{"id":161694,"date":"2014-11-12T06:24:24","date_gmt":"2014-11-12T13:24:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=161694"},"modified":"2014-11-05T11:24:59","modified_gmt":"2014-11-05T18:24:59","slug":"no-cgl-coverage-for-faulty-workmanship-under-pennsylvania-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/no-cgl-coverage-for-faulty-workmanship-under-pennsylvania-law\/","title":{"rendered":"No CGL Coverage for Faulty Workmanship Under Pennsylvania Law"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Gilbert Lee |\u00a0Sedgwick Insurance Law Blog | October 24, 2014<\/p>\n<p>In State Farm Fire &amp; Casualty Co. v. McDermott, 2014 WL 5285335 (E.D. Pa. Oct. 15, 2014), a federal court recently held that an insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify its insured against an underlying construction defect lawsuit containing causes of action sounding in negligence under a commercial general liability (\u201cCGL\u201d) policy affording coverage for property damage caused by an \u201coccurrence.\u201d\u00a0 Upon considering the substance of the underlying lawsuit, the court concluded that under Pennsylvania law faulty workmanship is not an \u201coccurrence\u201d (defined to mean an accidental or unforeseeable event) that is covered under a CGL policy and, therefore, granted the insurer\u2019s summary judgment motion.<\/p>\n<p>In McDermott, the insured contracted with a homebuilder to provide plaster, stucco and window and door installation services for nearly three hundred homes built in Pennsylvania.\u00a0 The insured was later named in a negligence and breach of contract lawsuit by the builder, alleging a variety of defective construction practices that purportedly resulted in water intrusion and corresponding home damages.\u00a0 The insurer agreed to defend the insured subject to a reservation of its rights to disclaim coverage under the terms of the CGL policy prior to commencing a declaratory action challenging coverage.<\/p>\n<p>Relying on Pennsylvania case law, the court determined at the outset that faulty workmanship, and any resulting damages, is not an \u201caccident\u201d (as it is neither unexpected nor unintentional) and therefore not an occurrence under a CGL policy.\u00a0 Thus, the issue of whether coverage was triggered under the policy hinged on the possibility that liability might rest on the insured\u2019s alleged negligent work performance.\u00a0 In reaching its decision, the court looked beyond the negligence allegations to conclude that, regardless of how it was framed, the substance of the insured\u2019s potential liability stemmed from its alleged failure to meet contractual expectations.\u00a0 Because the insured had a contractual duty to perform its tasks in a satisfactory manner, its alleged failure to do so was neither an accident nor an unforeseeable event covered under a CGL policy because the insured was bound to avoid that particular outcome.<\/p>\n<p>via <a href=\"http:\/\/sedgwickinsurancelaw.com\/2014\/10\/24\/no-cgl-coverage-for-faulty-workmanship-under-pennsylvania-law\/\">Sedgwick Insurance Law Blog: Keeping You Updated on Significant Legal Issues Affecting the Insurance Industry \u00bb Blog Archive \u00bb No CGL Coverage for Faulty Workmanship Under Pennsylvania Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gilbert Lee |\u00a0Sedgwick Insurance Law Blog | October 24, 2014 In State Farm Fire &amp; Casualty Co. v. McDermott, 2014 WL 5285335 (E.D. Pa. Oct. 15, 2014), a federal court recently held that an insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify its insured against an underlying construction defect lawsuit containing causes of action sounding&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/no-cgl-coverage-for-faulty-workmanship-under-pennsylvania-law\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">No CGL Coverage for Faulty Workmanship Under Pennsylvania Law<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[30,3],"tags":[5496,179,3,56],"class_list":["post-161694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-liability-policy","category-insurance-claims","tag-cgl-coverage","tag-commercial-general-liability","tag-insurance-claims","tag-property-damage","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>No CGL Coverage for Faulty Workmanship Under Pennsylvania Law - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/no-cgl-coverage-for-faulty-workmanship-under-pennsylvania-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"No CGL Coverage for Faulty Workmanship Under Pennsylvania Law - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gilbert Lee |\u00a0Sedgwick Insurance Law Blog | October 24, 2014 In State Farm Fire &amp; Casualty Co. v. McDermott, 2014 WL 5285335 (E.D. Pa. Oct. 15, 2014), a federal court recently held that an insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify its insured against an underlying construction defect lawsuit containing causes of action sounding&hellip; Continue reading No CGL Coverage for Faulty Workmanship Under Pennsylvania Law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/no-cgl-coverage-for-faulty-workmanship-under-pennsylvania-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-11-12T13:24:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/no-cgl-coverage-for-faulty-workmanship-under-pennsylvania-law\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/no-cgl-coverage-for-faulty-workmanship-under-pennsylvania-law\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\"},\"headline\":\"No CGL Coverage for Faulty Workmanship Under Pennsylvania Law\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-12T13:24:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/no-cgl-coverage-for-faulty-workmanship-under-pennsylvania-law\/\"},\"wordCount\":385,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"CGL Coverage\",\"Commercial General Liability\",\"Insurance Claims\",\"property damage\"],\"articleSection\":[\"General Liability Policy\",\"Insurance Claims\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/no-cgl-coverage-for-faulty-workmanship-under-pennsylvania-law\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/no-cgl-coverage-for-faulty-workmanship-under-pennsylvania-law\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/no-cgl-coverage-for-faulty-workmanship-under-pennsylvania-law\/\",\"name\":\"No CGL Coverage for Faulty Workmanship Under Pennsylvania Law - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-12T13:24:24+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/no-cgl-coverage-for-faulty-workmanship-under-pennsylvania-law\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"description\":\"Construction Expert Witnesses\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Advise & Consult\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"width\":162,\"height\":75,\"caption\":\"Advise & Consult\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"No CGL Coverage for Faulty Workmanship Under Pennsylvania Law - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/no-cgl-coverage-for-faulty-workmanship-under-pennsylvania-law\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"No CGL Coverage for Faulty Workmanship Under Pennsylvania Law - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","og_description":"Gilbert Lee |\u00a0Sedgwick Insurance Law Blog | October 24, 2014 In State Farm Fire &amp; Casualty Co. v. McDermott, 2014 WL 5285335 (E.D. Pa. Oct. 15, 2014), a federal court recently held that an insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify its insured against an underlying construction defect lawsuit containing causes of action sounding&hellip; Continue reading No CGL Coverage for Faulty Workmanship Under Pennsylvania Law","og_url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/no-cgl-coverage-for-faulty-workmanship-under-pennsylvania-law\/","og_site_name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","article_published_time":"2014-11-12T13:24:24+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@adviseconsult","twitter_site":"@adviseconsult","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/no-cgl-coverage-for-faulty-workmanship-under-pennsylvania-law\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/no-cgl-coverage-for-faulty-workmanship-under-pennsylvania-law\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7"},"headline":"No CGL Coverage for Faulty Workmanship Under Pennsylvania Law","datePublished":"2014-11-12T13:24:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/no-cgl-coverage-for-faulty-workmanship-under-pennsylvania-law\/"},"wordCount":385,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["CGL Coverage","Commercial General Liability","Insurance Claims","property damage"],"articleSection":["General Liability Policy","Insurance Claims"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/no-cgl-coverage-for-faulty-workmanship-under-pennsylvania-law\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/no-cgl-coverage-for-faulty-workmanship-under-pennsylvania-law\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/no-cgl-coverage-for-faulty-workmanship-under-pennsylvania-law\/","name":"No CGL Coverage for Faulty Workmanship Under Pennsylvania Law - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-11-12T13:24:24+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/no-cgl-coverage-for-faulty-workmanship-under-pennsylvania-law\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","description":"Construction Expert Witnesses","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Advise & Consult","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","width":162,"height":75,"caption":"Advise & Consult"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com"]}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2ztG6-G3Y","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161694"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161694\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}