Opinion ID: 888906
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Indemnity Provision in the Subcontract

Text: ¶ 24 We now turn to the indemnity provision in the subcontract between Swank and Advanced Fireproofing to determine whether Swank can be indemnified for its liability arising from an alleged violation of its duty under the Scaffolding Act. This Court has adopted a standard under which contractual provisions that indemnify a party for its own negligence must be `clear and unequivocal' to be enforceable. Slater, 275 Mont. at 270, 912 P.2d at 782 (citing Sweet v. Colborn Sch. Supply, 196 Mont. 367, 369-70, 639 P.2d 521, 523 (1982)). In Slater, this Court determined the contractual provisions were not sufficiently clear and unequivocal to indemnify a general contractor for its own negligence. Slater, 275 Mont. at 271, 912 P.2d at 782. In Slater, we determined that while the indemnity provision clearly required the subcontractor to indemnify the general contractor for damages arising out of the subcontractor's negligence, it did not require the subcontractor to indemnify the general contractor for damages arising out of the general contractor's own negligence. The Court in Slater held the indemnity provision was not sufficiently clear and unequivocal in its intent to indemnify the general contractor for its own negligence. Slater, 275 Mont. at 271, 912 P.2d at 782. ¶ 25 Similar to Slater, the contract provisions at issue in the instant case do not show clear and unequivocal intent to indemnify Swank for its own negligence. Section 9.1.1 of the subcontract agreement between Swank and Advanced Fireproofing states in relevant part: INDEMNITY To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Subcontractor shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Contractor, the Contractor's other subcontractors... from and against all claims, damages, loss and expenses, including but not limited to attorneys' fees, costs and expenses arising out of or resulting from the performance of the Subcontractor's Work. The contract provision above is even less specific than the indemnity provision at issue in Slater. Thus, as in Slater, we find the indemnity provision above is not specific in its intent to indemnify Swank for Swank's liability to Booth for its own negligence. Therefore, we must now turn to the language in United National's insurance policy to determine whether the policy covers Swank in its own right and whether liability for Swank's own negligence falls within the scope of the policy.