What is the difference between a statute of limitations and a statute of repose?

A statute of limitations sets a deadline measured from when a cause of action accrues, and in many jurisdictions the clock is delayed by the discovery rule, which starts it when the plaintiff knew or reasonably should have known of the injury and its cause. That accommodation matters for harms that surface long after exposure, such as certain occupational illnesses. Limitations periods can also be tolled, meaning paused, for minority, disability, fraudulent concealment by the defendant, or the defendant's absence from the jurisdiction.

A statute of repose works differently and more harshly. It runs from a fixed event unrelated to injury, commonly substantial completion of a construction project, the date a product was sold, or the date professional services were rendered, and it extinguishes the right to sue after a set number of years regardless of when the harm occurred or was discovered. A claim can therefore expire before it ever exists. Courts describe the difference as procedural versus substantive: a limitations period bars the remedy, while a repose period abolishes the underlying right.

Where this matters practically is in construction defect, product liability, and professional malpractice claims, and the periods vary substantially by state. Two adjacent points. Criminal law has its own limitations periods, with murder and certain other serious offenses typically having none, and many states have extended or eliminated periods for sexual offenses against minors, sometimes with revival windows reopening previously expired claims, which has itself been litigated on constitutional grounds. And contractual limitations clauses can shorten the applicable period by agreement in some contexts, which is a reason to read the dispute provisions in a contract rather than assuming the statutory period governs.