Prime Designers in California Held to Owe Duty to Future Purchasers

Dion N. Cominos, Esq. Gordon & Rees LLP    The Supreme Court of California has now published its decision in Beacon v. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (211 Cal.App.4th 1301 (2014)).  In short, the Court concluded that prime architects designing residential...

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...

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

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

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...

The “Completed and Accepted Doctrine” Bars Third Party Suit against Architect that Failed to Observe and Report an Obvious, Patent Construction Defect to Owner/Client

The “Completed and Accepted Doctrine” was held by a court to bar a slip and fall case against an architect who failed to observe that a construction contractor had failed to install “contrast marking stripes” on steps inside a theater the architect designed.  The...

Condominium Association Barred by Economic Loss Doctrine from Suing Consultant for Repair Costs, and Lacks Third Party Beneficiary Rights to Sue the Consultant for Breach of Warranty

Where construction defects caused significant repair costs, a condominum association at Stratton Mountain (along with the project developer) sued and settled with the construction contractor for the defects for over $7 million but then incurred more than that in...

Architect Liable to an Airport Maintenance Person who was Electrocuted While Working on an Electric Switchgear Box that had No Warning Labels

Approximately four or five years after completion of the Hilton Hotel at the Boston Logan Airport, an employee of the airport authority was electrocuted while attempting to repair an electrical transformer that lacked required wiring diagrams and warning signs.  The...

Injured motorist cannot sue design professional for the alleged negligent design of roadway beyond the statute of repose that is applicable to improvements to real property

Suit against a design professional by a motorist that was injured due to an out-of-control drunk driver in a January 2009 accident was dismissed because the design services of the professional had been performed more than eight years before the accident, and the eight...

Architect Owes No Contractual or Common Law Duty to Third Party for Alleged Negligence in Construction Administration Services Performed for Its Client-Homeowner

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...