Arnold v. Edelman

392 S.W.2d 231, 1965 Mo. LEXIS 749
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedJuly 12, 1965
Docket50962
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 392 S.W.2d 231 (Arnold v. Edelman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Arnold v. Edelman, 392 S.W.2d 231, 1965 Mo. LEXIS 749 (Mo. 1965).

Opinion

HIGGINS, Commissioner.

Hattie Arnold recovered judgment against Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Company, garnishee, in sum $33,881.01, and garnishee has appealed. Edelman-Lyon has appealed from that portion of the judgment denying them attorneys’ fees from garnishee.

Prior to this garnishment proceeding, Hattie Arnold sued Edelman-Lyon for negligent failure to make proper setting of the panic exit device on revolving doors installed by them for the City of Kansas City, Missouri, and obtained judgment for $30,-000 damages which was affirmed on appeal. Arnold v. Edelman, Mo., 375 S.W.2d 167.

It was admitted that garnishee issued the insurance policy in evidence covering Edelman-Lyon, but garnishee denied liability under a products hazard exclusion endorsement alleging that the construction, erection, and installation of the revolving doors had been completed and possession relinquished to the City of Kansas City before plaintiff’s injury, and that coverage did not extend to Edelman-Lyon at such time. Upon trial before a jury all the evidence came from plaintiff and it included the transcript on appeal in Arnold v. Edelman, supra, and the contracts between Edelman-Lyon and the door manufacturer and between Edelman-Lyon and Kansas City.

Walter D. Myers, a professional engineer and assistant city engineer, testified that he was in charge of the city hall where the revolving doors were installed. Plans and specifications for repairing revolving doors in the city hall were written under his supervision. He certified that the job was completed November 21, 1957, and that he then accepted the job on behalf of the City and approved the October 8, 1957, invoice of Edelman-Lyon for payment. The invoice was paid December 16, 1957. The injury to Mrs. Arnold occurred October 23, 1957, and prior to that date the witness had received complaints about the doors collapsing. Upon receipt of such complaints he called Edelman-Lyon to make adjustments which was part of the understanding under the contract. On December 10, 1957, Low-rie Lyon of Edelman-Lyon advised him by *233 note that “The revolving door wings are holding in this wind which is as strong as I have ever seen it. The guard in the lobby tells me that the wings haven’t collapsed since I tightened them November 30; however, they are still within code requirements.” There were no payments for the adjustments other than the contract price, it being intended that adjustments would be made until acceptance of the doors. Correspondence between the manufacturer and Mr. Myers showed that the writer, Ray Goad, a Mr. Graves, and Edelman and Lyon inspected the doors November 21, 1957, at which time the doors had been adjusted to withstand draft and wind pressures but would still collapse under emergency conditions. This was after Edelman-Lyon increased the tension on the panic exit device following Mrs. Arnold’s incident of October 23, 1957.

Mr. Myers also identified the scope of the work to be done by Edelman-Lyon as consisting of “furnishing all labor, tools, equipment, and supplies and performing all work necessary for and incidental to replace the north and south revolving doors with new ones and related mechanisms,” and he considered the duty of adjusting the doors to come within that scope, and that “we expect the contractor to come back and make final adjustments before any job is accepted.” The contract agreement stated: “ ‘To Complete the Work’ shall mean that all work required is complete and ready for final acceptance;” and, by reference the contract contained standard General Provisions of Contract applicable to all Kansas City contracts which stated: “Until work is accepted by the Director of Public Works, it shall be in the custody and under the charge and care of the contractor.” The contract also contained a certificate from Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Company to the City showing, among other things, that Edelman-Lyon had “Contractors’ Bodily Injury Liability $100,000/|300,000” in connection with “Replacement and overhauling of revolving doors” at the City Hall in Kansas City, Missouri.

The work was begun by Edelman-Lyon September 25, 1957, and the doors were in place for use October 9, 1957, but not accepted by the City until November 21, 1957. Edelman-Lyon adjusted the panic exit device on October 21, October 24, and October 30, 1957, and, in addition, tests were made on the doors November 21, 1957, by Mr. Goad, on which occasions the door was out of service. The City considered the adjustments as part of the installation because “we consider a job not fully installed until accepted by the City.”

Ray C. Goad testified that he was in the revolving door division of International Steel Company when the doors in question were supplied by that company for installation by Edelman-Lyon. He was in Kansas City November 21, 1957, to test these doors. He stated that upon call from a customer the installer returns to the job and makes adjustments of the door’s panic exit device. “(I)f he doesn’t he doesn’t get paid. * * * it is part of the job of installing the door and completing the installation.” Under the arrangement between Edelman-Lyon and the manufacturer it was also anticipated that Edelman-Lyon would continue servicing a door until final acceptance by the customer. “In the case of this particular job they would have to adjust it to suit the job’s conditions as they found them.” He indicated that the adjustments cannot be made until after the door is in place for some time, and that this was true of this job because there were problems in the city hall due to “stack draft” which is a pressure encountered in tall buildings caused by the rise of heated air leaving a minus pressure around doors at ground level. The necessary servicing is a duty of the contractor until final acceptance by the customer.

John H. Edelman of Edelman-Lyon went with Mr. Goad to inspect the job November 21, 1957. He also testified that he generally installs the doors with the panic exit device at its factory setting, and that they adjust the device to meet the conditions of the job. “Your aim is the lowest setting *234 that is correct for the job to hold it, and this is a necessary part of finishing it up.” The Edelman-Lyon payroll record showed that they had four people on the job from “10/4 to 10/10”; that they sent Jesse Curtis, a mechanic, to the job on October 21, 1957; that they sent Curtis to the job again on October 24, 1957, after a complaint October 21 of the doors collapsing and the injury October 23 to Mrs. Arnold; that they would not have sent Curtis there if the door had been adjusted satisfactorily; that all these items were a part of the job and under the lump sum contract payment. His experience was that ten to fifteen per cent of the doors required adjustments from factory settings on the panic exit device; that no extra charges were made for the adjustments, and responsibility was on his company until final acceptance by the City. He did not consider the job complete until adjustments were made and final acceptance by the City occurred. Lumbermens Mutual examined the contract with the City in order to provide Edelman-Lyon with the coverage required by the contract. Mr. Edelman and Mr. Lyon went to the job site October 23, 1957, when Mrs. Arnold was injured.

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Bluebook (online)
392 S.W.2d 231, 1965 Mo. LEXIS 749, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/arnold-v-edelman-mo-1965.