The Arkansas Court of Appeals for the Third Division recently held Arkansas’ statute of repose did not take precedent over Arkansas’ savings statute. Thompson Thrift Constr., Inc. v. Modus Studio, PLLC, 2025 Ark. App. 193, 709 S.W.3d 898 (2025), involved a dispute related to alleged construction defects in a housing complex built in August 2014. The owner of the complex sued the prime contractor, Thompson Thrift Construction, Inc., in August 2019, just prior to the five-year statute of repose expiring. Thompson then filed a third-party complaint against eight third-party defendants, including the architect, Modus Studio, PLLC. Subsequently, the owner dismissed its suit to pursue arbitration and the trial court determined Thompson’s third-party claim was moot. The trial court dismissed Thompson’s third-party claim without prejudice.

At the arbitration, the owner obtained a multimillion-dollar arbitration award against Thompson. Thompson refiled its complaint against the architect within the one-year time period prescribed by the Arkansas savings statute. Modus moved for summary judgment, arguing the refiled action was barred by the statute of repose. The trial court granted summary judgment in Modus’ favor, and Thompson appealed.

Arkansas’ savings statute provides:

(a)(1) If any action is commenced within the time respectively prescribed in this act, in §§ 16-116-101 [to] 16-116-107, in §§ 16-114-201 [to] 16-114-209, or in any other act, and the plaintiff therein suffers a nonsuit, …, the plaintiff may commence a new action within one (1) year after the nonsuit suffered or judgment arrested or reversed.

The Arkansas Court of Appeals took a broad interpretation of the language in the savings statute and determined Arkansas’ statute of repose was an “other act” pursuant to the statute’s language. The Court reversed the trial court’s ruling. The Court held that if the Arkansas legislature intended to exclude plaintiffs such as Thompson from the purview of the savings clause, it would have expressed their intent clearly within the statute.

The Arkansas statute of repose clearly bars all claims not filed within five (5) years of substantial completion, but the savings statute creates a path to extend that deadline. Architects and engineers should be aware that even when a statute of limitations or statute of repose appears to time bar claims, other statutes may exist that save the action.