CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT OF CITY OF NEWBURGH, APPELLANT, v. HUGH STUBBINS &
ASSOCIATES, INC., ET AL., RESPONDENTS.
85 N.Y.2d 535, 650 N.E.2d 399, 626 N.Y.S.2d 741 (1995).
May 2, 1995
2 No. 78 (1995 NY Int. 096)
Decided May 2, 1995
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This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication
in the New York Reports.
John R. Casey, for Appellant.
Thomas J. Graham, for Respondent Hugh Stubbins &c.
Harold J. Bauman, for Respondent Solart Builders, Inc.
Anthony P. Colavita, for Respondent Van Zelm, Heywood &c.
Submitted by David L. Wong, for Respondents Silverman, et al.
KAYE, CHIEF JUDGE:
When a defectively assembled pipe fitting bursts, damaging a library's
book collection, can the library sue those responsible for design and
construction of the building some fifteen years earlier? Because the
rule is settled that an owner's cause of action accrues against a
builder upon completion of construction, and we perceive no basis to
apply a different rule where a cause of action rests on damage to
personal rather than real property, we conclude that plaintiff's cause
of action was time-barred.
In 1972 or 1973, the Urban Development Corporation agreed to assist
the Newburgh School District in the design, financing and construction
of a library. The City of Newburgh Urban Renewal Agency transferred
title to a parcel of property to the UDC, which entered into contracts
to construct the building with defendants Solart Builders, Inc. as
general contractor, Hugh Stubbins & Associates, Inc. as architect, and
Van Zelm, Heywood & Shadford as mechanical and electrical engineers.
Upon completion of construction in late 1975, UDC sold the building to
plaintiff.
Within the structure of the building was a copper pipe fitted with a
steel plug, which began a gradual chemical corrosion of the integrity
of the pipe. Fifteen years later, on October 13, 1990, a water pipe in
the library burst, causing plaintiff to suffer $1,500,000 damage to
personal property-- including books, bookshelves, and office supplies
and furnishings--and $500,000 damage to its real property. When
SNIPPETS:
CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT OF CITY OF NEWBURGH, APPELLANT, v. HUGH STUBBINS &
Thomas J. Graham, for Respondent Hugh Stubbins &c. Harold J. Bauman, for Respondent Solart
Because the rule is settled that an owner's cause of action accrues against a builder upon
In 1972 or 1973, the Urban Development Corporation agreed to assist the Newburgh School
The City of Newburgh Urban Renewal Agency transferred title to a parcel of property to the
Upon completion of construction in late 1975, UDC sold the building to plaintiff.
Within the structure of the building was a copper pipe fitted with a steel plug, which began
When plaintiff brought suit against defendants alleging five causes of action rooted in
In cases against architects or contractors, the accrual date for Statute of Limitations
We made clear in Sears, Roebuck v Enco Associates that no matter how a claim is characterized
Plaintiff recognizes that any claim for damage to the building itself would normally be
Here it was UDC--not plaintiff--that entered into a contract with defendants to build the
the order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed with costs.
Opinion by Chief Judge Kaye.
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