Court Opinion

ID: 9604011
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 02:13:01.332406+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:02:17.702508
License: Public Domain

EAGLES, Chief Judge,
dissenting.
Because the plaintiff failed to establish the standard of care required to be exercised by a land surveyor, I respectfully dissent.
A land surveyor “does not... undertake to insure the correctness of his findings,” 11 Am. Jur. Proof of Facts 2d 405; rather, a surveyor is only “required to exercise that degree of care which a surveyor or civil engineer of ordinary skill and prudence would exercise under similar circumstances . . . .” Davidson and Jones, Inc. v. County of New Hanover, 41 N.C. App. 661, 668, 255 S.E.2d 580, 585, disc. review denied, 298 N.C. 295, 259 S.E.2d 911 (1979). It is the’general rule that expert testimony is required to establish the requisite standard of care. Bailey v. Jones, 112 N.C. App. 380, 387, 435 S.E.2d 787, 792 (1993). Ordinarily, this requires the plaintiff’s expert to “testify as to generally accepted surveying practices to prove that the defendant did not perform his survey... according to the standards followed by an ordinarily prudent surveyor in similar circumstances.” 11 Am. Jur. *417Proof of Facts 2d 407. The only exception to this rule is where the “common knowledge and experience of the [fact finder] is sufficient to evaluate compliance with a standard of care . . . .” Delta Env. Consultants of N.C. v. Wysong & Miles Co., 132 N.C. App. 160, 168, 510 S.E.2d 690, 695-96, disc. review denied, 350 N.C. 379, 536 S.E.2d 71 (1999).
I am unpersuaded that Mr. Register’s own testimony was sufficient to establish the requisite standard of care. Although Mr. Register was certainly qualified to testify as an expert in this area, see State v. Linney, 138 N.C. App. 169, 183, 531 S.E.2d 245, 256-57 (witness may testify as an expert if qualified even though not formally tendered as an expert witness), appeal dismissed and disc. review denied, 352 N.C. 595, 545 S.E.2d 214 (2000), his testimony failed to establish the applicable standard of care. I disagree with the majority’s characterization of Mr. Register’s testimony: While Mr. Register testified extensively as to the process he went through to establish and verify the locations of the support columns, his testimony was limited to the procedure that he in fact followed, not the procedure he was “supposed” to follow. My review of the record reveals no testimony on the part of Mr. Register as to (1) what would constitute generally accepted surveying practices under similar circumstances, or (2) that the procedure he followed failed to comport with those standards. Plaintiff’s evidence also included the testimony of Scott Flanigan and Lanny Joyce. Although both of these witnesses arguably were qualified to testify as experts in this field, neither testified as to either generally accepted surveying practices or that Mr. Register failed to perform the survey according to those standards. Consequently, I would conclude that plaintiff’s expert testimony failed to establish the requisite standard of care.
I am also unpersuaded that this case falls within the “common knowledge” exception to the general rule requiring expert testimony. “[T]he application of the ‘common knowledge’ exception has been reserved for those situations where professional conduct is so grossly negligent that a layperson’s knowledge and experience make obvious the shortcomings of the professional.” Delta Env. Consultants, 132 N.C. App. at 168, 510 S.E.2d at 696. The majority, relying on Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendenhall v. Hilton Hotels Corp., 98 Nev. 113, 642 P.2d 1086 (1982) and Paragon Engineering, Inc. v. Rhodes, — Ala. —, 451 So.2d 274 (1984), concludes that the “common knowledge” exception is applicable under these circumstances. Notwithstanding the facial similarity between these cases *418and the facts presented here, these cases are readily distinguishable and do not support the application of the “common knowledge” exception to this case.
First, a careful reading of Paragon reveals that the only issue before that court was whether the testimony of “several witnesses, who were not professional surveyors,” was sufficient to support the conclusion that the defendant was negligent in staking a survey site. Paragon, — Ala. at —, 451 So.2d at 274. The Court found that although none of plaintiffs witnesses were “expert[s] in the technical sense,” i.e. professional land surveyors, three of plaintiffs witnesses were competent to testify as experts by virtue of their knowledge and experience. Id. at —, 451 So.2d at 276. The Paragon court ultimately concluded that the testimony of these witnesses was sufficient to support the jury’s conclusion. Id. at —, 451 So.2d at 277. Because Paragon was based on application of the general rule, rather than the “common knowledge” exception, it is of litT tie instructional value here.
Moreover, Daniel involves an action for breach of contract filed against the defendant surveyor when defendant improperly pinpointed the location of caissons designed to support a structure. The issue before the court was whether “expert testimony [wa]s required to prove the breach of duty.” Daniel, 98 Nev. at 115, 642 P.2d at 1087. The Daniel court, applying the “common knowledge” exception, answered in the negative. Id.
Daniel is distinguishable in two significant respects: First, the underlying action in Daniel was for breach of contract, not negligence. Insofar as the holding in Daniel is based on an “implied [contractual] duty to perform in a workmanlike manner,” id., rather than the duty to exercise reasonable care under the circumstances, the reasoning of Daniel is inapposite to this case. See Davidson and Jones, Inc. v. County of New Hanover, 41 N.C. App. 661, 255 S.E.2d 580 (1979) (distinguishing actions based on contract from those based on negligence and refusing to impose contractual duties not “expressly assumed” under the terms of the contract).
Second, it is undisputed that here the conditions and strict tolerances necessitated employing the knowledge, skill and judgment of a professional surveyor. That was not the case in Daniel. See id. (noting “[t]here [wa]s nothing in the record to indicate that the survey required complex calculations ....”). I would conclude that this factual discrepancy is sufficient alone to distinguish Daniel and make the “common knowledge” exception inapplicable.
*419Even strict adherence to accepted surveying principles will, in some cases, yield inaccurate measurements. See e.g. 11 Am. Jur. Proof of Facts 2d 403-05, §§ 2-3. Therefore, application of the “common knowledge” exception must turn on something more than the ultimate result. The better reasoned approach, which is more directly related to the negligence standard, is to apply the “common knowledge” exception only where the surveyor was so grossly négligent in the manner in which he performed his professional services that his shortcomings as a professional are readily apparent to a layperson. Examples would include misreading plans and specifications, the taking of faulty measurements, or errors in recording data that, if pointed out and corrected, would yield accurate results. These are the types of errors that would be readily apparent to a layperson, without the need for explanation of complex principles by an expert in that profession. Since there is no evidence in the record that implicates any of these kinds of errors, I would conclude that expert testimony was necessary to determine whether defendant exercised the degree of care that an ordinarily prudent surveyor would have exercised under similar circumstances.
Accordingly, I would hold that plaintiff failed to establish the applicable standard of care and the trial court improperly denied defendant’s motion to dismiss.