Respondent seeks to arbitrate a claim that certain portions of newly constructed buildings it owns failed as a result of petitioner architect's breach of contract and professional negligence.
Both sides contend, and we agree, that the IAS Court should not have left it to the arbitrator to decide whether the claim is barred by the Statute of Limitations (CPLR 7502 [b]; Matter of Paver Wildfoerster [Catholic High School Assn.], 38 N.Y.2d 669, 674).
A cause of action against an architect accrues when his or her professional relationship with the owner ends, this usually occurring upon the issuance of the final payment certificate pursuant to the contract (Board of Educ. v. Celotex Corp., 88 A.D.2d 713, affd 58 N.Y.2d 684). Here, because the architect was contractually obligated to issue final certificates to the owner before the project was deemed finally completed, the professional relationship ended upon the architect's fulfillment of its contractual obligations and not upon the physical completion of the buildings. It is clear that such occurred no earlier than the second half of 1986, within the applicable six-year period of limitations from the November 26, 1991 demand for arbitration.
Concur — Murphy, P.J., Milonas, Ross and Rubin, JJ.