Dorchester Development Corp. v. Safeco Insurance

737 S.W.2d 380, 1987 Tex. App. LEXIS 8395
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 4, 1987
Docket05-86-01003-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by60 cases

This text of 737 S.W.2d 380 (Dorchester Development Corp. v. Safeco Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dorchester Development Corp. v. Safeco Insurance, 737 S.W.2d 380, 1987 Tex. App. LEXIS 8395 (Tex. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

ENOCH, Chief Justice.

Appellant, Dorchester Development Corporation (Dorchester), appeals from a summary judgment rendered in favor of Safeco Insurance Company (Safeco). Safeco obtained a judgment that it was not liable to and owed no duty to Dorchester in connection with a suit by B & L Sunflower Associates Ltd. (B & L) against Dorchester (the “B & L suit”) under an insurance policy issued by Safeco to Dorchester.

Because we find that none of appellant’s points of error have merit, we overrule each and affirm the judgment of the trial court.-

NATURE OF THE CASE

B & L Sunflower filed suit against Dor-chester for damages resulting from construction by Dorchester, as general contractor, of an apartment complex in Dallas. Dorchester demanded that Safeco, its insurer, defend it in the suit pursuant to the terms of the insurance policy. Safeco refused.

Dorchester later settled the B & L suit and demanded that Safeco reimburse it for the cost of settling, including attorney’s fees, pursuant to the terms of the insurance policy. Safeco again refused.

Safeco brought suit against Dorchester for a declaratory judgment as to its liability under the contract of insurance. In answer and by way of counterclaim, Dorches-ter asserted that Safeco was obligated to defend Dorchester in the B & L suit and to provide coverage for Dorchester’s liability pursuant to the terms of the insurance contract. Additionally, Dorchester asserted in the alternative that Safeco misrepresented the terms of the policy that it sold to Dorchester by representing that the policy would insure Dorchester against the type of losses it sustained as a result of the B & L suit.

A summary judgment was rendered in Safeco’s favor stating that Safeco owed no duty to Dorchester under the contract with regard to the B & L suit and that the misrepresentation by Safeco’s agents, if any, was immaterial.

POLICY PROVISIONS

The insurance policy at issue in this case provides coverage for:

all sums which the insured [Dorchester] ... shall become legally obligated to pay as damages because of ... property damage ... caused by an occurrence ... and [Safeco] shall have the right and duty to defend any suit against the insured seeking damages on account of such ... property damages_

(Emphasis added).

In its motion for summary judgment, Safe-co relied on exclusion Y(2)(d)(iii) of the policy to support its assertion that it owed Dorchester no duty to defend under the policy. Y(2)(d)(iii) provides in pertinent part, as follows:

*382 This policy does not apply: ... to property damage ... to ... that particular part of any property not on premises owned by or rented to the insured, ... the restoration, repair or replacement of which has been made or is necessary by reason of faulty workmanship thereon by or on behalf of the insured.

POINTS OP ERROR

Dorchester raises five points of error on appeal. In point of error one, Dorchester argues that the trial court erred in granting Safeco’s motion for summary judgment. The reasons for such a contention are embodied in the other four points of error and this first point is coupled with each remaining point in Dorchester’s argument. For the reasons stated below, we are not persuaded by the substance of appellant’s argument in points of error two through five; consequently, point of error one is overruled.

In point of error two, Dorchester argues that the trial court erred in holding, as a matter of law, that the exclusion in the insurance policy precluded recovery by Dorchester from Safeco for the claims against Dorchester in the B & L suit. We do not agree.

Although no Texas cases were cited by the parties on point, we understand that it is the pleadings, in conjunction with the terms of the insurance policy, that define an insurer’s duty to defend. In Heyden Newport Chemical v. Southern General Ins. Co., 387 S.W.2d 22, 24 (Tex.1965) the supreme court held that in determining an insurance company’s duty to defend, the complaint should be considered in light of the policy provisions. The court of appeals in Maryland Casualty Co. v. Moritz, 138 S.W.2d 1095, 1097 (Tex.Civ.App.—Austin 1940, writ ref’d) (cited with approval in Heyden), held that the liability of an insurer to defend depends upon the allegations of the plaintiff’s petition.

In the. B & L suit, the only complaint alleged by B & L against Dorchester was for the failure of Dorchester to repair or remedy the defective workmanship described in the plaintiff’s petition. Specifically, B & L’s petition complains that 1) some concrete flooring on the third floor was defective because it was prepared improperly and had started to crumble; 2) various gutters were improperly primed and the stain had peeled; and 3) Dorches-ter failed to use concrete perimeter beams under certain patio slabs. There is no complaint that any other property was damaged as a result of this defective workmanship.

The policy exclusion in this case prohibits coverage of property damage to that particular part of any property, the restoration, repair or replacement of which is necessary because oí faulty workmanship by the insured.

However, if defective work is performed by or on behalf of the insured, and such defective work causes damage to other work of the insured which was not defective, then there would be coverage for repair, replacement or restoration of the work which was not defective. Stated simply, there is no coverage for faulty workmanship. See Eulich v. Home Indemnity Co., 503 S.W.2d 846 (Tex.Civ.App.—Dallas 1973, writ ref’d n.r.e.).

Exclusion Y(2)(d)(iii) was discussed in McCord, Condron & McDonald Inc. v. Twin City Fire Ins. Co., 607 S.W.2d 956 (Tex.Civ.App.—Port Worth 1980, writ ref’d n.r.e.). In that case, the court said that the language in Eulich applied where it says that the policy “does not insure the contractor against his own failure to perform his contract, but does insure him against liability for damages other than to the building itself as the result of his performance, whether defective or otherwise.” Id. 607 S.W.2d at 958.

It is apparent, pursuant to exclusion Y(2)(d)(iii), that this policy was not intended to insure against the repair of faulty workmanship by or on behalf of Dorchester. Therefore, because the claim of B & L was limited to losses due solely to faulty workmanship as stated in the pleadings, the trial court properly granted summary judgment for Safeco finding that exclusion Y(2)(d)(iii) was controlling.

*383

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Bluebook (online)
737 S.W.2d 380, 1987 Tex. App. LEXIS 8395, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dorchester-development-corp-v-safeco-insurance-texapp-1987.