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Calloway v. City of Reno2/29/2000
se, Oak Grove did not involve a single integrated product that "injured itself." The apartment complex there consisted of a number of separate apartment units that were each self-contained and constructed for the separate occupancy of the end users.
Pratt and Whitney, 107 Nev. at 538-39, 815 P.2d at 603.
Oak Grove did involve an entire apartment complex with separate apartment units; nevertheless, these units were part of the larger structure, and the heating and plumbing system served the entire complex. Although buildings may involve a more complicated system of "components," we do not discern a meaningful analytical difference between an airplane's engine and a building's heating and plumbing system. Both an airplane's engine and a building's heating and plumbing system are necessary and integrated parts of the greater whole; additionally, both are themselves comprised of smaller components. Consequently, when a heating and plumbing system damages the building as a whole, the building has injured itself and only economic losses have occurred. We therefore disapprove of our dictum in Oak Grove, which stated that the leaky fittings had not caused purely economic losses.
Other jurisdictions have concluded that a defective building creates only economic loss, even if the particular defect causes damage to other parts of the structure. See, e.g., Chicago Heights Venture v. Dynamit Nobel of America, 782 F.2d 723 (7th Cir. 1986) (holding roof material that failed during windstorm, resulting in leaks, was not legally significant, and only economic losses were at issue); Nastri v. Wood Bros. Homes, Inc., 690 P.2d 158 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1984)(holding cracks in kitchen floor, vinyl flooring, family room and bedroom, and buckling of the roof, cracked bricks and joists, all involved damage to the structure itself; therefore, only economic losses were presented and owners could not sue in tort); Danforth v. Acorn Structures, Inc., 608 A.2d 1194 (Del. 1992)(holding homeowner who brought tort action against seller of building kit for negligent design could not recover because deterioration of windows, door frames and exterior siding was strictly economic loss); Casa Clara v. Charley Toppino and Sons, 620 So. 2d 1244 (Fla. 1993)(holding homeowners could not recover in tort for allegedly defective concrete that cracked and broke off); Redarowicz v. Ohlendorf, 441 N.E.2d 324 (Ill. 1982)(holding owner of home who sought recovery for costs of repair and replacement for defectively constructed chimney, wall and patio suffered only economic losses not recoverable in tort because homeowner alleged only qualitative defects; inferior workmanship that leads to eventual deterioration is not properly addressed by tort law); Chenango C. Indus. D.A. v. Lockwood Greene E., 494 N.Y.S.2d 832 (1985)(holding building owners could not sue roofing material manufacturer in tort for cracks, splits and leaks in the roof because owners suffered only economic losses); American Towers Owners v. CCI Mechanical, 930 P.2d 1182 (Utah 1996)(holding condominium association could not pursue negligence claim against contractor and subcontractors for economic losses, which included repair costs and diminution of property values, plumbing problems, including pipe breaks and leaks and pressure loss and failures, as well as substandard components).
Here, the townhouses are part of larger, integrated structures, and the framing was an integral component of these structures. The damage caused by the allegedly defective framing therefore constituted damage to the structures themselves -– no "other" property damage resulted, and appellants suffered purely economic losses. Because of the alleged construction defects appellants fail
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