College of Notre Dame of Maryland, Inc. v. Morabito Consultants, Inc.

EYLER, Judge.

The issue in this case, one of first impression, is whether a provision in a contract is valid that purports to state when a cause of action accrues for breach, and if so, whether it can be used as a defense by a party to the contract in a suit by a nonparty to that contract. More specifically, the owner of a building contracted with an architect to perform design services and the architect contracted with a structural engineer to perform the structural engineering portion of the design services. Both contracts contained the accrual provision. The owner sued the structural…