product causes certain latent diseases, and actions against manufacturers where the harm occurred during a product's useful safe life. However, the exception to the time limitation regarding products causing certain latent diseases does not apply to certain actions against a seller claiming a product is unreasonably dangerous due to a defective condition, unless the seller is also the manufacturer.
This act applies to civil actions and new causes of actions asserted on or after August 28, 2020. Any cause of action that has accrued on or before that date may be brought no later than August 28, 2021.
This act is identical to SB 879 (2020), SS/SB 100 (2019), and a provision in SCS/HB 186 (2019) and similar to HCS/SCS/SB 662 (2020), HB 1596 (2020), SCS/SB 596 (2018), a provision in SCS/SB 1102 (2018), HCS/HB 1611 (2018), SB 220 (2017), HB 594 (2017), and SB 1091 (2016).
KATIE O'BRIEN