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Town of Alma v. Azco Construction

9/18/2000

Certiorari to the Colorado Court of Appeals


EN BANC JUDGMENT AFFIRMED AND CASE REMANDED


We issued a writ of certiorari to review the court of appeals' judgment in Town of Alma v. AZCO Constr., Inc., 985 P.2d 56 (Colo. App. 1999). The Town of Alma, joined by several individual town residents, filed suit against AZCO Construction, Inc. ("AZCO"), asserting claims for breach of contract, breach of the implied warranty of sound workmanship, and negligence. The trial court dismissed Petitioners' negligence and breach of implied warranty of sound workmanship claims and a jury returned a verdict for AZCO on the breach of contract claim. Petitioners appealed the trial court's dismissal of its negligence and breach of implied warranty of sound workmanship claims and the court of appeals affirmed the dismissal of the claims. We granted Petitioners' petition for writ of certiorari to review the court of appeals' judgment affirming the trial court's dismissal of Petitioners' negligence claim. We now affirm the judgment of the court of appeals.


FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY


Petitioners' amended complaint alleged the following facts. On October 28, 1992, the town and AZCO entered into a contract for the construction of improvements to Petitioners' water distribution system. The contract called for AZCO to install new water mains, and to tie those water mains to existing water service lines which served residential properties in the town. Pursuant to the contract, AZCO agreed to furnish all labor, equipment, and materials for the connection of the existing water service lines with the new water mains. The contract contained two separate warranty provisions. Section 29.1 of the contract, titled "GUARANTEE," provided, "[AZCO] shall guarantee all materials and equipment furnished and WORK performed for a period of one (1) year from the date of SUBSTANTIAL COMPLETION. [AZCO] warrants and guarantees . . . that the completed system is free from all defects due to faulty materials or workmanship . . . ." In addition, section 3.3.1 of the "Special Conditions" attached to the contract, titled "MAINTENANCE AND GUARANTY," provided, "[AZCO] hereby guarantees that the entire work constructed by under the contract will fully meet all requirements of the contract as to quality of workmanship and materials . . . . [AZCO] hereby agrees to make at own expense, any repairs or replacement made necessary by defects in materials or workmanship supplied by that become evident within one year after the date of final payment . . . ."


In 1993, AZCO installed 115 flared fittings for the water service line connections. In June 1995, Petitioners discovered leaks in three water service line connections that AZCO installed pursuant to the contract. AZCO repaired those three leaks under the one-year warranty provision of the contract. In November 1995 and June 1996, additional leaks in water service line connections were discovered but AZCO refused to repair these leaks on the basis that the one-year warranty provision had expired. The leaks were repaired at the expense of individual town residents.


Petitioners filed suit against AZCO on November 27, 1996, asserting claims for breach of contract, breach of the implied warranty of sound workmanship, negligence per se, and negligence. Two more leaks were discovered in June 1997, after Petitioners had filed their original complaint against AZCO, and AZCO again refused to repair the leaks. Petitioners subsequently filed an amended complaint seeking damages for the cost to repair or replace every water service line connection installed or repaired by AZCO.


Petitioners voluntarily dismissed their negligence per se claim a

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