Construction Law

Violation of "good engineering practice and ethics" does not equate to a breach of a duty of care

By Werner Sabo

In Hamon Contractors, Inc. v. Carter & Burgess, Inc., 2009 WL 1152160 (Colo.App., April 30, 2009), the court reviewed an affidavit of the plaintiff's expert wherein he opined that the defendant had violated good engineering practice and ethics. This, by itself, does not establish that the defendant had violated a legal duty. The court relied on several cases in reaching this conclusion:

" State Bd. of Dental Examiners v. Savelle, 90 Colo. 177, 185, 8 P.2d 693, 696 (1932) (distinguishing between a violation of professional ethics and a breach of a legal duty); cf. Olsen & Brown v. City of Englewood, 889 P.2d 673, 676 (Colo.1995) (attorney ethics rules ?are not designed to alter civil liability nor do they serve as a basis for such liability?); Michael v. Huffman Oil Co., Inc., 661 S.E.2d 1, 5-8 (N.C.Ct.App.2008) (code of ethics was improper basis for determining professional engineer's standard of care); Dukes v. Philip Johnson/Alan Ritchie Architects, P.C., 252 S.W.3d 586, 592-94 (Tex.App.2008) (professional code of ethics could not be considered in determining architect's duty of care), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 129 S.Ct. 1032 (2009). "

Full post as published by Construction Attorney Blog on May 08, 2009 (boomark / email).