Duvio v. Specialty Pools Co.

216 So. 3d 999, 2015 La.App. 4 Cir. 0423, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 1167
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 16, 2016
DocketNo. 2015-CA-0423
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 216 So. 3d 999 (Duvio v. Specialty Pools Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Duvio v. Specialty Pools Co., 216 So. 3d 999, 2015 La.App. 4 Cir. 0423, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 1167 (La. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinions

SANDRA CABRINA JENKINS, Judge.

| iThis is an appeal of a jury award of $343,004.81 in favor of Appellee Armond Duvio, Jr. and against Appellants Specialty Pools Co., L.L.C. (“Specialty Pools”) and its insurer Scottsdale Insurance Company (“Scottsdale”), in solido. The jury also awarded Mr. Duvio $48,000.00 in liquidated damages against Specialty Pools. The jury verdict arises out of defects in a swimming pool designed and constructed by Specialty Pools at Mr. Duvio’s home in St. Bernard Parish. Specialty Pools and Scottsdale appeal the trial court judgments denying their pre-trial motions for partial summary judgment and exceptions of per-emption on Mr. Duvio’s construction deféct claims, and Appellants’ post-trial motions on the applicability of certain policy exclusions. Appellants also challenge a specific jury instruction and interrogatory regarding the cause of the damage to the pool, as well as the jury’s finding on the issue of causation. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm in all respects the trial court’s final judgment rendered in accordance with the jury’s verdict.

I .BACKGROUND FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The Contract.

On December 20, 2007, Mr. Duvio signed a written proposal/agreement (the “Contract”) with Specialty Pools for the construction of a custom swimming pool at Mr. Duvio’s home in St. Bernard Parish. Specialty Pools agreed to provide all equipment, materials, and labor to install the pool in accordance with Specialty Pools’ plans and specifications, with an original contract price of $183,694.000.1 The Contract’s specifications for the pilings under the pool state: “By Owner, Additional $50.00 per piling upon approved layout by Owner.” In the Contract, Specialty Pools “guaranteed the workmanship to be free from defects for a period of one year from the date of acceptance.”

In a separate Proposal/Agreement signed on December 20, 2007 (the “Piling Contract”), Specialty Pools agreed to provide all equipment, materials, and labor to install 45 40-foot pilings under the pool, with the notation “[ojwner to approve layout.” On February 7, 2008, Mr. Duvio signed a change order in which Specialty Pools agreed to provide all equipment, materials, and labor to install those additional pilings pursuant to “plans and specifications.”

Notice of Default of Contract.

On April 21, 2008, Mr. Duvio sent Specialty Pools a “Default of Contract” notice stating that Specialty Pools was “long past [the] completion date” given that “[t]he contract was signed on December 7, 2007 with 4 months to completion on April 10, 2008.” Mr. Duvio stated in the notice that “[a]s we are not charging liquidated damages up to now, we will give you to May 10, 2008. After this date Ryou will be charged $500.00 a day for liquidated damages as per our verbal agreement on and before signing of the contract.”

On February 9, 2009, counsel for Mr. Duvio sent a letter to Specialty Pools listing the outstanding issues that had yet to be resolved. One of the issues was liquidated damages:

Liquidated Damages. There is an issue related to liquidated damages as a result of Specialty Pools not competing installation until July 1, 2008. Pursuant to the contract, the pool was to be completed by April 10, 2008. As a result, there are 81 days of liquidated damages at $500 per day to be addressed.

[1005]*1005On February 13, 2009, Merlin DeCorte, Vice-President of Specialty Pools, sent an e-mail to his attorney, which was forwarded to Mr. Duvio. Mr. DeCorte’s e-mail states the following regarding the issue of liquidated damages:

Item # 6—Liquidated Damages
Specialty Pools Company disagrees completely with this allegation. As per our contract agreement, Specialty Pools would get paid upon the completion of each schedule of value. In addition, Mr. Duvio agreed to pay us 5 days after each submittal. This was a change to our original agreement by Mr. Duvio to reflect his needs to the contract in the event he had to hire another company to complete his pool.

Original Petition.

On March 27, 2009, Mr. Duvio filed suit against Specialty Pools and “ABC Insurance Company.” The original Petition asserted causes of action for redhibition, negligence, and breach of contract. In general, the Petition alleges that Specialty Pools breached its duty to Mr. Duvio to construct the pool in a proper and/or work-' manlike manner, and free from defects.

The Petition alleged eight “non-exclusive” acts of negligence by Specialty Pools: (1) failure to install the pool at the proper height; (2) failure to properly grade the pool deck; (3) failure to properly install the deck drain system; (4) failure to install non-slip strips at the top of the pool’s waterfall; (5) failure to properly | ¿install the automatic pool cleaning system; (6) failure to properly install the pavers and related foundation; (7) failure to properly install all fire columns; and (8) such other ways as identified through discovery and/or at trial.

The breach of contract claim alleged that Specialty Pools agreed to deliver the completed pool by April 20, 20082, but did not deliver the pool until July 3, 2008, “albeit incomplete.” The Petition sought damages for, inter alia: (1) failure to complete the pool by April 20, 2008; (2) breach of the guarantee that the workmanship was free from defects for a period of one year from the date of acceptance of the pool; (3) improper functioning of the pool cleaning system and fire columns; (4) leaks in the deck drain system; (5) overflow of rain water into the deck drain system as opposed to the grass as specified; (6) slippery steps at the top of the waterfall; and (7) subsidence of the pav-ers. The original Petition also sought liquidated damages of $500.00 per day anjl reimbursement of the cost of investigating and repairing the defects.

First Amended Petition.

On April 17, 2009, Mr. Duvio filed a First Amended Petition, which substituted Scottsdale, Specialty Pools’ commercial general liability (“CGL”) insurer, as a direct action defendant. The First Amended Petition asserted a new claim for coverage under the policy, but mostly reiterated the allegations in the original Petition.

Second Amended Petition.

On August 17, 2014, Mr. Duvio filed a Second Amended and Supplemental Petition (“Second Amended Petition”) in which he asserted that, since the delivery Lof the pool in July 2008, Mr. Duvio had discovered, among other defects, severe cracking and leaks in and around the pool, which allegedly resulted from differential settling. Mr. Duvio asserted three theories of recovery: (1) breach of statutory warranty under La. Civ.Code art. [1006]*10062762; (2) negligence in failing to properly design and install the pilings under the pool; and (3) breach of the guarantee of workmanship which resulted in the differential settlement of the pool. Mr. Duvio also asserted a claim for breach of contract arising from Specialty Pools’ alleged breach of its oral agreement to complete and deliver the pool by April 20, 2008, and to pay Mr. Duvio $500.00 per day in liquidated damages until completion.

Motions for Partial Summary Judgment/Exceptions of Peremption.

On July 16, 2014, Specialty Pools filed a Motion for Partial Summary Judgment which sought, inter alia, a judgment finding that Mr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
216 So. 3d 999, 2015 La.App. 4 Cir. 0423, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 1167, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/duvio-v-specialty-pools-co-lactapp-2016.