Opinion ID: 2336887
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Your Work Exclusion

Text: Finally, we examine whether the damages alleged by Hilcom are precluded from coverage by the exclusions. The policy excludes the following damages from coverage: 1. Damage to Your Work Property damage to your work arising out of it or any part of it and included in the products completed operations hazard. This exclusion does not apply if the damaged work or the work out of which the damage arises was performed on your behalf by a subcontractor. Your work is defined as work or operations performed by you or on your behalf and [m]aterials, parts or equipment furnished in connection with such work or operations. Applying the contract language to the facts of this case, we conclude that the entire hotel meets the definition of your work because the entire construction project was performed by Moore or by subcontractors on Moore's behalf. Therefore, all damages to the hotel initially are excluded by the your work exclusion. This exclusion is consistent with Vernon Williams ' holding that CGL exclusions preclude coverage of an insured-contractor's faulty workmanship when the damages claimed are the cost of correcting the work itself. Were the CGL in this case identical to the CGL construed by this Court in Vernon Williams , our analysis would end here. The CGL in this case, however, contains a subcontractor exception to the your work exclusion. This difference reflects a change in CGL policy language, which, in this case, affects the relevance of the holding in Vernon Williams . See Rando v. Top Notch Props., L.L.C., 879 So.2d 821, 825 (La.Ct. App.2004) (noting that [i]n some cases, courts have misapplied policies by seizing upon conclusions in earlier cases without realizing that the policy language had been revised). The subcontractor exception provides that any damages arising out of the work performed by a subcontractor fall outside the exclusion and are covered under the CGL. It is alleged that the installation of the windows was performed by subcontractors hired by Moore. Therefore, damages resulting from the subcontractors' faulty installation of the windows are not excluded from coverage, even if those damages affected Moore's work.