Opinion ID: 2378871
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Heading: Does an engineering firm undertaking engineering services assume a tort law duty of reasonable care independent of its contractual obligations?

Text: ¶ 15 At issue first is the existence of a duty of care independent of LTK's contract with the City. Viewed within the framework of our duty analysis, the question is this: Do the duty considerations dictate that engineers who provide services be required by law to use reasonable care? An initial policy consideration is the usefulness of private ordering. We assume private parties can best order their own relationships by contract. The law of contracts is designed to protect contracting parties' expectation interests and to provide incentives for parties to negotiate toward the risk distribution that is desired or customary. Berschauer/Phillips Constr. Co. v. Seattle Sch. Dist. No. 1, 124 Wash.2d 816, 827, 881 P.2d 986 (1994). In contrast, tort law is a superfluous and inapt tool for resolving purely commercial disputes. Miller v. U.S. Steel Corp., 902 F.2d 573, 574 (7th Cir.1990). If aggrieved parties to a contract could bring tort claims whenever a contract dispute arose, certainty and predictability in allocating risk would decrease and impede future business activity. Berschauer/Phillips, 124 Wash.2d at 826, 881 P.2d 986. ¶ 16 In Berschauer/Phillips, we considered how this preference for private ordering affects an engineer's obligations under the law of torts. In that case, the general contractor for a school construction project sued three defendants for negligencethe project's architect, structural engineering company, and construction inspector. Id. at 819-20, 881 P.2d 986. As a result of the defendants' inadequate design plans and faulty inspection work, the contractor claimed that it spent more money than expected and also endured delays in construction, with $3.8 million in losses. Id. at 819, 881 P.2d 986. The contractor conceded these were economic losses. Id. We held that the economic loss rule does not allow a general contractor to recover purely economic damages in tort from a design professional. Id. at 823, 881 P.2d 986. Our overriding concerns were protecting all of the parties' contractual expectancies and giving an incentive to negotiate risk. Id. at 826-27, 881 P.2d 986. In the context of complex multiparty transactions, at least, the preference for private ordering suggests that an engineer does not operate under extracontractual tort obligations. ¶ 17 But this case reminds us that a fire can ignite as a result of an engineer's work, imperiling people and property. An interest we must consider is the safety of persons and property from physical injury, an interest that the law of torts protects vigorously. See DOBBS, supra, § 1, at 3 (Legal rules give the greatest protection to physical security of persons and property.). The record before us does not indicate whether any passengers on the monorail were injured or if the fire caused damage to property beyond the Seattle Monorail. But the parties agree that the fire caused damage to the monorail trains themselves. And, in Washington, it is common knowledge that the monorail trains carry thousands of people every year between Seattle Center and downtown Seattle. A fire on these trains is a severe safety risk, highlighting the interest in safety that is at stake when engineers do their work. ¶ 18 Imposing a duty of care on engineers could be an effective way to guard against unreasonable curtailments of the safety interest in freedom from physical injuries. Because engineers occupy a position of control, they are in the best position to prevent harm caused by their work. Tort liability would force negligent engineers to internalize the costs of their unreasonable conduct, making them more likely to take due care. Further, engineers have ample training, education, and experience, and can use their professional judgment about the design needs of a particular project. By deterring unreasonable behavior before it occurs and placing responsibility in the hands of the persons who can best mitigate the risks, a duty of reasonable care could reduce the overall social costs. ¶ 19 We recognize that some economic considerations militate in favor of holding that an engineer in LTK's shoes is not under a duty of care. Engineers provide socially beneficial services. If tort claims against them were to be layered on top of the breach of contract suits that they already face, the costs of engineering services would likely increase. Although engineers could probably mitigate their risk exposure with malpractice insurance, they might pass along the increased costs of doing business to their clients. And the liability for some accidents could prove so costly that engineering companies go out of business. Society as a whole could incur more costs and could have fewer engineers willing to take on the risks of liability. ¶ 20 On balance, however, we think engineers who undertake engineering services in this state are under a duty of reasonable care. The interest in safety is significant. Although Berschauer/Phillips makes engineers not liable in tort for some classes of harm, extending that case to all classes of harm and all classes of people would be unjust. Even in a calamity, an innocent party who never had the opportunity to negotiate the risk of harm would be forced to bear the costs of a careless engineer's work. ¶ 21 Although we have not held so specifically until now, we think engineers' common law duty of care has long been acknowledged in this state. [4] For example, in Seattle Western Industries, Inc. v. David A. Mowat Co., 110 Wash.2d 1, 10, 750 P.2d 245 (1988), implicitly recognizing the duty exists, we held that the scope of the engineer's common law duty of care is not necessarily always limited to the engineer's contractual obligations. The Court of Appeals has explicitly recognized a common law duty of care, holding in G.W. Construction Corp. v. Professional Service Industries, Inc., 70 Wash.App. 360, 366, 853 P.2d 484 (1993), that the defendant engineer performing an inspection under contract had an independent duty to exercise reasonable engineering skill and judgment. Nationally, it is the same. See, e.g., JAY M. FEINMAN, PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY TO THIRD PARTIES § 11.3.1, at 228 (2000) (Most courts have extended liability to architects and engineers by applying the ordinary law of negligence.); 4 STUART M. SPEISER ET AL., THE AMERICAN LAW OF TORTS § 15:117, at 852 (1987) (It is well settled, in the modern law, that architects or engineers may be subject to liability for property loss or damage resulting from defective designs, specifications, plans, drawings, supervision and administration, and the like.). ¶ 22 We are aware of the economic drawbacks of the dangers of creating liability in an indeterminate amount for an indeterminate time to an indeterminate class. Ultramares Corp. v. Touche, 255 N.Y. 170, 179, 174 N.E. 441 (1931). Still, we think economic concerns about liability run amok are overstated and can be addressed through conventional concepts of the measure and scope of a duty of care.