Case Name: James Z. CRAFT, Appellant, v. WET 'N WILD, INC., Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1986-06-12
Citations: 489 So. 2d 1221
Docket Number: No. 85-995
Parties: James Z. CRAFT, Appellant, v. WET ’N WILD, INC., Appellee.
Judges: ORFINGER, J., concurs.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 489
Pages: 1221–1222

Head Matter:
James Z. CRAFT, Appellant, v. WET ’N WILD, INC., Appellee.
No. 85-995.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.
June 12, 1986.
Ronald L. Sims of Hendry, Stoner, Sims & Sawicki, P.A., Orlando, for appellant.
J. Charles Ingram and G.B. McVay Voght of Pitts, Eubanks, Hannah, Hilyard & Marsee, P.A., Orlando, for appellee.

Opinion:
COBB, Chief Judge.
The plaintiff below, James Craft, sued Wet 'N Wild, Inc., as a result of injuries he sustained while riding a large water slide owned and operated by the corporate defendant. Count two of his complaint was predicated on strict liability. The trial court granted a judgment on the pleadings against plaintiff on this count. The issue on appeal, as framed by the plaintiff, is: Can a defect in a water slide amusement attraction manufactured on site by the owner give rise to a cause of action in strict liability?
We agree with the trial judge's negative answer to this question. Principles of strict liability do not apply to structural improvements to real property. Jackson v. L.A.W. Contracting Corp., 481 So.2d 1290 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986); Neumann v. Davis Water and Waste, Inc., 433 So.2d 559 (Fla. 2d DCA), petition for review denied, 441 So.2d 632 (Fla.1983). The exception to the general rule — i.e., injuries arising from a product manufactured by a defendant and incorporated into an improvement to real property may support a strict liability action — is not relevant to the instant action, which alleges the defectiveness of the structural improvement itself. The plaintiff's cause of action for negligent design was alleged in, and tried pursuant to, count three of his complaint, and is not at issue on this appeal.
AFFIRMED.
ORFINGER, J., concurs.
DAUKSCH, J., concurs specially with opinion.
. See Vaughn v. Edward M. Chadbourne, Inc., 462 So.2d 512 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985).