Fredeman Shipyard, Inc. v. WELDON MILLER CONTR., INC.

497 So. 2d 370
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 5, 1986
Docket85-1250
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 497 So. 2d 370 (Fredeman Shipyard, Inc. v. WELDON MILLER CONTR., INC.) 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
Fredeman Shipyard, Inc. v. WELDON MILLER CONTR., INC., 497 So. 2d 370 (La. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

497 So.2d 370 (1986)

FREDEMAN SHIPYARD, INC., Plaintiff-Second Appellant,
v.
WELDON MILLER CONTRACTORS, INC., Defendant-First Appellant.

No. 85-1250.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

November 5, 1986.

*371 Camp, Carmouche, Van M. Davidson, Jr., Lake Charles, for plaintiff-appellee-appellant.

Hunter and Plattsmier, Charles B. Plattsmier, Morgan City, for defendant-appellant-appellee.

Plauche, Smith and Nieset, Jeffrey M. Cole, Lake Charles, for defendant-appellee.

Before GUIDRY, DOUCET and KING, JJ.

KING, Judge.

The issue presented by this appeal is whether or not the trial court erred in finding that an insurance policy did not provide coverage to the defendant for the plaintiff's claim.

Fredeman Shipyard, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as Fredeman) filed suit seeking recovery of damages against Weldon Miller Contractors, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as Miller) and National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania (hereinafter referred to as National Union), its insurer under a policy of comprehensive general liability insurance. The damages were allegedly caused by Miller's negligent installation of a steel sheet bulkhead. National Union filed a suit for declaratory judgment seeking to have the Court decide whether or not coverage was provided to Miller under its policy for the losses alleged by plaintiff. From a trial court judgment determining that there was no coverage, Fredeman and Miller both timely appeal. We affirm.

FACTS

On July 6, 1982, Fredeman contracted with Miller for the driving of a 600 foot wall of steel sheet piling to be used as a bulkhead in the construction of a dock slip at Fredeman's shipyard. Miller's work consisted of removing a section of old bulkhead and installing the steel sheet piling furnished by Fredeman. After completion of the project, Fredeman discovered that interlock separations had occurred in the steel sheet piling forming the bulkhead. Fredeman then made temporary repairs by sealing the open interlocks of the steel sheet piling. Because of continuing maintenance problems, Fredeman was unable to use its facility as planned.

At the time of the work by Miller, National Union had issued a policy of comprehensive general liability insurance to Miller. Prior to construction, National Union furnished Fredeman with a certificate of its insurance coverage of Miller.

On August 3, 1983, Fredeman filed suit against Miller and National Union seeking damages for repair costs and business losses which were allegedly caused by Miller's negligent installation of the steel sheet piling used in the bulkhead. National Union denied coverage of Miller for Fredeman's claims. Miller filed a third party demand against National Union, seeking indemnity for any sums that it might be held liable to Fredeman, and for attorney's fees and other costs incurred in defending itself.

On April 23, 1984, National Union filed a suit for declaratory judgment, seeking to have the Court decree whether or not its policy provided coverage to Miller for the *372 losses alleged by Fredeman. The trial court held that a liability policy with an exclusion clause, such as the one in this case, does not insure any obligation of the policy holder to repair or replace his own defective work or product. No specific provision in the insurance policy was referred to as the basis for the trial court's decision.

Fredeman and Miller appeal from the judgment, alleging that the trial court erred in finding that coverage was not provided to Miller by the policy of National Union, asserting the following assignments of error:

(1) The trial court erred in finding that the general liability policy written by National Union did not provide coverage for Fredeman's damages in that the collapse hazard, completed operations hazard, and the product hazard provisions of the policy clearly and unambiguously provide coverage for Miller's activities;
(2) The trial court erred in holding that the exclusions in National Union's policy apply to the facts in this case; and
(3) The insurance policy of National Union is ambiguous and any doubts must be resolved in favor of the insured.

COVERAGE AND POLICY EXCLUSIONS

Appellants contend that the general liability policy written by National Union specifically provides coverage for Miller's pile driving work for Fredeman under the collapse hazard, completed operations hazard, and the products hazard provisions of the policy. These terms are defined under the Definitions section of the policy as:

"`collapse hazard' includes `structural property damage' as defined herein and property damage to any other property at any time resulting therefrom. `Structural property damage' means the collapse of or structural injury to any building or structure due to (1) grading of land, excavating, borrowing, filling, backfilling, tunnelling, pile driving, cofferdam work or caisson work or (2) moving, shoring, underpinning, raising or demolition of any building or structure or removal or rebuilding of any structural support thereof. The collapse hazard does not include property damage (1) arising out of operations performed for the named insured by independent contractors, or (2) included within the completed operations hazard or the underground property damage hazard, or (3) for which liability is assumed by the insured under an incidental contract;
`completed operations hazard' includes bodily injury and property damage arising out of operations or reliance upon a representation or warranty made at any time with respect thereto, but only if the bodily injury or property damage occurs after such operations have been completed or abandoned and occurs away from premises owned by or rented to the named insured. `Operations' include materials, parts or equipment furnished in connection therewith. Operations shall be deemed completed at the earliest of the following times:
(1) when all operations to be performed by or on behalf of the named insured under the contract have been completed,
(2) when all operations to be performed by or on behalf of the named insured at the site of the operations have been completed, or
(3) when the portion of the work out of which the injury or damage arises has been put to its intended use by any person or organization other than another contractor or subcontractor engaged in performing operations for a principal as a part of the same project.
Operations which may require further service or maintenance work, or correction, repair or replacement because of any defect or deficiency, but which are otherwise complete, shall be deemed completed.
The completed operations hazard does not include bodily injury or property damage arising out of
(a) operations in connection with the transportation of property, unless the bodily injury or property damage *373 arises out of a condition in or on a vehicle created by the loading or unloading thereof,
(b) the existence of tools, uninstalled equipment or abandoned or unused materials, or
(c) operations for which the classification stated in the policy or in the company's manual specifies `including completed operations';
* * * * * *

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Bluebook (online)
497 So. 2d 370, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fredeman-shipyard-inc-v-weldon-miller-contr-inc-lactapp-1986.