What was the limitation period of the Defective Premises Act 1972 before the Building Safety Act 2022?
Prior to the Building Safety Act 2022, the Defective Premises Act 1972 required claims to be brought within 6 years. The Building Safety Act which received Royal Assent on the 28th April 2022 has now completed all the parliamentary stages in both Houses to become an Act of Parliament which means it is a certainty that both the DPA and separately section 28 of the Building Act 1984 will have limitation periods increased to 30 years for work already completed (that means all work back to circa 1992! The Building Safety Act is expected to come into force circa 2 months after Royal Assent (expected July 2022)
Specifically the Act extents the limitation period to 15 years prospectively for claims under s1 and s2A (claims that accrue after the Act takes effect); and to 30 years retrospectively for claims under s1 (claims that accrued before the Act takes effect).