St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance v. Murray Plumbing & Heating Corp.

In a first amended complaint for property damage

plaintiff St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company, a corporation, as insurer of C. H. Leavell & Company, a corporation, seeks reimbursement for sums paid by it for water damage to property located in or near the basement of the United States Post Office, Cafeteria and Federal Office Building at Wilshire and Sepulveda Boulevards in West Los Angeles, which damage occurred while the building was under construction. At the time of the loss Leavell was general contractor and Murray Plumbing and Heating Corporation, a corporation, Rockwin Prestressed Stone, a corporation, and Barnard Engineering Company, a corporation, were subcontractors engaged in the construction project. Progressive Transportation Company, a corporation, and Russell Back-Hoe Rental, Inc., a corporation, were subcontractors of Rockwin and Murray respectively on the same project.

It was alleged that, as a result of negligence, strict liability, breach of warranty and breach of contract by defendants, a four inch cast iron pipe broke causing extensive flooding and that:

Upon the case being called for juiy trial the court preliminarily determined a special…