{"id":905779,"date":"2026-06-11T14:50:38","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T20:50:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=905779"},"modified":"2026-06-11T14:50:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T20:50:41","slug":"gross-disproportionality-rule-to-construction-damages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/gross-disproportionality-rule-to-construction-damages\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gross Disproportionality Exception to Construction Damages"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>John Mark Goodman and Joe Mack Curry II | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buildsmartbradley.com\/2026\/06\/the-gross-disproportionality-exception-to-construction-damages\/?utm_source=Bradley+Arant+Boult+Cummings+LLP+-+BuildSmart&amp;utm_campaign=f69dfa73b8-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_b504caf31b-f69dfa73b8-78863422\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">BuildSmart<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The usual measure of damages for breach of a construction contract is the cost to repair the defects or finish the incomplete work. But what if the cost to repair or compete is grossly disproportionate to the value that the additional work would create?&nbsp;In that case, some courts will instead measure damages based on diminution in value of the defective or incomplete structure. The West Virginia Supreme Court examined the so-called \u201cgross disproportionality rule\u201d last week in&nbsp;<em>Corotoman v. Central West Virginia Regional Airport Authority<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In that case, the defendant had agreed to remove a knoll from the plaintiff\u2019s property and to decrease the elevation by another 35 feet through over-blasting to make the property flatter and more marketable.&nbsp;The defendant removed the knoll but did not perform the over-blasting, which the parties agreed would cost over $4.3 million. The federal trial court found insufficient evidence as to the value of the plaintiff\u2019s property \u2014 which had previously appraised for $180,000 \u2014 and therefore awarded nominal damages to the plaintiff. On appeal, the Fourth Circuit asked the West Virginia Supreme Court to clarify whether gross-disproportionality is the law in West Virginia and, if so, how it works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First, the court confirmed that West Virginia does indeed follow the gross-disproportionality rule. Second, it confirmed that gross-disproportionality is determined by comparing cost to repair or complete with diminution in value.&nbsp;Where the cost to complete is clearly or grossly disproportionate to the diminution in value, the measure of damages is the latter, not the former. Third, the breaching party has the burden of invoking and proving gross disproportionality.&nbsp;Finally, if the breaching party does not prove gross disproportionality, then the non-breaching party\u2019s proven measure of damages applies. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How this impacts the trial court\u2019s award of nominal damages remains to be decided by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, so stayed tuned.\u00a0A full copy of the court\u2019s opinion is available\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.buildsmartbradley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2026\/06\/24-661-Signed-Opinion.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When one of your cases is in need of a construction expert, estimates, insurance appraisal or umpire services in defect or insurance disputes &#8211; please call Advise &amp; Consult, Inc. at 801.641.8304, or email <a href=\"mailto:experts@adviseandconsult.net\">experts@adviseandconsult.net<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Republished with permission. The article, \u201cThe Gross Disproportionality Exception to Construction Damages\u201d was originally published on BuildSmart by Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP. Copyright 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>John Mark Goodman and Joe Mack Curry II | BuildSmart The usual measure of damages for breach of a construction contract is the cost to repair the defects or finish the incomplete work. But what if the cost to repair or compete is grossly disproportionate to the value that the additional work would create?&nbsp;In that&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/gross-disproportionality-rule-to-construction-damages\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The Gross Disproportionality Exception to Construction Damages<\/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":[9,9721],"tags":[9895,224,12332,56,8324],"class_list":["post-905779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-contracts","category-property-damage","tag-advise-consult","tag-construction-contract","tag-gross-disproportionality-rule","tag-property-damage","tag-west-virginia","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>The Gross Disproportionality Exception to Construction Damages - Advise &amp; 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