Court Opinion

ID: 9863075
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-25 03:03:21.275996+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:46:51.549932
License: Public Domain

WALLACE, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. The contractual provision that a roof is “bondable up to 20 years,” by its nature, means capable of being bonded for a period of up to 20 years. In other words, the product is made of such quality that a surety is willing to issue a 20 year bond, as opposed to a ten year bond for lesser quality materials or a 30 year bond for higher quality materials. The surety bond itself is what protects the purchaser against repairs or defects in the roof. Grand Island School District v. Celotex Corp., 203 Neb. 559, 279 N.W.2d 603 (1979). It would be logically inconsistent for a seller to represent on the one hand that the purchaser could obtain a repair bond and at the same time guarantee the product against repairs and defects. See Little Rock School District of Pulaski City v. Celotex, 264 Ark. 757, 574 S.W.2d 669, 675 (1978) (Smith, J., dissenting).
Furthermore, even if this term could be construed as an express warranty, what it expresses is clearly confined to a specific point in time: i.e., the time the roof is completed. To say, as the majority does, that “bondable up to 20 years” may be construed as an explicit reference to future performance is tantamount to saying that the purchaser of the roof could approach a surety at any time and obtain a bond for 20 years into the future. The majority makes the term “bondable” synonymous with “bonded” and, in doing so, defies the plain meaning of the term and re-forms the manner in which it is used in the construction industry.
I would hold that Certainteed made no express warranty to Safeway that the roof would last for 20 years and, accordingly, affirm the judgment of the court of appeals.