Construction Manager Owes Independent Duty of Care to Contractor – Economic Loss Affords no Protection

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...

Court Affirms that Indemnification Clauses Traditionally Used and Interpreted as Extending Only to Third-Party Claims – Cannot be Used for First Party Damages from Breach of Contract

By: J. Kent Holland, Jr. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia affirmed a U.S. District Court decision that granted summary judgment to an engineer, holding that the statute of limitations had run on a breach of contract action, and the...

Statute of Repose Period Began to Run Only When Contractors Substantially Completed the last of their Overall Project Work Rather than the Date When Defective Materials Were Installed and Accepted for Beneficial Use

When the State of New Jersey brought suit against a number of contractors involved in constructing a state prison, alleging that the centralized underground system that distributed hot water throughout multiple buildings of the prison was defective, the contractors...

Substantial completion not granted until fire alarm system is successfully tested

Where the government took beneficial occupancy of a building after the scheduled completion date, it assessed liquidated damages against the contractor for late completion.  This was on the basis that until the contractor successfully tested the fire alarm system it...

Architect may legally limit time period for being sued, but may be equitably estopped from enforcing the limitation

A homeowner (Northridge) retained an architectural firm (JWFA) to provide design and contract administration services for the renovation of a residential townhouse complex. Leaks were found in the roofs shortly after construction was completed. It was not until...

Date of Substantial Completion Triggers Statute of Limitations period for Prime Contractor to Sue its Subcontractor

The prime contract between the project owner and general contractor included a provision stating that the statute of limitations for filing all claims would accrue on the date of substantial completion. Since the contract between the prime and its subcontractors...

$26.9 Million in Liquidated Damages Not a Windfall to Power Plant Owner

On October 30, 2009, the DC Superior Court confirmed an August 17, 2009 arbitration award issued by a three-member arbitration panel in New Athens Generating Co. et al. v. Bechtel Power Corp. et al. The Panel awarded $26,950,000 in liquidated damages against the...

Economic Loss Doctrine Bars Contractor Suit against Engineer

The economic loss doctrine was enforced by the Supreme Court of Wyoming to bar a general contractor’s (GC) complaint against a project engineer with whom it lacked privity of contract. The GC had a contract was with a town to construct water and wastewater lines. The...