Opinion ID: 2362040
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: O'Sullivan

Text: In an attempt to impose liability on the architect, plaintiff relies on the Court's discussion of an engineering firm's duty of care to an independent contractor in Carvalho, supra, 143 N.J. 565, 675 A. 2d 209. In Carvalho, the Township of West Windsor hired an engineering firm to prepare plans for a sewer construction project. Id. at 569-70, 675 A. 2d 209. Although the general contractor was responsible for safety measures and the methods of construction, the engineer was contractually required to maintain an on-site representative, who was to monitor work progress and ensure that the construction complied with the design specifications. Id. at 570-71, 675 A. 2d 209. To this end, the engineer's on-site representative had the contractual authority to stop construction. Id. at 571, 675 A. 2d 209. An excavation subcontractor's employee was killed when the trench in which he was working collapsed. Id. at 571-72, 675 A. 2d 209. Notwithstanding the fact that the contract required excavation protection systems, the trench was not shored or braced at the time of the accident. Id. at 570, 572, 675 A. 2d 209. Notably, the engineering firm's on-site representative was standing near the trench on the day of the accident, observing the decedent perform his work. Id. at 572, 675 A. 2d 209. The decedent's widow sued the engineering firm, arguing that it owed the decedent a duty to provide reasonably safe premises. Ibid. The Court first determined that the accident was foreseeable because the contract provided for trench safety precautions and other trenches had previously collapsed at the construction site. Id. at 574, 675 A. 2d 209. The Court then observed that it was fair to impose a duty on the engineer because it had assumed a contractual responsibility to monitor work progress and to ensure compliance with the design plans, which implicated safety concerns because the use of trench boxes would slow down the project. Id. at 575, 675 A. 2d 209. The Court also stressed that the engineer had the authority and control to take or require corrective measures to address safety concerns, when safety conditions affected work progress. Id. at 575-76, 675 A. 2d 209. Finally, the Court emphasized that the engineer's representative was present at the job site on the date of the accident and had actual knowledge that work was being conducted in the trench without the protection of a trench box. Id. at 576-78, 675 A. 2d 209. For all of those reasons, the Court concluded that imposing a duty to exercise reasonable care to protect against the risk of injury on the construction site was consistent with considerations of fairness and public policy. Id. at 577, 675 A. 2d 209. Relying on the Court's decision in Carvalho, plaintiff contends that O'Sullivan owed Matthew Pfenninger a duty of care because it was foreseeable that the trench walls could collapse. I agree that there is a risk in nearly every excavation project that the walls of an unshored trench may cave in. Those who doubt this statement need only canvass New Jersey's case law, which is replete with lawsuits arising from trench collapses. See, e.g., Carvalho, supra, 143 N.J. at 569, 675 A. 2d 209; Gibilterra, supra, 19 N.J. at 169, 115 A. 2d 553; Rocco v. F.A. Gillespie Co., 73 N.J.L. 591, 591, 64 A. 117 (E. & A. 1906); Van Steenburgh v. Thornton, 58 N.J.L. 160, 160, 33 A. 380 (E. & A. 1895); Costantino v. Ventriglia, 324 N.J.Super. 437, 439, 735 A. 2d 1180 (App. Div.1999), certif. denied, 163 N.J. 10, 746 A. 2d 456 (2000); Mudri v. United Eng'rs & Constructors, Inc., 11 N.J. Misc. 273, 273, 165 A. 283 (Sup. Ct.1933), aff'd, 112 N.J.L. 17, 169 A. 288 (E. & A. 1933); Regan v. Palo, 62 N.J.L. 30, 31, 41 A. 364 (Sup. Ct.1898); Horton v. American Inst. for Mental Studies, 154 N.J.Super. 121, 122, 380 A. 2d 1201 (Law Div.1977); Atlantic Mut. Ins. Co. v. Continental Nat'l Am. Ins. Co., 123 N.J.Super. 241, 243, 302 A. 2d 177 (Law Div.1973). The risk of a cave-in can be eliminated, however, through the use of adequate protection systems, such as bracing, shoring, or trench boxes. Therefore, plaintiff is not correct that it was foreseeable that the walls would collapse on Matthew Pfenninger. O'Sullivan, like the engineering firm in Carvalho, inserted a clause into the design specifications requiring Countywide to adequately brace or shore the trench. In contrast to an unbraced trench, it is not foreseeable that a braced trench will collapse. Nor did O'Sullivan have reason to believe that Countywide would deviate from the design specifications and fail to secure the trench walls with a protection system. The same can be said, of course, about the engineer in Carvalho. The critical difference, however, is that the engineer in Carvalho was contractually required to maintain an on-site representative who had the authority to ensure compliance with safety requirements and to stop the work, if necessary, to ensure compliance. Furthermore, the engineer's representative in Carvalho was observing the decedent work in the trench at the time of the accident, and was, therefore, aware that neither a trench box nor any other safety system was being used. O'Sullivan, in contrast to the engineer in Carvalho, was neither required to maintain an on-site representative nor did it have the authority to halt the project to remedy safety violations. The design specifications explained that O'Sullivan did not have field inspection responsibilities and that Countywide was responsible for safety precautions on the job. An architect's duty to foresee and prevent harm is generally commensurate with the degree of responsibility which the engineer [or architect] has agreed to undertake. Sykes v. Propane Power Corp., 224 N.J.Super. 686, 694, 541 A. 2d 271 (App.Div.1988). Furthermore, the summary judgment record lacks evidence that O'Sullivan, or the Board for that matter, had actual knowledge that Countywide failed to brace the walls of the trench. [4] Although O'Sullivan's project manager, Ken Quabeck, visited the excavation site at least once, there is no competent evidence in the record establishing that he looked into the trench or was told that the walls were not braced. Absent contractual responsibility for on-site safety and actual knowledge that the trench was not braced, O'Sullivan could not foresee that the trench would cave in on Matthew Pfenninger. I agree with O'Sullivan that expanding an architect's or engineer's liability as the Appellate Division did in this case will obligate architects to force independent contractors to use trench bracing even if the contractor objects. Such an extension of liability would be contrary to the public policy expressed by the Legislature in N.J.S.A. 2A:29B-1 when it codified Carvalho, supra, thereby intending to preclude any further expansion of engineers' liability regarding construction-site safety. IV. I also disagree that plaintiff should be permitted to proceed to trial on the theory that the Board proximately caused decedent's death by negligently supplying the wrong pipe. A lugubrious recitation of the general law of negligence cannot camouflage the reality that the facts in this case do not give rise to a theory of liability. It is undisputed that the pipes Pfenninger was installing at the time of his death were not the pipes listed in O'Sullivan's design specifications. More importantly, it is not disputed that Pfenninger knew the pipes he was installing were not those required by the contract. Pfenninger had every right to insist that the Board supply him with corrugated pipe, but when he knowingly and purposely decided to install the non-corrugated pipe with the Board's approval, that constituted an implied-in-fact amendment to the contract. An implied-in-fact contract arises from mutual agreement and intent to promise, when the agreement and promise have simply not been expressed in words. 1 Richard A. Lord, Williston on Contracts § 1.5 (4th ed. 1990). While this amendment to the contract entitled Pfenninger to be compensated for any additional labor or equipment costs associated with the installation of non-corrugated pipes, it did not relieve him of his contractual duty to maintain bracing in the trench. Under those circumstances, the landowner has no duty to protect the contractor and its workers from the very hazards posed by the work to be performed under the contract as amended to install non-corrugated pipes. After Pfenninger agreed to install non-corrugated pipes, it was left to him how to install those pipes without being subject to the control of the Board. He should have been sufficiently skilled to recognize the dangers associated with [the] task and adjust [his] methods accordingly to ensure [his] own safety. Accardi, supra, 317 N.J.Super. at 463, 722 A. 2d 578. Furthermore, the experts agree that the installation of the non-corrugated pipe did not cause the accident. The unsupported trench collapsed because the structural integrity of its walls was compromised by a high degree of moisture in the soil. Thus, the decedent's death was precipitated by the condition he was hired to remediate. In any event, there is evidence in the record that decedent was required to enter the trench regardless of which pipe was used because the design specifications called for perpendicular T connections, which could only be installed manually once the pipe was laying at the bottom of the trench. That alone speaks volumes about the necessity for decedent to brace the trench even if corrugated pipes were being installed at the time of the accident. The fact that the Board wanted the job completed prior to the first day of school is not probative of the Board's alleged liability for negligently providing the wrong pipe. Landowners regularly remind hired contractors about the importance of finishing a project on schedule. More importantly, this is not a case in which a landowner insisted on expediency at the sake of safety. Although Ken Quabeck inquired on several occasions about Countywide's progress, he never implied to Pfenninger that he should stop bracing the trench so that the pipe could be installed more quickly. In fact, Quabeck did just the opposite when he insisted that the trench be enclosed by fencing. Finally, supplying the wrong pipe under the facts of this case was not the proximate cause of decedent's death. Ordinarily, proximate cause should be decided by the factfinder. Scafidi v. Seiler, 119 N.J. 93, 101, 574 A. 2d 398 (1990). That issue, however, may be removed from the factfinder in highly extraordinary cases in which reasonable minds could not differ on whether that issue has been established. Fluehr v. City of Cape May, 159 N.J. 532, 543, 732 A. 2d 1035 (1999). Applying the standard set forth in Brill, supra, 142 N.J. at 523, 666 A. 2d 146, my review of the undisputed facts in this case persuades me to conclude that, as a matter of law, supplying non-corrugated pipe did not proximately cause decedent's death. I would therefore affirm the dismissal of the vague claim of negligence based on supplying the wrong pipe. Justices VERNIERO and LaVECCHIA join in this opinion. For affirmance as modified/and remandment Chief Justice PORITZ and Justices STEIN, LONG and ZAZZALI 4. For reversal Justices COLEMAN, VERNIERO and LaVECCHIA3.