Construction Defect Inspector Protected Against Contractor Defamation Suit
Where homeowners retained an inspection firm to investigate the cause of their leaky roof, the inspector issued a report stating that the roof had been installed years earlier over fiberboard roof insulation that was soaking wet, thereby causing the later leakage. When the homeowners then sued the contractor for construction defects, the contractor brought a third party defamation action against the inspector, asserting that the statement about the roof being installed over wet insulation was false and defamatory. Summary judgment was granted for the inspector by the trial judge, and this was appealed by the contractor. On appeal, the court found that the statement by the inspector could indeed be actionable as defamation, but that a conditional privilege existed to publish the statement to the homeowner to serve the purposes of the contract between the homeowner and inspector. There are several lessons to be learned from this decision as explained herein. Downey v. Chutehall Construction, 86 Mass.App.Ct. 660, 19 N.E. 3d 470 (2014).
Risk, Risk Management and Reward in Project Execution
Robert C. McCue, P.E. MDCSystems® Consulting Engineer Risk and risk sharing means different things to different people. It may not be possible to eliminate all risk in undertaking capital projects. Owners will attempt to shift risk onto contractors through contract...