The economic loss rule required the court to dismiss a negligent suit by a commercial property owner/developer against a subcontractor. Court explained that parties generally do not owe each other a duty of care to prevent economic loss. The owner contracted with a...
Brasfield & Gorrie LLC (Brasfield) was a general contractor (GC) hired by Fritz Farm Retail Company, LLC to construct The Summit at Fritz Farm, a multi-use development. Brasfield entered into a subcontract with Harrod Concrete and Stone Co. (Harrod), for Harrod...
About a year after building a new home, the owners noticed cracks forming in the foundation and walls. They learned that the soil under the house was unstable. They then filed suit against the geotechnical services firm that ten years previously authored a...
Where a subcontractor on a construction project sued another subcontractor on that project for $1 million in delay damages caused by negligence, it was held that the economic loss doctrine prohibited the suit. Although the subcontractors had no contractual privity,...
A homeowner’s house developed large cracks in its foundation and walls due to settling, lateral movement of the foundation, and an unstable slope of the building lot. It filed suit against a geotechnical engineering firm that had ten years earlier prepared a site...
A dispute arose among a second tier-subcontractor, a first tier-subcontractor and the prime contractor on a U.S. Naval Shipyard project in Maine. It was resolved through arbitration. The second-tier sub then filed litigation in court against Stantec Consulting...
Where a town sued its general contractor (Penta Corporation) based on failure of its subontracted vendor/supplier’s equipment to perform as required by the project, the contractor was entitled to summary judgment because it did not design the equipment in question and...
A construction contractor under contract to a school district sued the project owner’s construction management firm, Jacobs Project Management Company/CSRS Consortium (“Jacobs”) alleging breach of duty to conduct constructability reviews and oversee and administer the...
The economic loss rule was applied by a trial court to bar a homeowner in a contractual relationship with a contractor from suing for fraud instead of only for breach of contract. This was reversed on appeal, with the appellate court holding that while claims for...
By: Kent Holland A professional negligent misrepresentation claim was filed against a professional environmental/geotechnical firm by the project developer that was its client. The suit sought to recover economic losses the developer incurred when it discovered that a...
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