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AMERICAN TOWERS OWNERS v. CCI MECHANICAL12/20/1996
ty other than the product itself. Maack defined economic loss as " ' amages for inadequate value, costs of repair and replacement of the defective product, or consequent loss of profits — without any claim of personal injury or damage to other property.' " 875 P.2d at 580 (emphasis added) (citations omitted). The Association alleges that as a result of the leaking pipes, its members suffered damage to walls, wall coverings, carpeting, wall hangings, curtains, and other furnishings.
This argument fails because in this case the "property" was the entire complex itself that was constructed as an integrated unit under one general contract. In Casa Clara Condominium Ass'n, 620 So.2d at 1244, a condominium owners association brought a negligence claim against a concrete supplier for damages to repair defective concrete. After explaining the distinction between tort recoveries for physical injuries and contract/warranty recovery for economic loss, the court addressed the owners' argument that the concrete had damaged "other" property. The court rejected the argument, stating:
These homeowners bought finished products — dwellings — not the individual components of those dwellings. They bargained for the finished products, not their various components. The concrete became an integral part of the finished product and, thus, did not injure "other" property.
Id. at 1247.
Similarly, in Sensenbrenner v. Rust, Orling & Neale, Architects, Inc., 236 Va. 419, 374 S.E.2d 55 (1988), homeowners filed a negligence action against their architects and builders after their swimming pool settled, causing damage to the pool, the water lines, and the home's foundation. The court concluded that the claim was barred by the economic loss rule:
The plaintiffs here allege nothing more than disappointed economic expectations. They contracted with a builder for the purchase of a package. The package included land, design services, and construction of a dwelling. The package also included a foundation for the dwelling, a pool, and a pool enclosure. The package is alleged to have been defective — one or more of its component parts was sufficiently substandard as to cause damage to other parts. The effect of the failure of the substandard parts to meet the bargained-for level of quality was to cause a diminution in the value of the whole, measured by the cost of repair. This is a purely economic loss, for which the law of contracts provides the sole remedy.
Id. 374 S.E.2d at 58.
These cases are applicable here. The Association contends that the complex's plumbing and mechanical systems do not meet their expectations, resulting in a diminution in value of their purchase measured by the cost of repair. This deterioration of the complex does not qualify for the "damage to other property" exception to the economic loss doctrine. See East River Steamship, 476 U.S. at 870-71, 106 S.Ct. at 2302 (economic loss doctrine bars claim that negligently designed and manufactured turbines malfunctioned and damaged themselves, resulting in repair costs and loss of income). This interpretation is consistent with the court of appeals' decisions applying the economic loss rule in Maack, 875 P.2d at 573, and Schafir, 879 P.2d at 1386, where the plaintiffs claimed that construction defects caused water leakage into other parts of their homes.
The Association further contends that the economic loss rule should not apply to design professionals, although it fails to explain why this group is distinguishable from construction defendants. The plaintiff in Maack
alleged "negligent design and construction." 875 P.2d at 573 (emphasis added). Although the court of
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