What is the date of accrual of a right to petition to compel arbitration?

In order to gain further insight into the date of accrual of the right to petition to compel arbitration, we must turn to the provisions of California's law regarding the enforcement of arbitration agreements. A petition to compel arbitration may be brought under authority of Code of Civil Procedure section 1281.2, which provides that "[o]n petition of a party to an arbitration agreement alleging the existence of a written agreement to arbitrate a controversy and that a party thereto refuses to arbitrate such controversy, the court shall order the petitioner and the respondent to arbitrate the controversy if it determines that an agreement to arbitrate the controversy exists...." Under this provision, a party to an agreement to arbitrate may not bring an action to compel specific performance of the arbitration provision until he or she can allege not only the existence of the agreement, but also that the opposing party refuses to arbitrate the controversy. Therefore, it [2 Cal.4th 1042] appears that a cause of action to compel arbitration does not accrue until one party has refused to arbitrate the controversy. (See Meyer v. Carnow, supra, 185 Cal.App.3d at p. 174, 229 Cal.Rptr. 617.) ⁶