Opinion ID: 2459736
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: S. Brass, Shell, and Celanese v. Andraus

Text: In Andraus, the owners of approximately 95 homes in the Fairmont Park West subdivision in La Porte, Texas, sued General Homes Corporation (the developer and homebuilder), U.S. Brass, Shell Oil Company, and Hoechst Celanese Corporation after experiencing problems with their plumbing. U.S. Brass designed and manufactured the plumbing system. The plumbing system used flexible plastic pipes made of polybutylene resin connected by fittings made of a plastic compound called Celcon. The pipes and fittings were joined together by a copper or aluminum crimp ring placed around the outside of the pipe at the point where the pipe and fitting were connected. The ring, fitting, and pipe were then compressed using a large wrench-like tool designed by U.S. Brass. The pressure from the crimp ring deformed the pipe and fitting, creating a water-tight seal. Celanese manufactured Celcon and supplied Celcon pellets to U.S. Brass to be molded into fittings. Celanese promoted the use of Celcon in plumbing applications to U.S. Brass and other manufacturers, and knew that U.S. Brass used Celcon to make the fittings. Shell produced the polybutylene resin and provided it in raw form to U.S. Brass. U.S. Brass formed the resin into the pipe used in the plumbing system. In the early 1980s, U.S. Brass and Shell promoted the plumbing system to municipal officials in La Porte in order to obtain building code approval of the system for residential use. U.S. Brass and Shell also marketed the system to homebuilders, including General Homes. General Homes installed U.S. Brass' plumbing system in homes it built in 1980, 1981, and 1982. In 1982, some of these systems began to fail. Cracks developed in the Celcon fittings that eventually caused leaks. At trial, the parties vigorously disputed what caused the fittings to fail. Some of the experts testified that degradation of the Celcon from exposure to the households' chlorinated water caused the cracks in the fittings. Others testified that inadequate design, defective manufacture, and improper installation, or a combination of these problems along with chemical degradation created excessive stress, which caused the fittings to crack. The homeowners [1] sued General Homes, U.S. Brass, Shell, Celanese, and Vanguard Plastics, Inc. (a competitor of U.S. Brass, later dismissed from the suit). General Homes is not a party to this appeal. The homeowners alleged that the plumbing system's failure caused property damage and mental anguish. They sought damages based on negligence, fraud, and violations of the DTPA. A jury found that U.S. Brass, Shell, and Celanese had made misrepresentations under the DTPA and were negligent. The jury also found that U.S. Brass had acted unconscionably and was grossly negligent. The trial court ruled that the statute of limitations barred the negligence claims of fifty-six households, and rendered a take-nothing judgment against five households for unspecified reasons. Three households elected to recover on the negligence findings, and the trial court rendered judgment accordingly. The trial court also rendered judgment for the eighty-six households that elected recovery under the DTPA. Celanese, Shell, and U.S. Brass appealed. The court of appeals reversed the trial court's judgment in part and affirmed it in part. 1993 WL 313208. Specifically, the court of appeals affirmed DTPA liability because it concluded that there was a link between the representations made and the use of the plumbing system in the plaintiffs' homes, which ultimately caused damage. Id. at .