Our Lady of Victory College & Academy v. Maxwell Steel Co.

278 S.W.2d 321, 1955 Tex. App. LEXIS 2626
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 15, 1955
Docket15612
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 278 S.W.2d 321 (Our Lady of Victory College & Academy v. Maxwell Steel Co.) 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
Our Lady of Victory College & Academy v. Maxwell Steel Co., 278 S.W.2d 321, 1955 Tex. App. LEXIS 2626 (Tex. Ct. App. 1955).

Opinion

BOYD, Justice.

Appellee Maxwell Steel Company, a corporation, contracted with appellant Our Lady of Victory College & Academy to dismantle a wooden water tank and install a steel tank of about twice the capacity of the wooden tank, upon the platform and tower on which the tank to be dismantled then stood. Having been engaged by ap-pellee to do so, Union Tank & Supply Company furnished the materials and actually dismantled the old tank and installed the new tank. About four, months after its installation, the tower collapsed and the tank fell to the ground. The tower and tank were destroyed, and considerable damage was done to a well house and some equipment therein.

Appellant sued appellee for its damages, and appellee impleaded Union Tank & Supply Company, asking for judgment over in the event appellant prevailed. The case was submitted to a jury and judgment rendered that appellant take nothing.

Appellant alleged that appellee agreed to inspect the platform and tower to ascertain whether they would support the larger tank; that no such inspection was made; that the failure to inspect was negligence and a proximate cause of appellant’s damages; and in the alternative, that appellee knew that the officers, agents, and employees of appellant lacked the technical knowledge necessary to determine whether the existing tower was adequate, and knew that they relied on appellee’s judgment as to its suitability; that appellee was capable of making that determination, and impliedly warranted to appellant that the tower would support the new installation; that the damage to the tower and tank was $2,500; to the well house, $4,900; to the equipment in the well house, $200; and further that owing to the collapse of the tower, appellant *323 was forced to purchase water at an increased cost of $550.

The jury failed to find that appellee agreed to inspect the tower, but found that its failure to make such inspection was negligence and a proximate cause of the damage; that Union Tank'& Supply Company was negligent in failing-to inspect.the tower, and that such negligence was a proximate cause; that the actual value of the well house before the accident was -$3,500; that the damage to the equipment in the well house was $120; and that the increased cost of watér for appellant’s establishment was $95.18. , :

By points of error, appellant contends that judgment should "have been rendered for it on the verdict because appellee owed appellant the duty. of erecting or having erected the new tank in a non-negligent manner, and that this duty was breached; that it was error to refuse its requested issues based upon appellee’s implied warranty of the suitability of the completed structure for the purposes for which it was.intended; and that it was error to exclude certain evidence offered by appellant.

The evidence shows that an October 29, 1951, appellee agreed to dismantle the wooden tank and' install on the existing platform and tower a steel tank 15 feet in diameter and 8 feet high for $1,628.00; but appellant decided that it needed a larger tank, and on October 30, 1951, appellee sent the following commitment to appellant: ,,

“Galvanized Steel — Corrugated Sheets— Bolted Construction — Water Tank erected on existing platform for the sum of TWO THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED TWO ($2202.00) DOLLARS.
“Tank to be 15' — 0" Diameter x 16'-0" High (21,150 gal) type manufactured by Union Tank and Supply Co., and shall have a cone cover.
“This price includes disassembling the existing wooden tank and erecting the new steel tank.”

It appears that appellee discharged its undertaking with appellant. It is not contended that appellee failed to have erected on the-existing tower the kind of tank it agreed to- have erected, or that there was any defect in the materials used or .any negligence in the workmanship. The only negligence found was in the failure to inspect the tower.- , ■

To support its contention that inherent in appellee’s contract was the obligation to inspect the. tower and to ascertain if it would carry the increased weight, appellant cites many authorities, including Montgomery Ward & Co. v. Scharrenbeck, 146 Tex. 153, 204 S.W.2d 508, the holding of which epitomizes the holdings of the other author■ities, cited. . In the Montgomery Ward case, the plaintiff’s house was destroyed by a fire caused by a defective water heater which had been purchased from Montgomery Ward. The plaintiff asked said company to repair the heater and to put it in working order, which Montgomery Ward agreed to do; and, the warranty having expired, the plaintiff agreed to pay for the service. Montgomery Ward’s repairman 'undertook to do the work, and the jury found that the housé burned as a result of the repairman’s negligence. ' '

We do hot think the rule announced in the Montgomery Ward case, and followed in the other cases cited by appellant, is applicable here. In our opinion, the true rule governing the instant case is that where a builder, who has .been engaged to superadd to a 'structure already built, completes his work as contracted, according to plans agreed upon, he is not responsible for the subsequent destruction of the building caused by its own inherent weakness. 7 Tex.Jur., p. 570, sec. 26; Lonergan v. San Antonio Loan & Trust Co., 101 Tex. 63, 104 S.W. 1061; American Surety Co. of New York v. San Antonio Loan & Trust Co., Tex.Civ.App., 98 S.W. 387, and cases there cited; Duncan v. Cordley, 199 Mass. 299, 85 N.E. 160, 17 L.R.A.,N.S., 697; Reinhardt Construction Co. v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, 157 Md. 420, 146 *324 A. 577; Poirier v. Zaidman, La.App., 192 So. 382; United States v. Spearin, 248 U.S. 132, 39 S.Ct. 59, 63 L.Ed. 166; Bentley v. State, 73 Wis. 416, 41 N.W. 338; Southgate v. Sanford & Brooks Co., 147 Va. 554, 137 S.E. 485; Clark v. Pope, 70 Ill. 128.

-The installation was completed and was accepted and used , for four months by appellant. No defect in material or workmanship was foimdl We do not think that appellee impliedly warranted the suitability of the tower, or'the “completed structure” in so far as that term includes the tower and platform. -It is immaterial that appellee 'may have known more'about the carrying capacity of toy/ers than did appellant. Appellant was under no disability to protect itself by stipulations. This court cannot add to or subtract from the engagements made by parties who are under no legal disability to contract'.

Another point relates to the exclusion of testimony offered by appellant from the witness Sister Mary Evelyn. She testified by deposition, and was asked if she told appellee’s witness Griffin that her one regret was that she intended to ask ap-pellee to inspect the tower but neglected to do so. The portion of the answer admitted was, “Positively a,falsehood; I had no such conversation with Mr. Griffin; in fact, it was the opposite.” The portion that was excluded was, “So far as the inspection of the tower was concerned he said he would send someone out and we presumed it had been inspected, and I didn’t say anything about being regretful in not asking to have it done. * * I was putting it all on to them.

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Bluebook (online)
278 S.W.2d 321, 1955 Tex. App. LEXIS 2626, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/our-lady-of-victory-college-academy-v-maxwell-steel-co-texapp-1955.