Contractor Permitted to Pursue Tort Claim against Engineer for Allegedly Defective Specs and Failure to Approve Payment Requests

by Kent Holland | Mar 29, 2013 | Newsletter Article

Under Louisiana law, a federal district court held that the general contractor, on a public contract to build a warehouse, could sue the owner’s project engineer for negligence based on allegations that the contractor’s ability to perform its obligations to the Owner...

Economic Loss Doctrine Did Not Bar Contractor Claim against Architect for Defective Specifications

by Kent Holland | Mar 29, 2013 | Newsletter Article

Where a structural steel subcontractor filed suit against the project owner’s architect, alleging that the architect’s plans and specifications were defective and caused delays that economically damaged the contractor, a trial court applied the economic loss doctrine...

Differing Site Condition Claim Barred by Contract Disclaimers

by Kent Holland | Mar 29, 2013 | differing site conditions, Newsletter Article

Where a contract contained both a differing site condition clause as well as language stating that bidders may not rely upon data (such as soil information) provided by the owner with the invitation for bid (IFB) but should perform its own site investigation instead,...

Spoliation of Evidence: Contractor Had no Duty to Preserve Concrete I-Beam that Fell and Caused Injuries

by Kent Holland | Mar 11, 2013 | Newsletter Article

Where employees were injured when a concrete I-Beam feel from a bridge, their employer destroyed the beam the following day.   The Illinois Supreme Court found there was no evidence to support the existence of a duty to preserve the I-beam because (1) there was no...

Indemnification Clause in Prime Contract is not Incorporated by Reference into Subcontract Under New York Law in Absence of Express Agreement to Do So

by Kent Holland | Mar 5, 2013 | indemnification clause, Newsletter Article

Where an employee of an electrical sub-subcontractor was injured on the jobsite, he sued the project developer, the prime contractor, and others.  Those firms in turn filed a third-party claim against the sub-sub claiming the right to common law indemnity as well as...

Common Law Indemnity Not Owed by Architect to Developer Where Developer’s Own Alleged Negligence was Subject of Suit by Owner

by Kent Holland | Mar 5, 2013 | Newsletter Article

When a project owner (YMCA) sued a developer (Bovis Lend Lease) for breach of contract for approving a defective design proposed by the Architect and also for approving inferior or improper construction materials, Bovis could not legally maintain a common law...