Design Professional Owes Duty to Third Party Condominium Unit Purchasers

by Kent Holland | May 16, 2013 | Newsletter Article, third party claims

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...

Subcontractor Owed Prime No Indemnity Obligation and Additional Insured Status Availed Nothing

by Kent Holland | May 16, 2013 | indemnification clause, Newsletter Article

Although a subcontractor damaged a sewer pipeline during the course of construction, it owed no indemnification duty to the prime contractor for expenses the prime incurred in repairing the pipe. The key reason given by the court was that a jury found that the sub was...

No-Damage-For-Delay Clause Enforced Even If Delay Caused by Owner’s Breach of Contract and Arbitrary Actions

by Kent Holland | Mar 29, 2013 | Newsletter Article

Where a jury awarded a contractor approximately $19 million for delay and impact costs caused by actions of the project owner (including breach of contract), the judgment was reversed on appeal.  Also, an award of $10.5 Million attorneys fees was granted to the Owner...

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,...