{"id":893930,"date":"2018-04-05T11:05:10","date_gmt":"2018-04-05T17:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=893930"},"modified":"2018-04-05T11:05:10","modified_gmt":"2018-04-05T17:05:10","slug":"court-narrowly-interprets-faulty-workmanship-provision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/court-narrowly-interprets-faulty-workmanship-provision\/","title":{"rendered":"Court Narrowly Interprets \u201cFaulty Workmanship\u201d Provision"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jeffrey J. Vita and Theresa A. Guertin | Saxe Doernberger & Vita PC<\/a> | March 22, 2018<\/p>\n

In a recent victory in their home state of Connecticut, Saxe Doernberger & Vita partners,\u00a0Jeffrey Vita\u00a0and\u00a0Theresa Guertin, representing owner-developer 777 Main Street, LLC, overcame a summary judgment motion filed by Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company. The Connecticut Superior court refused to adopt the insurer\u2019s broad interpretation of the \u201cfaulty workmanship\u201d exclusion in an all-risk builders\u2019 risk insurance policy.<\/p>\n

In 2014, 777 Main Street, LLC began renovations on the 27-story former Hartford National Bank building in downtown Hartford, converting the property from an office building to a mixed residential and commercial space. During the renovation, a subcontractor hired to perform the cleaning the concrete fa\u00e7ade of the building accidentally over-sprayed the cleaning material onto the property\u2019s windows. The subcontractor\u2019s attempts to clean the overspray further damaged the structural integrity and cosmetic look of the windows. As a result, the owner was forced to replace over 1,800 windows, costing millions.<\/p>\n

As is typical for most construction projects, the owner had purchased an all-risk builder\u2019s risk insurance policy from Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company (\u201cLiberty Mutual\u201d) to protect its interests while the property was undergoing renovations.\u00a0 Since the property was an existing structure and not new construction, the policy included a \u201cRehabilitation and Renovation Coverage Endorsement,\u201d which extended coverage to the existing building and portions not undergoing renovations, such as the windows.<\/p>\n

Despite the grant of coverage afforded by the policy and its endorsements, Liberty Mutual denied coverage for the loss in its entirety, citing the policy\u2019s \u201cDefects, Errors, and Omissions,\u201d exclusion, commonly referred to as the \u201cfaulty workmanship\u201d exclusion. After nearly two years of litigation in Connecticut Superior Court, Liberty Mutual filed a motion for summary judgment in which it claimed that the exclusion broadly applied to any loss caused by any act of renovation\u2014despite the fact that the policy was intended to cover a renovation project.\u00a0 The subcontractor, it claimed, was obligated to perform its work in a careful manner, and its failure to do so landed the loss squarely within the exclusion.<\/p>\n

Noting the absurdity of the insurer\u2019s argument, the owner (represented by SDV) argued that the damage to the windows was not faulty workmanship because the subcontractor\u2019s scope of work did not include the windows. Rather, its work was limited to cleaning the fa\u00e7ade, and its accidental over-spraying of cleaning materials onto the windows constituted the exact type of accidental damage the builder\u2019s risk coverage was intended to cover. Furthermore, expanding the exclusion\u2019s reach to include the windows would require the court to take a broad view of the exclusion, contradicting well-established insurance jurisprudence which requires that exclusions be interpreted narrowly.<\/p>\n

The Court (Moukawsher, J.) denied Liberty Mutual\u2019s motion and, subsequently, granted the owner\u2019s motion. In its decision, the Court explained that the exclusion\u2019s purpose is to prevent claims for improper renovation work, not collateral damage caused during renovations. Since the subcontractor was not renovating the windows, the damage was the type of collateral damage the policy was meant to cover. The Court further noted that Liberty Mutual\u2019s interpretation of the exclusion was unreasonable; ruling in the insurer\u2019s favor would require a \u201chigh degree of certainty that the policy language clearly and unambiguously excluded the claim,\u201d and, having no such certainty, the Court declined to apply the exclusion.<\/p>\n

The Court\u2019s interpretation of the faulty workmanship exclusion is highly favorable to policyholders. With this decision, the Court confirms that exclusions should be interpreted narrowly and affirms that it is an insurer\u2019s duty to prove that exclusions unambiguously apply. Liberty Mutual is appealing the Court\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jeffrey J. Vita and Theresa A. Guertin | Saxe Doernberger & Vita PC | March 22, 2018 In a recent victory in their home state of Connecticut, Saxe Doernberger & Vita partners,\u00a0Jeffrey Vita\u00a0and\u00a0Theresa Guertin, representing owner-developer 777 Main Street, LLC, overcame a summary judgment motion filed by Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company. The Connecticut Superior… Continue reading Court Narrowly Interprets \u201cFaulty Workmanship\u201d Provision<\/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":[4,9914],"tags":[9895,68,23],"class_list":["post-893930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-defects","category-insurance-coverage","tag-advise-consult","tag-faulty-workmanship","tag-insurance-coverage","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nCourt Narrowly Interprets \u201cFaulty Workmanship\u201d Provision - 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