Design Professional Owes Duty to Third Party Condominium Unit Purchasers
A design professional has been held to owe a third party condominium unit purchaser a duty of care in the performance of its professional services for the developer despite language in the design professional contract stating otherwise. The court relied on both the common law as well as California Civil Code section 1368.3 (a) for [...]
Contractor Permitted to Sue Architect for Implied Warranty of Specifications
A Builder/Contractor that was building a house for a client/homeowner, used architectural plans that were drafted by an architect under contract with the homeowner, was permitted to sue the architect (with whom it had no independent contract) for breach of implied warranty of the plans and specifications to design the house, aligned in a manner [...]
In a case decided last year by the Court of Appeals of Texas (Black + Vernooy Architects v. Smith), it was held that an Architect could be liable to a young woman who fell 20 feet and sustained permanent injuries when she fell from a balcony due to defective construction work that the Architect failed [...]
Architect’s Duty to Identify Contractor Deviations from Plans Extends to Home Guests
Where an architect designed a house and observed its construction during the construction phase, it had a duty to identify significant deviations from its plans and specifications that impacted the structural integrity of a balcony – causing it to collapse and seriously injure house guests. The duty extended not only to the client but also [...]
Engineer Did not have Duty to Report to the Public the Environmental Findings it Produced for its Client
Where engineering firm was retained by the owner of a beryllium plant to perform “stack testing”, it found that beryllium emissions significantly exceeded allowable limits of the EPA, and the engineer so advised its client. It did not report the findings to any government agency or to the community. A woman in the community became [...]
Architect Required to Review Adequacy of Engineer’s Structural Report Before Proceeding with its Design Services
A material factual dispute existed regarding whether an architect met the requisite standard of care in reviewing an engineering report prior to its client’s purchase of property and prior to the architect proceeding with plans for renovation of the building. Contractual language stating that the architect could rely on independent reports prepared for the owner [...]
Personal Injury Case against Engineer Dismissed for Lack of Expert Testimony
Where a pedestrian sued a city and its engineering consultant for negligent design and construction, and failure to warn of a dangerous condition in a sidewalk, a court held that the engineer was entitled to summary judgment. This was because the plaintiff did not present expert testimony on the professional standard of care, and the [...]
No Warranty of Design
In response to a plaintiff’s suit against an engineer alleging breach of an express warranty, a court held that the complaint must be dismissed because the record revealed no express warranty, and if the service was performed negligently the cause of action must be based in negligence rather than warranty. The engineer had been retained [...]
Requirements of Expert Affidavit of Lawsuit Merit
Statutes in several states require that law suits against design professionals be accompanied by an affidavit of merit by an expert, attesting there is a reasonable probability that the defendant did not exercise the requisite standard of care. The issue to be decided by the court was whether the state statute required each defendant to [...]
Architect not liable for premises injury without evidence that design violated the standard of care
A jury found an architect liable for the personal injuries sustained by a city employee who fell though the attic floor of the city garage that was designed by the defendant. The flooring was supported by number two pine 2 x 8s. One of them broke under the weight of the city worker due to [...]
