Mealey's Construction Defects : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Construction Defects

October 12, 2023
Motions Denied In Dispute Over Water Damage At Manhattan Construction Site

NEW YORK — A New York justice dismissed motions for partial summary judgment filed by the owner of a construction site and the project manager that allegedly failed to prevent a temporary water tank from overflowing on the site because questions of fact remain regarding the parties’ various claims and counterclaims.
October 11, 2023
Homeowners May Change Plaintiffs In Anchors Defect Case, Magistrate Rules

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal magistrate judge on Oct. 10 granted a group of homeowners’ motion to file an amended complaint changing certain plaintiffs in their putative class action alleging that a manufacturer sold them defective home connectors and anchors, despite the manufacturer’s arguments that adding new plaintiffs and allegations about a new home will cause it to incur thousands of dollars in inspection and discovery-related costs.
October 11, 2023
Homebuilder Appeals Remand Order Of Mold Class Dispute To The 5th Circuit

NEW ORLEANS — A homebuilder that is alleged to have defectively constructed a large number of homes in Louisiana appealed a federal trial court order remanding its class action to state court in which the federal court determined that removal was untimely under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) and that the statute’s controversy exception applied.
October 06, 2023
Dismissal Denied In Complaint Alleging Contractor Didn’t Add Designers As Insureds

NEWARK, N.J. — A New Jersey federal judge denied in part a contractor’s motion to dismiss a design company’s third-party complaint against the contractor over its failure to add the company as an additional insured in a homeowner’s breach of contract suit alleging that the company failed to complete and abandoned a home renovation project, finding in part that additional discovery is needed to determine the actual relationship between the design company and contractor because the subcontractor agreement between them was never signed.
October 04, 2023
In Renovation Dispute, Fourth-Party Indemnification And Contribution Claims Fail

NEW YORK — A subcontractor that is alleged to have negligently installed wallcoverings in a Manhattan hotel cannot recover under claims of indemnification and contribution against the supplier of the wallcoverings because it failed to allege that the supplier breached a duty and the original plaintiff, the owner of the hotel, sought only economic damages, a New York federal judge found in granting the supplier’s motion for judgment on the pleadings.
October 04, 2023
N.Y. Justice: Arbitrator Will Decide Arbitrability Of Faulty Construction Claims

NEW YORK — Whether claims that a company performed defective concrete work on a home construction project are subject to an arbitration provision within the contract governing the project is an issue to be decided by the arbitrator, a New York justice found in partly denying a petition to permanently stay arbitration filed by the company and two of its employees.
October 02, 2023
Tenn. High Court: Trial Court Has No Jurisdiction Over Construction In Alabama

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee trial court has no personal jurisdiction over a builder for the allegedly defective construction of a lake house in Alabama because the builder did not have enough minimum contacts with Tennessee to establish specific personal jurisdiction, the Tennessee Supreme Court held in reversing an appellate court’s judgment.
October 02, 2023
Accreditor Moves To Dismiss Claims Against It In Brazilian Plywood Dispute

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — An accreditor of plywood certifying agencies has moved to dismiss claims of negligence and false advertising brought against it by a coalition of American plywood manufacturers who allege that the accreditor contributed to the certification of substandard Brazilian structural plywood as meeting U.S. standards.
September 29, 2023
N.Y. Justice Partly Grants Summary Judgment In Dispute Over Building Renovation

NEW YORK — A New York justice dismissed claims of breach of contract, nuisance, prima facie tort and injunctive relief brought by the owner of a building who says its neighbor damaged the building while performing renovations to ensure that the neighboring building could receive a certificate of occupancy.
September 29, 2023
Ga. Judge: Subcontractor Must Arbitrate Defective Apartment Construction Claims

ATLANTA — A subcontractor must arbitrate claims of defective construction brought by the owner of an apartment complex because the subcontract incorporated the terms of the general contract, which contained a valid arbitration provision, a Georgia judge found in granting a joint motion to stay litigation and compel arbitration.
September 27, 2023
Federal Jury Finds Sprinkler Subcontractor Failed To Perform Work In Good Manner

LAKE CHARLES, La. — Following a three-day trial, a federal jury in Louisiana found that a sprinkler subcontractor failed to perform its work on a sprinkler system in a newly constructed fitness club in a good, workmanlike manner but also decided that the subcontractor was not the cause-in-fact of damages sustained by the club’s owner.
September 26, 2023
Colorado Panel: Parties Can Extend Accrual Period For Construction Defects Claims

DENVER — In what it called a case of first impression, a Colorado panel found that a provision in a construction contract that extends the accrual period for construction defects claims is not invalid under Colorado’s Construction Defect Action Reform Act (CDARA) because nothing in the law expressly prohibits contracting parties from doing so.
September 25, 2023
In Home Flooding Dispute, New Mexico Panel Says Trial Court Erred In Granting Fees

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A state trial court erred in granting attorney fees under New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act (UPA) to a group of companies and individuals who allegedly failed to properly develop a subdivision and construct a new home that suffered from flooding because the homeowners’ claim under the UPA were not groundless even though they did not prevail on it, a New Mexico panel found in reversing the trial court’s decision in part.
September 22, 2023
Roofing Repair Dispute Stayed So Parties Can Negotiate Potential Settlement

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — A West Virginia federal judge granted a joint motion to stay a trial in a suit filed against a roofer by a technology company so the parties can negotiate claims arising from allegedly defective roof repair work performed by the roofer on the company’s office building.
September 22, 2023
Florida Panel Reverses, Finds Man Failed To Show New Roof Caused Actual Damages

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A man who claims that a new roof installed on his home leaked and caused water damages failed to prove a necessary element of his Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA) claim because he did not present any evidence of actual damages, a Florida appellate court panel said, finding that the trial court erred by not granting a directed verdict in favor of the company that performed the roof work.
September 20, 2023
In Roof Repair Case, La. Federal Judge Dismisses Claims Against Shingles Manufacturer

LAKE CHARLES, La. — In granting a shingles manufacturer’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, a Louisiana federal judge dismissed all claims against the manufacturer brought by two homeowners who claim that their home’s roof was improperly repaired because the claims were either time-barred or insufficiently pleaded.
September 19, 2023
Kansas Panel: Arbitrator Will Decide If Claims Arise From Construction Defects

TOPEKA, Kan. — It is unclear whether an arbitration provision in a new home construction contract requires a homeowning couple’s claims against the homebuilder to be arbitrated because the contract was never entered into the record, a Kansas appellate panel found in affirming a trial court’s decision to grant the builder’s motion to compel arbitration.
September 18, 2023
In Home Construction Case, Connecticut Judge Denies And Grants Summary Judgment

STAMFORD, Conn. — In disposing of two motions for summary judgment, a Connecticut judge found that two subcontractors who allegedly performed defective work on a home were not required to indemnify a third subcontractor but that one of the two was not entitled to summary judgment against the claims of the general contractor.
September 18, 2023
Texas Panel Affirms Summary Judgment Findings In New Home Construction Dispute

FORT WORTH, Texas — In affirming a trial court’s decision to grant summary judgment in favor of a homeowning couple who alleged that their home was defectively constructed before the project was wholly abandoned by the homebuilder, a Texas panel overruled all seven challenges raised by the homebuilder and its owner on appeal.
September 14, 2023
New York Justice Dismisses Majority Of Defective Condo Construction Claims

NEW YORK — In granting a motion to dismiss filed by a building developer and the building’s sponsor, a New York justice found that claims for fraud in the inducement, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing and unjust enrichment brought by the purchasers of a nearly $18 million penthouse in New York City all failed for different reasons.
September 14, 2023
Alabama Federal Judge Orders Arbitration Of Model Home Construction Dispute

DOTHAN, Ala. — An Alabama federal judge granted a motion to compel arbitration filed by a model home manufacturer that was sued by a homeowner who says the home she purchased did not meet her specifications, finding that the homeowner consented to arbitration.
September 14, 2023
Insured’s Hurricane Irma Claim Is Ripe For Appraisal, Florida Panel Affirms

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida appeals panel on Sept. 13 held that a homeowners association insured’s claim for roof damage caused by Hurricane Irma is ripe for appraisal because its commercial property insurer admitted coverage for the insured’s initial claim, affirming a lower court’s order staying the lawsuit and compelling appraisal.
September 12, 2023
Alabama Federal Judge Partly Grants Summary Judgment In Chinese Drywall Case

MOBILE, Ala. — A manufacturer of defective Chinese-manufactured drywall is entitled to summary judgment on several claims brought by two homeowning couples who say the drywall damaged their homes because several claims fail as a matter of law, an Alabama federal judge found in partly granting the manufacturer’s motion for summary judgment.
September 12, 2023
Pennsylvania Panel Affirms Dismissal Of Defective Home Construction Claims

HARRISBURG, Pa. — In two separate orders, a Pennsylvania panel found that a trial court properly applied the applicable statute of repose, applicable statute of limitations, economic loss doctrine and gist of the action doctrine in granting summary judgment in favor of a homebuilder and a window manufacturer that were sued by homeowners who say their home was defectively constructed.
September 06, 2023
Texas High Court Denies Motion For Rehearing In Construction Arbitration Case

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court denied a homeowner’s motion for rehearing regarding its finding that the homeowner, as the subsequent purchaser of a home that allegedly suffered from mold damage, is required to arbitrate its claims against the builder because the claims for breach of implied warranty arose from the home’s original sales contract, which contained an arbitration agreement.