The Economic Loss Rule Applied to Negligence Claims Against Construction Managers - Does One Size Fit All?
W. Henry Parkman - Sutherland
April 1, 2009
The modern formulation of the economic loss rule grew from the 1965 products liability case of Seely v. White Motor Co., 63 Cal.2d 9, 45 Cal.Rptr. 17, 403 P.2d 145 (1965). Stated simply, the economic loss doctrine “bars the use of negligence or strict liability theories of recovery of economic losses arising out of commercial transactions where the loss is not a consequence of an event causing personal injury or damage to other property.” Phillip L. Bruner & Patrick J. O’Connor, Jr., 6 Bruner and O’Connor on Construction Law § 19:10 at 50 (2002). The economic loss rule “is stated with ease but applied with great difficulty,” especially in the context of the construction industry. Presnell Construction Managers, Inc. v. EH Construction, LLC, 134 S.W.3d 575, 584 n.12 (Ky. 2004) (concurrence).
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