Ratcliff Architects v. Vanir Construction Management, Inc.

Good Law

106 Cal. Rptr. 2d 1·2001 Cal. App. LEXIS 290·2001 Daily Journal DAR 3845·88 Cal. App. 4th 595·2001 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 3137

Court of Appeal of CaliforniaMarch 23, 2001A089533California4,024 words

Opinion

Lambden, J.

The trial court sustained demurrers by Vanir Construction Management, Inc. (Vanir) and Don Todd Associates, Inc. (Todd) without leave to amend against the cross-complaint filed by The Ratcliff Architects (Ratcliff). The court found that Ratcliff did not have legal standing to sue, and we agree.

Background

In March 1994, the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) retained Ratcliff to provide architectural services for the rebuilding of BUSD’s Columbus Elementary School project (school project). In a contract signed in August 1995 (contract), BUSD retained Vanir and Todd to be the construction manager of the school project.

The contract contained a number of indemnification clauses. One such clause, paragraph 8.2, is relevant to the issues raised by this appeal. This provision provided the following: “Construction Manager shall indemnify and save harmless BUSD, and its officers, agents, representatives, and employees from and against any and all loss, cost, damage, expense, liability, and claims including attorneys’ fees or consultant’s costs thereof, for solely economic loss arising out of or connected to the Facilities Construction Plan and the individual Projects…

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