Florida Senate - 2015                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 418
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì305850ÂÎ305850                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  04/01/2015           .                                
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       The Committee on Regulated Industries (Richter) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete lines 50 - 181
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 3. Subsections (1), (4), (13), and (15) of section
    6  558.004, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
    7         558.004 Notice and opportunity to repair.—
    8         (1)(a) In actions brought alleging a construction defect,
    9  the claimant shall, at least 60 days before filing any action,
   10  or at least 120 days before filing an action involving an
   11  association representing more than 20 parcels, serve written
   12  notice of claim on the contractor, subcontractor, supplier, or
   13  design professional, as applicable, which notice shall refer to
   14  this chapter. If the construction defect claim arises from work
   15  performed under a contract, the written notice of claim must be
   16  served on the person with whom the claimant contracted.
   17         (b) The notice of claim must describe the claim in
   18  reasonable detail sufficient to determine the general nature of
   19  each alleged construction defect and, if known, a description of
   20  the damage or loss resulting from the defect, if known. Based
   21  upon at least a visual inspection by the claimant or its agents,
   22  the notice of claim must identify the location of each alleged
   23  construction defect sufficiently to enable the responding
   24  parties to locate the alleged defect without undue burden. The
   25  claimant has no obligation to perform destructive or other
   26  testing for purposes of this notice.
   27         (c) The claimant shall endeavor to serve the notice of
   28  claim within 15 days after discovery of an alleged defect, but
   29  the failure to serve notice of claim within 15 days does not bar
   30  the filing of an action, subject to s. 558.003. This subsection
   31  does not preclude a claimant from filing an action sooner than
   32  60 days, or 120 days as applicable, after service of written
   33  notice as expressly provided in subsection (6), subsection (7),
   34  or subsection (8).
   35         (4) Within 15 days after service of a copy of the notice of
   36  claim pursuant to subsection (3), or within 30 days after
   37  service of the copy of the notice of claim involving an
   38  association representing more than 20 parcels, the contractor,
   39  subcontractor, supplier, or design professional must serve a
   40  written response to the person who served a copy of the notice
   41  of claim. The written response must shall include a report, if
   42  any, of the scope of any inspection of the property and, the
   43  findings and results of the inspection. The written response
   44  must include one or more of the offers or statements specified
   45  in paragraphs (5)(a)-(e), as chosen by the responding
   46  contractor, subcontractor, supplier, or design professional,
   47  with all of the information required for that offer or
   48  statement, a statement of whether the contractor, subcontractor,
   49  supplier, or design professional is willing to make repairs to
   50  the property or whether such claim is disputed, a description of
   51  any repairs they are willing to make to remedy the alleged
   52  construction defect, and a timetable for the completion of such
   53  repairs. This response may also be served on the initial
   54  claimant by the contractor.
   55         (13) This section does not relieve the person who is served
   56  a notice of claim under subsection (1) from complying with all
   57  contractual provisions of any liability insurance policy as a
   58  condition precedent to coverage for any claim under this
   59  section. However, notwithstanding the foregoing or any
   60  contractual provision, the providing of a copy of such notice to
   61  the person’s insurer, if applicable, shall not constitute a
   62  claim for insurance purposes unless the terms of the policy
   63  specify otherwise. Nothing in this section shall be construed to
   64  impair technical notice provisions or requirements of the
   65  liability policy or alter, amend, or change existing Florida law
   66  relating to rights between insureds and insurers except as
   67  otherwise specifically provided herein.
   68         (15) Upon request, the claimant and any person served with
   69  notice pursuant to subsection (1) shall exchange, within 30 days
   70  after service of a written request, which request must cite this
   71  subsection and include an offer to pay the reasonable costs of
   72  reproduction, any design plans, specifications, and as-built
   73  plans; any documents detailing the design drawings or
   74  specifications; photographs and, videos of the alleged
   75  construction defect identified in the notice of claim;, and
   76  expert reports that describe any defect upon which the claim is
   77  made; subcontracts; and purchase orders for the work that is
   78  claimed defective or any part of such materials; and maintenance
   79  records and other documents related to the discovery,
   80  investigation, causation, and extent of the alleged defect
   81  identified in the notice of claim and any resulting damages. A
   82  party may assert any claim of privilege recognized under the
   83  laws of this state with respect to any of the disclosure
   84  obligations specified in this chapter. In the event of
   85  subsequent litigation, any party who failed to provide the
   86  requested materials shall be subject to such sanctions as the
   87  court may impose for a discovery violation. Expert reports
   88  exchanged between the parties may not be used in any subsequent
   89  litigation for any purpose, unless the expert, or a person
   90  affiliated with the expert, testifies as a witness or the report
   91  is used or relied upon by an expert who testifies on behalf of
   92  the party for whom the report was prepared.
   93  
   94  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   95  And the title is amended as follows:
   96         Delete lines 8 - 14
   97  and insert:
   98         revising requirements for a response; revising
   99         provisions relating to production of certain records;