Rocky Mountain Presstress v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance

960 F.3d 1255
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedJune 2, 2020
Docket19-1169
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 960 F.3d 1255 (Rocky Mountain Presstress v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rocky Mountain Presstress v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance, 960 F.3d 1255 (10th Cir. 2020).

Opinion

FILED United States Court of Appeals PUBLISH Tenth Circuit

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS June 2, 2020

Christopher M. Wolpert FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT Clerk of Court _________________________________

ROCKY MOUNTAIN PRESTRESS, LLC,

Plaintiff - Appellant,

v. No. 19-1169

LIBERTY MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY,

Defendant - Appellee. _________________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Colorado (D.C. No. 1:17-CV-03167-RPM) _________________________________

Melissa R. Liff (Dennis B. Polk with her on the briefs) of Holley, Albertson & Polk, P.C., Lakewood, Colorado, for Plaintiff–Appellant.

Nicole K. Gorham (Brian J. Spano and Amy D. Wills with her on the brief) of Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP, Denver, Colorado, for Defendant–Appellee. _________________________________

Before HARTZ and EID, Circuit Judges.  _________________________________

HARTZ, Circuit Judge. _________________________________

 The late Honorable Monroe G. McKay, United States Senior Circuit Judge, heard oral argument and participated in the panel’s conference of this appeal, but passed away before its final resolution. The practice of this court permits the remaining two panel judges, if in agreement, to act as a quorum in resolving the appeal. See United States v. Wiles, 106 F.3d 1516, 1516, n* (10th Cir. 1997); 28 U.S.C. § 46(d). The subcontractor on a building project seeks coverage under the property

owner’s insurance policy for the subcontractor’s costs of repairing its faulty work.

The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the insurance company on

three independent grounds: (1) the subcontractor had not shown that the claimed loss

was fortuitous; (2) the claimed loss did not constitute “direct physical loss or

damage” as required for coverage under the policy, Aplt. App., Vol. I at 254; and (3)

even if there might otherwise have been coverage, the claimed loss fell within the

policy’s exclusion for defective workmanship. Exercising jurisdiction under 28

U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm the district court’s decision based on the defective-

workmanship exclusion.

I. BACKGROUND

Colorado Center Development, LLC, the owner of certain property in Denver,

Colorado, hired J.E. Dunn Construction Company to construct an office building (the

Project) on the property. Colorado Center purchased from Defendant Liberty Mutual

Fire Insurance Company a Builder’s Risk insurance policy (the Policy). The Policy

provides protection against “direct physical loss or damage caused by a covered peril

to ‘buildings or structures’ while in the course of construction, erection, or

fabrication.” Aplt. App., Vol. I at 254. It defines covered perils as “risks of direct

physical loss or damage unless the loss is limited or caused by a peril that is

excluded.” Id. at 263. (Policies that cover “any fortuitous loss not resulting from an

excluded risk or from fraud by the insured” are often referred to as “all-risk” policies.

Adams-Arapahoe Joint Sch. Dist. No. 28-J v. Cont’l Ins. Co., 891 F.2d 772, 774 (10th

2 Cir. 1989).) One of the Policy’s exclusions is for “loss or damage consisting of,

caused by, or resulting from an act, defect, error, or omission (negligent or not)

relating to . . . design, specifications, construction, materials, or workmanship.” Id.

at 265. This exclusion is itself subject to an exception: “[I]f an act, defect, error, or

omission as described above results in a covered peril, [Liberty] do[es] cover the loss

or damage caused by that covered peril.” Id.

General contractor J.E. Dunn hired plaintiff Rocky Mountain Prestress, LLC

(RMP) as a subcontractor to perform work including “engineer[ing], supply[ing,] and

install[ing] all precast concrete components, connections, and erections aids” and

“[s]upply[ing] and install[ing] grout and/or patching of all connections required by

the engineering for the structural integrity of the precast.” Aplt. App., Vol. I at 125–

26. RMP began erecting precast columns at the site on February 1, 2016, finishing

this work on June 10, 2016. But because of “potential concerns that arose at another

project” relating to “sinking pillars/columns,” J.E. Dunn requested RMP to retain a

third-party engineering firm to investigate “potential structural issues” with RMP’s

work on the Project. Id. at 376. The engineering firm concluded that the Project

required “repairs to insufficiently grouted joints between precast concrete column

and pilaster elements” at 264 locations throughout the structure. Id. at 325. It

submitted a plan detailing the regrouting repairs that would be required at the various

faulty joints. It did not note any other structural issues with the Project or describe

any other repairs that would be needed. The engineering firm began its investigation

in August 2016, and the final grouting repair work was completed in February 2017.

3 In the meantime, in November 2016, RMP submitted a claim to Liberty

seeking coverage under the Policy.1 Liberty’s loss-investigation notes from

November 2016 reflect the difficulty it experienced in attempting to gather more

information about the nature and basis of RMP’s claim. On January 3, 2017, a

Liberty loss investigator summarized his understanding of the claim:

In review of the documents submitted the damage deals with sinking pillars/columns. The investigation by the structural engineering firm was requested by [RMP] and was “based on potential concerns that arose at another project and at the request of JE Dunn”. The . . . report [by the third-party] structural engineer[] indicates “insufficiently grouted joints between precast concrete column and pilaster elements” are being investigated. The joints are being shimmed and regrouting repairs appear to be underway. The plans that have been provided indicate that there are 264 locations throughout the structure that are being addressed. Id. at 321. In March 2017 the loss investigator traveled to Denver to inspect the building

himself. The appellate appendix prepared by RMP contains no indication of any

further activity by either party on the claim until December 2017, when RMP filed a

lawsuit in Colorado state court against Liberty. The appendix also contains no

indication that the Project required any repairs other than the regrouting remediation

work recommended by the third-party engineering firm.

In its complaint RMP raised four claims for relief: (1) breach of contract, (2)

insurance bad faith, (3) statutory damages for insurance bad faith, and (4) declaratory

judgment on the question of insurance coverage. Liberty removed the action to the

1 Liberty contends that RMP was not an additional insured under the Policy. But we need not resolve that issue because the Policy does not cover the loss anyway. 4 United States District Court for the District of Colorado based on diversity

jurisdiction.

Following written discovery, Liberty filed a motion for summary judgment.

RMP opposed the motion on the merits; it did not request additional time for

discovery or inform the court under Fed. R. Civ. P.

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960 F.3d 1255, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rocky-mountain-presstress-v-liberty-mutual-fire-insurance-ca10-2020.