{"id":893973,"date":"2018-04-13T08:52:58","date_gmt":"2018-04-13T14:52:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=893973"},"modified":"2018-04-13T08:52:58","modified_gmt":"2018-04-13T14:52:58","slug":"unfortunate-unexpected-restriction-additional-insured-status","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/unfortunate-unexpected-restriction-additional-insured-status\/","title":{"rendered":"Unfortunate (and Unexpected) Restriction on Additional Insured Status"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stan Martin | Commonsense Construction Law LLC<\/a> | March 28, 2018<\/p>\n

The New York Court of Appeals, in a split decision, has focused on one word in deciding that a owner\u2019s construction manager was not entitled to additional insured status on the general contractor\u2019s policy.<\/p>\n

The contract required the GC to include the owner, DASNY, the State of New York, and the owner\u2019s construction manager as additional insured parties. The contract included a sample certificate of insurance identifying each of those parties.<\/p>\n

The GC\u2019s policy, though, included the following definition (emphasis added):<\/p>\n

WHO IS AN INSURED (Section II) is amended to include as an insured any person or organization\u00a0with whom<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0you have agreed to add as an additional insured by written contract but only with respect to liability arising out of your operations or premises owned by or rented to you.<\/p>\n

The Court of Appeal held that the GC did not enter into a contract \u201cwith\u201d the construction manager, and so the construction manager was not a party \u201cwith whom\u201d the GC had agreed to include as an additional insured. Thus, the Court of Appeal construed the phrase \u201cwith whom\u201d as modifying the phrase \u201cby written contract.\u201d And said that absent the word \u201cwith,\u201d the construction manager\u00a0would<\/em>\u00a0have been included. Finally, the appellate court held that the definition was not ambiguous, and so principles of interpretation of an ambiguous term would not come into play.<\/p>\n

The dissent goes on at greater length, exploring the nuance of the policy definition. It stated that \u201cthe majority focuses on a single word in the blanket additional insured endorsement at issue while ignoring others, thereby finding clarity where none exists.\u201d Which aptly describes the situation, in my view. Noting that the language \u201cis awkward and unclear, at the very least,\u201d the dissent would have ruled that the phrase \u201cby written contract\u201d modifies \u201cto add.\u201d And not \u201cwith whom.\u201d That reading further comports with normal expectations for the scope of additional insured coverage.<\/p>\n

So a party who, by industry expectation and by standard convention, should have had additional insured status for claims arising from the general contractor\u2019s work, has been left to shoulder the risk arising from the GC\u2019s operations with its own coverage. The carrier is likely the only one arguing that this was the intent. A poor interpretation of an awkwardly-written clause.<\/p>\n

Owner\u2019s reps and other owner consultants may want to insist on reading the prime contractor\u2019s additional insured language.<\/p>\n

The case is\u00a0Gilbane Bldg. Co.\/TDX Constr. Corp. v St. Paul Fire & Mar. Ins. Co.<\/em>, 2018 N.Y. LEXIS 490 (NY Court of Appeal, Mar. 27, 2018).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stan Martin | Commonsense Construction Law LLC | March 28, 2018 The New York Court of Appeals, in a split decision, has focused on one word in deciding that a owner\u2019s construction manager was not entitled to additional insured status on the general contractor\u2019s policy. The contract required the GC to include the owner, DASNY,… Continue reading Unfortunate (and Unexpected) Restriction on Additional Insured Status<\/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":[9,9914],"tags":[382,9895,303],"class_list":["post-893973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-contracts","category-insurance-coverage","tag-additional-insured","tag-advise-consult","tag-new-york","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nUnfortunate (and Unexpected) Restriction on Additional Insured Status - Advise & Consult, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"New York Court of Appeals has focused on one word in deciding that a owner\u2019s construction manager was not entitled to additional insured status\" \/>\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\/unfortunate-unexpected-restriction-additional-insured-status\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Unfortunate (and Unexpected) Restriction on Additional Insured Status - Advise & Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New York Court of Appeals has focused on one word in deciding that a owner\u2019s construction manager was not entitled to additional insured status\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/unfortunate-unexpected-restriction-additional-insured-status\/\" \/>\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=\"2018-04-13T14:52:58+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\/unfortunate-unexpected-restriction-additional-insured-status\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/unfortunate-unexpected-restriction-additional-insured-status\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\"},\"headline\":\"Unfortunate (and Unexpected) Restriction on Additional Insured Status\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-04-13T14:52:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/unfortunate-unexpected-restriction-additional-insured-status\/\"},\"wordCount\":446,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Additional Insured\",\"Advise & Consult\",\"New York\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Construction Contracts\",\"Insurance Coverage\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/unfortunate-unexpected-restriction-additional-insured-status\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/unfortunate-unexpected-restriction-additional-insured-status\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/unfortunate-unexpected-restriction-additional-insured-status\/\",\"name\":\"Unfortunate (and Unexpected) Restriction on Additional Insured Status - Advise & Consult, Inc.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-04-13T14:52:58+00:00\",\"description\":\"New York Court of Appeals has focused on one word in deciding that a owner\u2019s construction manager was not entitled to additional insured status\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/unfortunate-unexpected-restriction-additional-insured-status\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Advise & 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":"Unfortunate (and Unexpected) Restriction on Additional Insured Status - Advise & Consult, Inc.","description":"New York Court of Appeals has focused on one word in deciding that a owner\u2019s construction manager was not entitled to additional insured status","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\/unfortunate-unexpected-restriction-additional-insured-status\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Unfortunate (and Unexpected) Restriction on Additional Insured Status - Advise & Consult, Inc.","og_description":"New York Court of Appeals has focused on one word in deciding that a owner\u2019s construction manager was not entitled to additional insured status","og_url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/unfortunate-unexpected-restriction-additional-insured-status\/","og_site_name":"Advise & Consult, Inc.","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","article_published_time":"2018-04-13T14:52:58+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\/unfortunate-unexpected-restriction-additional-insured-status\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/unfortunate-unexpected-restriction-additional-insured-status\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7"},"headline":"Unfortunate (and Unexpected) Restriction on Additional Insured Status","datePublished":"2018-04-13T14:52:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/unfortunate-unexpected-restriction-additional-insured-status\/"},"wordCount":446,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Additional Insured","Advise & Consult","New York"],"articleSection":["Construction Contracts","Insurance Coverage"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/unfortunate-unexpected-restriction-additional-insured-status\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/unfortunate-unexpected-restriction-additional-insured-status\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/unfortunate-unexpected-restriction-additional-insured-status\/","name":"Unfortunate (and Unexpected) Restriction on Additional Insured Status - Advise & Consult, Inc.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-04-13T14:52:58+00:00","description":"New York Court of Appeals has focused on one word in deciding that a owner\u2019s construction manager was not entitled to additional insured status","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/unfortunate-unexpected-restriction-additional-insured-status\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","name":"Advise & 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\/p2ztG6-3KyV","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893973","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=893973"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":893974,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893973\/revisions\/893974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=893973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=893973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=893973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}