In accordance with the foregoing general rule, numerous jurisdictions have applied it to professional and/or personal service contracts with engineers, construction superintendents, construction inspectors, and architects.Waste Management, Inc. v. Wisconsin Solid Waste Recycling Authority, (1967) 84 Wis.2d 462, 267 N.W.2d 659; Kennedy v. Ross, (1946) 28 Cal.2d 569, 170 P.2d 904; Barnard v. Kandiyohi Cty., (1942) 213 Minn. 100, 5 N.W.2d 317; Flottum v. City of Cumberland, (1940) 234 Wis. 654, 291 N.W. 777; Krohnberg v. Pass, (1932) 187 Minn. 73, 244 N.W. 329; Hibbs v. Arensberg, (1923) 276 Pa. 24, 119 A. 727; Leonardis v. Bunnell, (1977) 147 N.J. Super. 417, 371 A.2d 365; Gulf Bitulithic Co. v. Nueces Cty., (1928) Tex.Com.App., 11 S.W.2d 305; Franklin v. Horton, (1922) 97 N.J.L. 25, 116 A. 176, aff'd. Franklin v. City of Millville, (1922) 98 N.J.L. 262, 119 A. 29; Vermeule v. City of Corning, (1919) 186 App. Div. 206, 174 N.Y.S. 220, aff'd.
565 (Ch.Div. 1978); Veterans Loan Auth. v. Wilk, 61 N.J. Super. 65 (App.Div. 1960). See, also, Leonardis v. Bunnell, 164 N.J. Super. 338 (App.Div. 1978), rev'g 147 N.J. Super. 417 (Law Div. 1977), certif. den. 81 N.J. 265 (1979).
Its rigors "are relaxed where there is a genuine claim of late discovery of a cause of action". Leonardis v. Bunnell, 147 N.J. Super. 417, 425 (Law Div. 1977). I conclude that if any statute of limitation is applicable, it is not to be applied here.
The principle that our courts have not permitted limitations periods to be used as a shield against legitimate claims is well documented. Zimmerman v. Cherivtch, 5 N.J. Super. 590 (Law Div. 1949); Fernandi v. Strully, 35 N.J. 434 (1961); Friedman v. Friendly Ice Cream Co., 133 N.J. Super. 333, 338 (App.Div. 1975); and, as stated most recently in Leonardis v. Bunnell, 147 N.J. Super. 417 (Law Div. 1977), where a municipality sought to recover improperly paid insurance commissions: Where the wrongs to be redressed include keeping from the public facts it would need to know to realize it has a civil claim, the period of limitations should ordinarily not begin to run until those facts are given general publicity.