{"id":2893,"date":"2014-04-29T06:22:04","date_gmt":"2014-04-29T12:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=2893"},"modified":"2014-04-28T15:26:32","modified_gmt":"2014-04-28T21:26:32","slug":"texas-supreme-court-holds-contractors-agreement-complete-work-good-workmanlike-manner-agreement-assume-liability-defective-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/texas-supreme-court-holds-contractors-agreement-complete-work-good-workmanlike-manner-agreement-assume-liability-defective-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Supreme Court holds Contractor\u2019s Agreement to Complete Work in a \u201cGood and Workmanlike Manner\u201d not an Agreement to Assume Liability for its Defective Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

George B. Hall, Jr. – Phelps Dunbar LLP<\/p>\n

On certified questions from the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Texas Supreme Court held that a contractor\u2019s agreement to complete its work in a \u201cgood and workmanlike manner\u201d does not enlarge its duty to exercise ordinary care in fulfilling its contract, and thus does not assume liability for damages arising out of its defective work that would otherwise trigger a contractual liability exclusion.\u00a0Ewing Construction Co., Inc. v. Amerisure Ins. Co.<\/em>, No. 2014 WL 185035 (Tex. Jan. 17, 2014).<\/p>\n

A contractor constructed tennis courts for an independent school district. The school district complained that the courts began cracking and flaking, making them unusable for their intended use, and filed suit against the contractor. The contractor\u2019s contract with the school district included an agreement to complete its work in a \u201cgood and workmanlike manner.\u201d The contractor\u2019s CGL policy included an exclusion for contractual liability \u201cassumed in a contract.\u201d In the litigation that ensued, the insurer took the position that the failure to complete the work in a \u201cgood and workmanlike manner\u201d triggered the exclusion. This position was based, in part, on the Texas Supreme Court\u2019s earlier\u00a0dicta\u00a0<\/em>in\u00a0Gilbert Texas Construction, L.P. v. Underwriters at Lloyd\u2019s, London<\/em>, 327 S.W.3d 118 (Tex 2010). The Texas Supreme Court held that a contractor\u2019s promise to complete its work in a \u201cgood and workmanlike manner\u201d was not an agreement to assume liability, and that the contractual liability exclusion would not apply. This decision effectively overrules the Texas Supreme Court\u2019s prior suggestion in\u00a0Gilbert<\/em>\u00a0that breach of contract could trigger a contractual liability exclusion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

George B. Hall, Jr. – Phelps Dunbar LLP On certified questions from the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Texas Supreme Court held that a contractor\u2019s agreement to complete its work in a \u201cgood and workmanlike manner\u201d does not enlarge its duty to exercise ordinary care in fulfilling its contract, and thus does not… Continue reading Texas Supreme Court holds Contractor\u2019s Agreement to Complete Work in a \u201cGood and Workmanlike Manner\u201d not an Agreement to Assume Liability for its Defective Work<\/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":[14,9,4],"tags":[12,19,522],"class_list":["post-2893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-2","category-construction-contracts","category-construction-defects","tag-construction","tag-construction-defects-2","tag-workmanlike-manner","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nTexas Supreme Court holds Contractor\u2019s Agreement to Complete Work in a \u201cGood and Workmanlike Manner\u201d not an Agreement to Assume Liability for its Defective Work - Advise & 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\/texas-supreme-court-holds-contractors-agreement-complete-work-good-workmanlike-manner-agreement-assume-liability-defective-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Texas Supreme Court holds Contractor\u2019s Agreement to Complete Work in a \u201cGood and Workmanlike Manner\u201d not an Agreement to Assume Liability for its Defective Work - Advise & Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"George B. Hall, Jr. – Phelps Dunbar LLP On certified questions from the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Texas Supreme Court held that a contractor\u2019s agreement to complete its work in a \u201cgood and workmanlike manner\u201d does not enlarge its duty to exercise ordinary care in fulfilling its contract, and thus does not… Continue reading Texas Supreme Court holds Contractor\u2019s Agreement to Complete Work in a \u201cGood and Workmanlike Manner\u201d not an Agreement to Assume Liability for its Defective Work\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/texas-supreme-court-holds-contractors-agreement-complete-work-good-workmanlike-manner-agreement-assume-liability-defective-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Advise & Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-04-29T12:22:04+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=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/texas-supreme-court-holds-contractors-agreement-complete-work-good-workmanlike-manner-agreement-assume-liability-defective-work\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/texas-supreme-court-holds-contractors-agreement-complete-work-good-workmanlike-manner-agreement-assume-liability-defective-work\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\"},\"headline\":\"Texas Supreme Court holds Contractor\u2019s Agreement to Complete Work in a \u201cGood and Workmanlike Manner\u201d not an Agreement to Assume Liability for its Defective Work\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-04-29T12:22:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/texas-supreme-court-holds-contractors-agreement-complete-work-good-workmanlike-manner-agreement-assume-liability-defective-work\/\"},\"wordCount\":298,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"construction\",\"construction defects\",\"Workmanlike Manner\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Construction\",\"Construction Contracts\",\"Construction Defects\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/texas-supreme-court-holds-contractors-agreement-complete-work-good-workmanlike-manner-agreement-assume-liability-defective-work\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/texas-supreme-court-holds-contractors-agreement-complete-work-good-workmanlike-manner-agreement-assume-liability-defective-work\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/texas-supreme-court-holds-contractors-agreement-complete-work-good-workmanlike-manner-agreement-assume-liability-defective-work\/\",\"name\":\"Texas Supreme Court holds Contractor\u2019s Agreement to Complete Work in a \u201cGood and Workmanlike Manner\u201d not an Agreement to Assume Liability for its Defective Work - 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