Court Opinion

ID: 9570205
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:21:02.564536+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:05:07.119327
License: Public Domain

Callow, J.
(concurring in part, dissenting in part) — I concur with the majority's discussion of the statute of limitations and the implied warranty of habitability. I dissent, however, from the majority's refusal to recognize a cause of action in negligent construction in a case such as this, where a builder has sold condominiums with latent dangerous defects. The majority reasons that no claim of negligent construction can lie because the purchasers have suffered only "economic loss". I submit this is unsound and unpersuasive. Purchasers of condominiums who have been the *423victims of shoddy and unsafe construction practices, yet who have no remedy under the implied warranty of habitability, should not be denied recovery merely because they have been fortunate to escape serious physical injury.
The record before us shows that Coldwell Banker built and sold several condominiums with latent dangerous defects, and that such defects were the result of negligent construction. The trial court specifically found:
In constructing the deck and railing systems in the complex, Coldwell Banker was negligent in needlessly splicing the rail cap, in failing to provide adequate drainage at the bottom of the enclosed rails and decks, in inadequately flashing the juncture of the deck and the rail wall, in using interior gypsum wallboard inside of the rail structures, rather than exterior gypsum sheathing, especially when accompanied by a failure to protect that interior wallboard by placing adequate building paper over the wallboard and/or over the top of the inside rail structure to prevent rain or other water coming into the structure through the rail cap.
All of the defects, individually or in combination, greatly hastened the rotting of these structures.
Thus, the court concluded:
Although structurally safe for the buyer's intended purpose at the time of construction and initial purchase by individual owners, a number of the [condominiums'] private decks, balconies and [access] walkways became unsafe through the action of dry rot trapped as a result of construction defects.
The trial court also noted:
Some of the defects which ultimately led to rotting . . . were not visible, such as lack of ventilation, inadequate flashing or failure to wrap gypsum board with building paper.
As the majority points out, some of the affected purchasers may seek recovery for breach of the implied warranty of habitability. This provides but limited relief. The implied warranty of habitability protects only the first intended occupants of new condominiums, and covers only structural defects which render the condominium uninhabitable. *424Frickel v. Sunnyside Enters., 106 Wn.2d 714, 715-18, 725 P.2d 422 (1986); Klos v. Gockel, 87 Wn.2d 567, 571-72, 554 P.2d 1349 (1976); House v. Thornton, 76 Wn.2d 428, 436, 457 P.2d 199 (1969). It does not provide a remedy for subsequent purchaser/occupants; nor for original purchaser/ occupants of condominiums with dangerously defective decks or balconies (as opposed to access walkways), since these structures do not render the dwelling itself "uninhabitable." I find no reason to cut off a subsequent purchaser from a remedy in such a situation just because the property has changed hands twice rather than only once.
The purchaser of a condominium has the right to expect that it will be properly constructed and free of latent and dangerous defects of any kind. As explained in Oates v. JAG, Inc., 314 N.C. 276, 333 S.E.2d 222 (1985):
We must be realistic. The ordinary purchaser of a home is not qualified to determine when or where a defect exists. Yet, the purchaser makes the biggest and most important investment in his or her life and, more times than not, on a limited budget. The purchaser can ill afford to suddenly find a latent defect in his or her home . . . and have no remedy for recourse. This happens too often. The careless work of contractors, who in the past have been insulated from liability, must cease or they must accept financial responsibility for their negligence. In our judgment, building contractors should be held to the general standard of reasonable care for the protection of anyone who may foreseeably be endangered by their negligence.
Oates, at 280-81 (quoting Simmons v. Owens, 363 So. 2d 142, 143 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1978).
I would join the growing number of jurisdictions that recognize a cause of action for negligent construction. See, e.g., Oates; Council of Co-Owners Atlantis Condominium, Inc. v. Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., 308 Md. 18, 517 A.2d 336 (1986); Cosmopolitan Homes, Inc. v. Weller, 663 P.2d 1041 (Colo. 1983); Kristek v. Catron, 7 Kan. App. 2d 495, 644 P.2d 480 (1982); Velotta v. Leo Petronzio Landscaping, Inc., 69 Ohio St. 2d 376, 433 N.E.2d 147 (1982); *425Juliano v. Gaston, 187 N.J. Super. 491, 455 A.2d 523 (1982); Drexel Properties, Inc. v. Bay Colony Club Condominium, Inc., 406 So. 2d 515 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1981); Terlinde v. Neely, 275 S.C. 395, 271 S.E.2d 768, 10 A.L.R.4th 379 (1980); Moxley v. Laramie Builders, Inc., 600 P.2d 733 (Wyo. 1979); Brown v. Fowler, 279 N.W.2d 907 (S.D. 1979); Sabella v. Wisler, 59 Cal. 2d 21, 377 P.2d 889, 27 Cal. Rptr. 689 (1963); Fisher v. Simon, 15 Wis. 2d 207, 112 N.W.2d 705 (1961). I would hold that a purchaser may bring a claim for negligent construction against the builder-vendor of a home if the home has a latent and dangerous defect which creates a risk of personal injury. Hopefully, of course, the dangerous condition will be detected before personal injury actually occurs. In such a case, the purchaser's recovery would consist of the reasonable cost of correcting the dangerous condition.
The majority rejects this alternative, reasoning that absent physical injury or property damage, the purchaser has suffered only "economic loss" and thus is barred from recovery in tort. This view of negligence law has been rejected by numerous other courts. Most recently, the Maryland Supreme Court approved precisely the cause of action in negligent construction outlined above. The court added that where a latent and dangerously defective condition exists, economic loss alone is not a bar to recovery. The court said:
The contention that a distinction should be drawn between mere "economic loss" and personal injury is without merit. . . .
If there is a defect in a stairway and the purchaser repairs the defect and suffers an economic loss, should he fail to recover because he did not wait until he or some member of his family fell down the stairs and broke his neck? Does the law penalize those who are alert and prevent injury? Should it not put those who prevent personal injury on the same level as those who fail to anticipate it?
Council of Co-Owners Atlantis Condominium, at 34-35, quoting Barnes v. Mac Brown & Co., 264 Ind. 227, 230, 342 *426N.E.2d 619 (1976). The additional cases cited likewise reject any distinction between personal injury and economic loss in the context of a negligent construction claim.
Recognizing a cause of action in negligent construction affords purchasers of homes or condominiums a remedy for dangerous and shoddy construction without imposing an undue burden on builder-vendors. Since this cause of action sounds in tort, the remedy extends to both original and subsequent purchasers (i.e., privity of contract with the builder-vendor is not required). However, the builder-vendor's potential liability is not unlimited, for the statute of limitations expressly bars commencement of any suit that does not accrue within 6 years of substantial completion of construction. See RCW 4.16.310. Moreover, a purchaser who brings a claim for negligent construction, but who suffers economic loss alone, must prove (1) negligence on the part of the builder-vendor caused a defective condition, (2) the defective condition is dangerous, (3) the defective condition was latent at the time of purchase. As explained in Cosmopolitan Homes, at 1045-46:
The reason for allowing recovery only for latent or hidden defects, which have been defined as "those manifesting themselves after purchase and which are not discoverable through reasonable inspection," ... is to prevent an action where mere deterioration or loss of a bargain is claimed. . . . Often a buyer is willing to accept certain deficiencies in a house in exchange for a lower purchase price. However, a buyer cannot be expected to discover structural defects which remain latent at the time of purchase.
If a purchaser meets these requirements, there is no reason why he should not recover from the builder-vendor for negligent construction. The alternative offered by the majority is to subject the purchaser to the outworn and antiquated doctrine of caveat emptor. This court should find such an alternative unacceptable.
I would remand to the trial court to determine first, which plaintiffs are barred from recovery by the statute of limitations; second, which plaintiffs have stated a valid *427claim for breach of the implied warranty of habitability; and third, which plaintiffs have stated a valid claim for negligent construction as outlined above. I respectfully dissent to the extent that my proposed resolution of this case differs from that of the majority.
Dore, J., concurs with Callow, J.