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Craftsman Builder's Supply Inc. v. Butler Manufacturing Co.3/5/1999
This opinion is subject to revision before final publication in the Pacific Reporter.
Fourth District, Wasatch County The Honorable Anthony W. Schofield
Craftsman Builder's Supply, Inc., appeals from the district court's entry of summary judgment barring its claims against defendants. Craftsman sued Butler Manufacturing Company and U.S. Construction, Inc., for damages arising out of the collapse of Craftsman's building. The district court held that Utah Code Ann. § 78-12-25.5 (1996) (the "builders statute of repose") barred Craftsman's causes of action. We affirm.
BACKGROUND
In 1977, Craftsman entered into a contract with U.S. Construction wherein U.S. Construction agreed to locate and erect a prefabricated metal building for Craftsman. Pursuant to the specifications provided by Craftsman, the roof of the building was to withstand forty pounds per square foot. U.S. Construction ordered the building from Butler and erected it in 1978. Fifteen years later, on February 25, 1993, the roof of the building collapsed under the weight of snow.
On February 24, 1995, Craftsman sued Butler, seeking damages under theories of products liability, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty of merchantability, and negligence. Craftsman later amended its complaint, adding U.S. Construction as a defendant. Thereafter, U.S. Construction moved for summary judgment, arguing that Craftsman's claims were barred by the applicable statutes of limitation and by the builders statute of repose. The district court agreed and, on August 19, 1996, granted U.S. Construction's motion.
First, the court held that the products liability action was filed within the two-year products liability statute of limitations. The products liability statute requires the action to be brought within two years from the time that both the harm and its cause were discovered or should have been discovered. See Utah Code Ann. § 78-15-3 (1996). Because the court found no evidence that Craftsman should have discovered its action prior to February 25, 1993, the products liability action filed on February 24, 1995, was within the limitations period.
Second, the court held that the contract to locate and erect a prefabricated metal building was predominantly a contract for the sale of goods and, as a result, the Uniform Commercial Code's ("UCC") four-year statute of limitations applied. Id. § 70A-2-725 (Supp. 1998). Section 70A-2-725 provides in part:
"(2) A cause of action accrues when the breach occurs, regardless of the aggrieved party's lack of knowledge of the breach. A breach of warranty occurs when tender of delivery is made, except that where a warranty explicitly extends to future performance of the goods and discovery of the breach must await the time of such performance the cause of action accrues when the breach is or should have been discovered."
Craftsman argued that the transaction was for the sale of services and, thus, the UCC statute of limitations should not apply, but that even if it did apply, the written specifications that the roof was to withstand forty pounds per square foot constituted a warranty explicitly extending to future performance. Therefore, Craftsman asserted, its warranty causes of action did not accrue until 1993 when the building collapsed. The court rejected this argument and held that the references in the building's specifications to "a live load of 40" and "40# psf LL" did not "create a credible issue of material fact that an explicit warranty was given" and that, as a result, the warranty claims were barred.
Third, the court held that under Utah Code Ann. § 78-12-25(3), a
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 Utah Personal Injury Attorneys
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