Construction Law

Florida Supreme Court follows Texas' Lamar Homes

By Werner Sabo

On December 20, 2007, the Florida Supreme Court issued a ruling in United States Fire Insurance Company v. J.S.U.B., Inc. Here is an excerpt:

We conclude that defective work performed by a subcontractor that causes damage to the contractor?s completed project and is neither expected nor intended from the standpoint of the contractor can constitute "property damage" caused by an "occurrence" as those terms are defined in a standard form commercial general liability policy. Accordingly, a claim made against the contractor for damage to the completed project caused by a subcontractor?s defective work is covered under a post-1986 CGL policy unless a specific exclusion applies to bar coverage. In this case, the terms of the policy included an exception to the "Your Work" exclusion for faulty workmanship by a subcontractor and did not include a breach of contract exclusion.

This follows the lead of the Texas Supreme Court in Lamar Homes, Inc. v. Mid-Continent Cas. Co., 50 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 1162, 2007 WL 2459193 (Tex., Aug. 31, 2007)

Full post as published by Construction Attorney Blog on December 21, 2007 (boomark / email).