Potter v. BFK, Inc., 191716

Luck Stone operated a stone quarry and a sand-manufacturing system that included a Buell Classifier purchased from BFK and installed in 2007.
Daniel Potter, an employee of Luck Stone, entered a silo to operate the airflow system; a hopper ruptured and Daniel was killed by falling material.
In July 2017 Brian C. Potter (personal representative) sued BFK under Virginia’s Wrongful Death Act.
BFK filed a plea in bar asserting the claim was time-barred by the five-year statute of repose, Code § 8.01-250, arguing the Buell Classifier was equipment or machinery (thus exempt) or, alternatively, that it was ordinary building material subject to repose.
The circuit court found the Buell Classifier was ordinary building material and dismissed Potter’s claim as time-barred. Potter appealed.
The Supreme Court of Virginia reversed, holding the Buell Classifier is equipment under Code § 8.01-250 and remanded for further proceedings.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the Buell Classifier is "equipment or machinery" (thus exempt from Code § 8.01-250)	Potter: classifier was not equipment but ordinary building material; claim is time-barred by five-year repose	BFK: classifier is equipment/machinery manufactured and supplied by BFK and therefore exempt from the repose limitation	Court: classifier is equipment under § 8.01-250 (manufacturer control, manuals, non-fungible, not structural); reversed dismissal and remanded

Cape Henry Towers, Inc. v. Nat’l Gypsum Co., 229 Va. 596 (1985) (distinguishes ordinary building materials from equipment; manufacturer control and warranties are key factors)
Grice v. Hungerford Mech. Corp., 236 Va. 305 (1988) (electrical panel treated as an improvement to real property for repose analysis)
Cooper Indus., Inc. v. Melendez, 260 Va. 578 (2000) (switchgear and circuit breakers characterized as equipment exempt from repose)
Luebbers v. Fort Wayne Plastics, 255 Va. 368 (1998) (steel panels, braces, liners found to be ordinary building materials)
Baker v. Poolservice Co., 272 Va. 677 (2006) (pool drain cover deemed part of the improvement to real property)
Jamerson v. Coleman-Adams Constr. Inc., 280 Va. 490 (2010) (steel platform and pole treated as ordinary building materials)
Royal Indem. Co. v. Tyco Fire Products, LP, 281 Va. 157 (2011) (sprinkler heads held to be equipment exempt from repose)
Eberhardt v. Fairfax County Employees' Ret. Sys. Bd. of Trustees, 283 Va. 190 (2012) (statutory terms must be read in context)
Llewellyn v. White, 297 Va. 588 (2019) (court’s approach to effectuating legislative intent and plain meaning)