March v. Thiery

729 S.W.2d 889
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 16, 1987
Docket13-86-385-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by33 cases

This text of 729 S.W.2d 889 (March v. Thiery) 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
March v. Thiery, 729 S.W.2d 889 (Tex. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinions

OPINION

UTTER, Justice.

This is an appeal from a non-jury trial in which a judgment was rendered in favor of [892]*892the plaintiffs in a suit over the construction of a house. The judgment of the trial court is reformed, and as reformed, is affirmed.

Appellant, Mr. March, is, and was, a house-builder at all times material to this case. March built the house in question himself, and lived in it with his family for five to six years. The interior of the house was never completed by March, and was sold to Mr. and Mrs. Thiery in an unfinished condition. Mr. Thiery planned to finish the house himself. In the course of attempting to finish the house, Thiery encountered many alleged latent defects and points of faulty construction. Suit was filed, under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, against Mr. and Mrs. March alleging breach of an implied warranty that the house was constructed in a good workmanlike manner and was suitable for habitation. Misrepresentation and failure to disclose were also alleged.

Appellees claimed that appellants misrepresented that “the house was built better and with more care than a normal house ... because Mr. March was a builder and therefore did a better job than would have been done otherwise.” Appellees also claimed that the foundation was laid at ground level, with no fill dirt and was not sufficiently thick. Appellees further contended that the house was built over a concrete irrigation pipe, which caused leaks in and flooding of the house. Finally, ap-pellees claimed that the roof was poorly constructed, which caused it to sag.

The trial court found that the above allegations were true, that appellants failed to disclose them to appellees, and that these failures were the proximate cause of damages to appellees. The trial court also found that the implied warranty that the house was built in a good and workmanlike manner and fit for habitation was breached. Although the trial court did not find that the breach was a producing cause of actual damages, such a finding is deemed found in support of the judgment. Tex.R. Civ.P. 299.

By their first point of error, appellants contend that the implied warranty that a building constructed for residential use has been constructed in a good workmanlike manner and is fit for habitation does not apply to the facts of this case. Specifically, appellants argue that the warranty is inapplicable because Mr. March was not a “builder/vendor” selling a finished home.

A contractor who builds a house and sells it impliedly warrants that the house was constructed in a good workmanlike manner and was suitable for human habitation. Humber v. Morton, 426 S.W.2d 554 (Tex.1968). This implied warranty extends to subsequent purchasers. Gupta v. Ritter Homes, Inc., 646 S.W.2d 168 (Tex.1983). The builder/vendor warrants both workmanship and habitability. Evans v. J. Stiles, Inc., 689 S.W.2d 399 (Tex.1985).

Should appellants be permitted to escape liability under the implied warranty merely because they built the house and occupied it themselves? We think not. The identity of the first occupant or owner of the home has no impact upon whether the builder/vendor impliedly warrants the construction and fitness of the home to subsequent purchasers. “[T]he implied warranty of habitability and good workmanship is implicit in the contract between the builder/vendor and original purchaser and is automatically assigned to the subsequent purchaser.” Gupta v. Ritter Homes, Inc., 646 S.W.2d at 169. The same result is reached whether we consider appellants to be the first purchasers or whether appellees are viewed as the first purchasers. In either case, the builder/vendor impliedly warrants that the house was constructed in a good workmanlike manner and fit for human habitation.

Nor are we persuaded by appellants’ argument that the implied warranty should not apply in this case because the home that they sold was not a finished home. Appellants cite Humber v. Morton as support for this contention.

[893]*893Humber does refer to the sale of “completed houses.” However, we can discern no reason to distinguish between a “fully completed” home and a “partially completed” home as long as it is clear what portions of a “partially completed” home have been fully constructed by the builder. An examination of appellants’ argument will help to clarify our holding. Essentially, appellants contend that where a house is estimated to be only 25% completed, as Mr. Thiery did in this case, then every phase of the construction of that house must be considered to be only 25% completed. Appellants claim that they “very likely” would have installed more rafters in the roof to keep it from sagging. Aside from the questionable expedience of building a roof, shingles and all, and then returning at a later date and adding more rafters, appellants’ theory must fail when applied to the foundation.

Mr. Thiery testified that the foundation was built at ground level. Apparently, there was no fill dirt brought in to raise the building site so that ground water would run away from the house. In addition, he also testified that the foundation was only 12 inches thick.

A construction expert testified that several problems are incurred when a foundation is built at ground level. He also testified that the minimum thickness of a foundation on a house such as the one involved in this case would be 24 to 30 inches.

We fail to comprehend how a foundation, upon which a house has already been built, could subsequently be “completed” in order to make it sit above ground level, or be of the desired thickness. The foundation was, by necessity, 100% completed when sold to appellees by Mr. March, the builder/vendor.

It is apparent to us, that Mr. Thiery’s estimate that the house was only 25% complete applied to the entire house, while some phases of the construction were necessarily 100% complete.

We hold that when a builder/vendor constructs a building for residential purposes, he impliedly warrants that whatever construction he has done, has been done in a good workmanlike manner. Therefore, the implied warranty applies to the sale of an “unfinished” home just as it does to the sale of a “completed” home. Appellants’ first point of error is overruled.

By their second point, appellants contend that the trial court erred in awarding damages to the Thiery children because there was no theory of recovery pled to support an award.

Mr. and Mrs. Thiery originally purchased this home from appellants. Mrs. Thiery later died, leaving no will. According to Tex.Prob.Code Ann. § 45 (Vernon 1980), her one-half of the community property passed to her children. Therefore, her children, appellees here, own one-half of the house and land involved in this case. They were proper plaintiffs in the court below.

Further, no special exceptions to ap-pellees’ pleadings were filed and therefore any such complaint has been waived. Tex. R.Civ.P. 90.

Appellants also attempt to characterize the childrens’ claim as a survival action and contend that a DTPA action does not survive the death of the person who possessed it, citing First National Bank v. Hackworth, 673 S.W.2d 218 (Tex.App.—San Antonio 1984, no writ).

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729 S.W.2d 889, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/march-v-thiery-texapp-1987.