Century Display Manufacturing Corp. v. D. R. Wager Construction Co.

376 N.E.2d 993, 71 Ill. 2d 428, 18 A.L.R. 4th 1160, 17 Ill. Dec. 664, 1978 Ill. LEXIS 267
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedMay 16, 1978
Docket49469
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 376 N.E.2d 993 (Century Display Manufacturing Corp. v. D. R. Wager Construction Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Century Display Manufacturing Corp. v. D. R. Wager Construction Co., 376 N.E.2d 993, 71 Ill. 2d 428, 18 A.L.R. 4th 1160, 17 Ill. Dec. 664, 1978 Ill. LEXIS 267 (Ill. 1978).

Opinion

MR. JUSTICE RYAN

delivered the opinion of the court:

This action was filed in the circuit court of Cook County by plaintiffs, Century Display Manufacturing Corporation (Century), and Hartford Fire Insurance Company and Reliance Insurance Company, subrogees of Drovers National Bank of Chicago, trustee, against United States Steel Corporation (U.S. Steel), and two other defendants not involved in this appeal, to recover damages for fire loss to Century’s property. Plaintiffs’ complaint alleged both negligence (count II) and willful and wanton conduct (count III) by U.S. Steel. The court allowed U.S. Steel’s motion for summary judgment and plaintiffs appealed. The appellate court affirmed the circuit court with respect to count II, but reversed and remanded as to count III. (46 Ill. App. 3d 643.) We granted plaintiffs’ petition for leave to appeal from that portion of the appellate court’s order affirming summary judgment for U.S. Steel with respect to count II, and pursuant to our Rule 318 (58 Ill. 2d R. 318) we have granted U.S. Steel’s request to review the appellate court’s order reversing summary judgment as to count III.

On April 28, 1970, U.S. Steel entered into a contract to sell to Century premises formerly known as U.S. Steel Chemical Division, which had been used for the manufacture of various organic coating products until 1967, when production at the plant ceased. Included in the sale of the building were various fixtures, including pipes and tanks which had been used for the transmission and storage of the materials and chemicals used in the manufacture of the coating products. Among the materials that had been contained in the tanks and pipes were asphalt solvents, kerosene, and several other flammable products.

Century went into possession of the premises on May 14, 1970. Soon thereafter, Century retained D. R. Wager Construction Company, Inc., to remodel portions of the building. On August 5, 1970, a fire broke out at the site where Wager was working on the premises. While the exact cause of the fire is undetermined, allegedly the flammable liquid still in the tanks and pipes was ignited in the course of Wager’s work. The ensuing blaze ultimately destroyed the building and other property which Century had stored on the premises.

The plaintiffs sought recovery for damages to the property from Wager and its alleged agent, as well as from U.S. Steel. Count I of the complaint was directed against Wager and the alleged agent, who are not parties to the present appeal.

Counts II and III against U.S. Steel are premised upon sections 352 and 353 of the Restatement (Second) of . Torts, both of which have been acknowledged by this court as stating the law in Illinois. (See Sparling v. Peabody Coal Co. (1974), 59 Ill. 2d 491.) Section 352 sets forth the general proposition that a vendor of land is not liable for physical harm to a vendee or to others after the vendee has taken possession caused by a dangerous condition, which condition existed at the time the vendee took possession. (Restatement (Second) of Torts sec. 352 (1965); Anderson v. Cosmopolitan National Bank (1973), 54 Ill. 2d 504.) Section 353 of the Restatement carves out an exception to the general rule of nonliability, applicable when the vendor conceals or fails to disclose to his vendee a condition which poses an unreasonable risk to persons on the land. Section 353 provides:

“(1) A vendor of land who conceals or fails to disclose to his vendee any condition, whether natural or artificial, which involves unreasonable risk to persons on the land, is subject to liability to the vendee and others upon the land with the consent of the vendee or his sub vendee for physical harm caused by the condition after the vendee has taken possession, if
(a) the vendee does not know or have reason to know of the condition or the risk involved, and
(b) the vendor knows or has reason to know of the condition, and realizes or should realize the risk involved, and has reason to believe that the vendee will not discover the condition or realize the risk.
(2) If the vendor actively conceals the condition, the liability stated in Subsection (1) continues until the vendee discovers it and has reasonable opportunity to take effective precautions against it. Otherwise the liability continues only until the vendee has had reasonable opportunity to discover the condition and to take such precautions.”

The appellate court held, and U.S. Steel urges in this court, that recovery for damage to property is not authorized under the law as stated in section 353 except in cases where a contractor-builder sells newly constructed residential property to a layman. It is defendant’s contention that the term “physical harm,” as contained in section 353, does not include damages to property but refers solely to recovery for personal injuries. However, section 7(3) of the Restatement (Second) of Torts (1965) states:

“The words ‘physical harm’ are used throughout the Restatement of this Subject to denote the physical impairment of the human body, or of land or chattels.”

Again, in comment e to section 7 it is stated:

“Physical harm. The words ‘physical harm’ are used to denote physical impairment of the human body, or of tangible property, which is to say land or chattels. Where the harm is impairment of the body, it is called ‘bodily harm,’ as to which see section 15.”

Although the overwhelming majority of cases in this area of tort liability concern themselves with recovery for damages incurred as a result of bodily injury (see Annot., 8 A.L.R.2d 218 (1949); Annot., 48 A.L.R.3d 1027 (1973); 65 C.J.S. Negligence sec. 93 (1966)), it is clear that the term “physical harm,” as used in section 353, encompasses damages to tangible property as well as injuries to the person. Because of the disposition we make of this case we need not decide another of defendant’s contentions, that is, whether recovery under section 353 is permissible for damages to the property which is the subject of the transfer from the vendor to the vendee, or whether such recovery is limited to damages to other property of the vendee which is located on the conveyed premises.

Although we have held that the appellate court erred in failing to apply section 353 of the Restatement to cases involving property damage, we nonetheless conclude that the appellate court properly affirmed the order of the trial court granting summary judgment for U.S. Steel on count II. Summary judgment is proper when the pleadings, together with depositions, the affidavits and other materials filed in support of and in opposition to the motion, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. (Econo Lease, Inc. v. Noffsinger (1976), 63 Ill. 2d 390; Fooden v. Board of Governors (1971), 48 Ill. 2d 580.) Voluminous materials, consisting of affidavits, answers to detailed interrogatories, and depositions, were filed by both parties. After considering all of these we conclude that there was no triable issue of material fact and that the defendant was entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

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376 N.E.2d 993, 71 Ill. 2d 428, 18 A.L.R. 4th 1160, 17 Ill. Dec. 664, 1978 Ill. LEXIS 267, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/century-display-manufacturing-corp-v-d-r-wager-construction-co-ill-1978.