 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Grand Cove II Condominium Ass'n6/11/1996
The opinion of the court was delivered by VILLANUEVA, J.A.D. (Retired and temporarily assigned on recall.)
We granted leave to appeal in two separate but related appeals from a Law Division order compelling Newark Insurance Company and Federal Insurance Company "at their own cost and expense fully defend" the developers of a residential complex. Previously, we had denied both insurance companies' motions for leave to appeal on the coverage issue. We now reverse.
Windsor Cove Associates was the sole developer/sponsor of Grand Cove, a condominium and cooperative development located on the Hudson River in Edgewater, New Jersey. Grand Cove is now plagued with major problems that include leaking and water intrusion, settling of fill and backfill material which has resulted in the cracking of concrete structures, and potential defects in the sanitary sewer system.
This construction defect litigation was brought in 1989 by a condominium association, a cooperative corporation and a master association (collectively, the Associations) on behalf of the owners of fifty-one residential condominium and cooperative units in Grand Cove (the Project). The Associations sought to recover damages for design and construction defects from parties who participated in the development, design and construction of the Project. They allege that many of these problems began to appear during construction.
In a Fourth Amended Complaint, the Associations asserted that the Developers were liable for damages caused by "severe design and construction deficiencies, defects, errors and omissions." In their Third Amendment to the Fourth Amended Complaint, the Associations asserted claims against the Developers for negligence, statutory violations, breach of contract and warranty, breach of fiduciary duty, and misrepresentation. The Associations claim that the damages allegedly sustained by them are "injury to the property of the Associations and the loss of the use and/or beneficial use thereof." The Associations' expert Carl F. Walter, III certified that this property damage existed in 1987 and "occurred in part in 1987"; the Associations make similar allegations.
The Developers filed a third-party complaint against four insurers, including the two primary carriers Federal Insurance Company (Federal) and Newark Insurance Company (Newark) (both collectively, the insurers or carriers), seeking a declaration of the insurers' obligation to defend and indemnify and alleging breach of contract. The third-party complaint relies solely on the underlying negligence claim. The issues involving Federal and Newark arise from the Fourth Amended Complaint filed in May 1993, which named the Developers and others as direct defendants.
According to the insurance carriers, the trial court permitted the plaintiff Associations to argue damages not asserted in the complaint, i.e., "damage to work performed by others on the project." In other words, the claims for coverage are that these insured Developers allegedly caused damage to the tangible property of other contractors on the Project. The insured Developers, for example, "were performing construction management services, . . . making design decisions, . . . changing the quality of the work in many instances without the knowledge or without the approval of . . . the design professional."
The Developers filed a motion for partial summary judgment for a declaratory judgment compelling Newark and Federal to defend them and reimburse them for defense costs already incurred. Newark and Federal filed separate cross-motions for summary judgment seeking dismissal of the declaratory judgment action. After oral argument the trial c
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 New Jersey Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|