Condo Defect Claim Dismissed on Causation Grounds

A fitting way to end the week...the latest dispatch from the Great Condo Wars:  Division 1's recent opinion in Ballard Residential v. Pacific Rim Framing establishes: Defect Causation:  The condo used prefabricated Tyvek panels for the exterior.  Pacific Rim did not install the Tyvek, but did list in its scope of work the obligation to "staple and tape ends of panelizer installed Tyvek vapor barrier."  Eventually, the Tyvek panels fell off and/or permitted water intrusion.  The Association sued Pacific Rim (the framer) for its alleged losses; in a decision that renews faith in the ability to get and defend a summary judgment even on a complex record, Division 1 sifted the evidence and concluded there was no breach by Pacific Rim of its limited duty to staple down the Tyvek that actually caused the Association's alleged losses.  Indemnity:  Just as its breach claim against Pacific Rim failed for lack of causation, so too the Association's claim that the framer was required to indemnify for the siding failure fell apart because the claim was not one "arising out of, resulting from or connected with" Pacific Rim's own scope of work.  The Court refused to treat the standard indemnity clause as a type of project-wide insurance. Tender of Defense:  The Court called the Association's notice of tender of defense to Pacific Rim "perfunctory" and suggested that for such a tender to be valid, the tender must be accompanied by a bill of particulars actually establishing the fact of the indemnitor's ultimate liability...but since this is an unpublished decision, take that with a grain of salt.Copy of opinion also available here Download file