negligence

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Gustine Uniontown Assocs., LTD v. Anthony Crane Rental, Inc.
2006 PA Super 12 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2006)
In conjunction with its construction of a shopping mall over a non-functioning coal mine, project owner Gustine entered into a standard American Institute of Architect form of agreement, AIA B141, with the project architect ASG. Article 9.3 of the contract stated:
“Causes of action between the parties to this Agreement pertaining to acts or failures to act shall be deemed to have accrued and the applicable statutes of limitations shall commence to run not later than either the date of Substantial Completion for acts or failures to act occurring prior to Substantial Completion, or the date of issuance of the final Certificate for Payment for acts or failures to act occurring after Substantial Completion.”

Webber v. McBride & Sons Contracting Co.
No. ED86076, 2005 Mo. App. LEXIS 1846 (Mo. Ct. App. Dec. 13, 2005)
A painter suffered personal injuries after falling through a stairwell hole in the floor of an unfinished single-family residence. The stairwell hole had been cut by predecessor subcontractors no longer on the site. At the time of the fall, the general contractor, which also owned the residence, had already accepted the work of the subcontractors as completed.

Bernotas v. Super Fresh Food Markets, Inc.
863 A.2d 478, 2004 Pa. LEXIS 3238 (Dec. 22, 2004)
Barbara Bernotas sustained serious injuries when she fell into a hole at a construction area inside a Super Fresh store. Bernotas sued Super Fresh for her injuries. Super Fresh filed cross-claims against the general contractor, and its electrical subcontractor, seeking indemnity for any damages under those parties’ contracts. Bernotas settled for $200,000, with each defendant contributing 1/3 of the amount. The trial court then held a bench trial in which Super Fresh sought indemnity from the general contractor pursuant to the prime contract, and the general contractor in turn sought indemnity from its electrical subcontractor pursuant to their subcontract. The Supreme Court’s opinion addresses only the scope of the subcontractor’s indemnity obligations to the general contractor.

Carll v. Terminex Int’l. Co., L.P.
2002 PA Super 44; 793 A.2d 921; 2002 Pa. Super. LEXIS 183 (2002)
The Carlls (“Plaintiffs”) instituted an action against Terminex International Company (“Terminex”) and other entities (collectively the “Defendants”), claiming that they sustained severe and permanent injuries as a result of Terminix’s negligent application of pesticides in and around their home. The Defendants responded with a petition to compel arbitration of the matter in accordance with the arbitration provisions of the contract at issue.

Eastern Steel Constructors, Inc. v. The City of Salem
209 W.Va. 392, 549 S.E.2d 266 (2001)
The City of Salem entered into a contract with Kanakanui Associates (“Kanakanui”) pursuant to which Kanakanui agreed to provide engineering and architectural services for improvements to Salem’s existing sewer system. Kanakanui prepared the plans and specifications for the Project. Relying on these plans and specifications, Eastern Constructors, Inc. (“Eastern”) submitted a bid to construct one of the sewer lines planned as part of the improvements. Eastern’s bid was accepted, and it was awarded the contract.

Wausau Business Insurance Company v. Turner Construction Company
No. 99 Civ. 0682 (RWS), 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5821(SDNY May 9, 2001)
Turner Construction Company (“Construction Manager”) entered into a written agreement with Central Synagogue (the “Owner”) to provide construction management services in connection with renovations of the Central Synagogue Sanctuary (the “Agreement”). The Agreement provided that the Owner would “defend, indemnify and hold the Construction Manager harmless from claims arising out of the acts or omissions on the part of the architects, engineers, attorneys or contractors.” However, the Agreement qualified this obligation by stating that “it is understood and agreed that the Construction Manager shall be liable to the Owner . . . and shall indemnify Owner against Loss, liability, damages, costs and expenses . . . for any negligence or willful misconduct of Construction Manager . . . which results in any loss, claim or injury to the Owner, its successors or assigns.” The Agreement also provided that “Owner shall name the Construction Manager an additional insured party or cause its Contractors to so name the Construction Manager an additional insured party on the Contractors’ insurances.” The Owner opted for the latter, and the Construction Manager was named an additional insured on the contractors’ policies.

Eastern Steel Constructors, Inc. v. City of Salem,
No. 28202, 2001 W. Va. LEXIS 3 (W. Va. Feb. 9, 2001)
The City of Salem, West Virginia, entered into a contract with Kanakanui Associates pursuant to which Kanakanui was to provide engineering and architectural services for improvements to Salem’s existing sewer system. Kanakanui produced plans and specifications to be used to solicit bids for the improvements. Eastern Steel Constructors, Inc. bid on a portion of the project relying on the plans provided by Kanakanui and was awarded the contract.

Harbor Court Assoc. v. Leo A. Daly Co.,
179 F.3d 147 (4th Cir. 1999)
The plaintiffs, Harbor Court Associates and Murdock Development Company (“HCA/Murdock”) were the developers of Harbor Court Complex, located in the Inner Harbor area of Baltimore, Maryland. On April 28, 1983, HCA/Murdock hired Leo Daly (“Daly”), an architect with a principal place of business is in Nebraska, to design and construct the project. The parties used an A.I.A. document, which stated that, for disputes arising out of the contract: “any applicable statute of limitations shall commence to run and any alleged cause of action shall be deemed to have accrued in any and all events not later than the relevant Date of Substantial Completion of the Work, and [as to any failures occurring after substantial completion] not later than the date of issuance of the Final Certificate of Payment.”

Interwest Construction v. A.H. Palmer & Sons,
292 Utah Adv. Rep. 27, 1996 Utah LEXIS 44 (Utah June 14, 1996)
The Supreme Court of Utah held that the intermediate court of appeals erred in holding that a tort action for negligence and strict liability arising out of a breach of contractually defined obligations was precluded. However, the Supreme Court of Utah also held that the tort claims should be dismissed because the claimant failed to prove causation between the alleged defect and the resultant injury.