Any work or service on real property or any product incorporated therein to become part of such real property which does not cause injury or property damage within 6 years after such performance, manufacture, assembly, engineering or design, shall be presumptive proof that such work, service or product was performed, manufactured, assembled, engineered or designed with reasonable care by every person doing any of such acts. However, all written guarantees are excluded from this Section.
8-1801.Presumptive proof.
Article VIII. Evidence · Part 18. Claims Regarding Work on Realty · Not amended since adoption on record · Last verified July 20, 2026
In one sentenceTreats six years of injury-free performance of work, services, or products on real property as presumptive proof of reasonable care, though written guarantees fall outside the rule.
Full Text of 735 ILCS 5/8-1801
Plain-English Summary
This section creates a presumption favoring anyone who performed, manufactured, assembled, engineered, or designed work, a service, or a product incorporated into real property. If that work, service, or product causes no injury or property damage within six years after it was performed, manufactured, assembled, engineered, or designed, that six-year record is presumptive proof that everyone who did the work acted with reasonable care.
The presumption has one express limit: all written guarantees are excluded from the section. It functions as a burden-shifting evidentiary tool in claims touching real-property construction or products incorporated into it, tied to the injury-free passage of time rather than to any inspection or certification.
Frequently Asked Questions
What triggers the presumption under this section?
Six years passing after the performance, manufacture, assembly, engineering, or design, without any injury or property damage resulting.
Who benefits from the presumption?
"Every person doing any of such acts" — everyone involved in performing, manufacturing, assembling, engineering, or designing the work or product.
What does the presumption establish?
That the work, service, or product was performed, manufactured, assembled, engineered, or designed with reasonable care.
Does the presumption apply to written guarantees?
No. The section expressly excludes all written guarantees.
What kind of work does the section cover?
Work or service on real property, or any product incorporated into it so as to become part of the real property.
Amendment History
(Source: P.A. 82-280.)
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Illinois Compiled Statutes, published by the
Illinois Compiled Statutes, Illinois General Assembly / Legislative Reference Bureau. Last verified July 20, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: illinois construction work presumptionreasonable care real property illinois evidencesix year presumption construction illinoispresumptive proof realty work illinois