Opinion ID: 1109815
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: was the negligence of mpc a proximate cause of jones' injury?

Text: An ordinance of the City of Meridian setting the standard of minimum requirements for electrical installations provides in part: No current of electricity shall be turned on to any wiring system until after the electrical inspector shall have made final inspection of all wiring and fixtures and shall have issued his written certificate of approval. MPC concedes that a written permit was not issued by the city's electrical inspector authorizing it to energize the system. However, it argues that because it had oral approval of the city electrical inspector to energize the system, failure to obtain a written certificate was, at most, a technical violation of the ordinance, and, in any event, was not the proximate cause of any injury to the plaintiff. We do not agree. At the time MPC energized the electrical system, the installation of the electrical system was not complete. When it energized the system before it was complete, the act of energizing the system was the sole and proximate cause of the injury to Jones; therefore, we hold that the negligence of MPC proximately caused the injury to Jones and supports an award for damages.