Seo

A subtenant of commercial premises was injured when his arm was caught in a remote-controlled electronic sliding gate as he manually operated a toggle switch. The subtenant sued a gate repair company that had undertaken occasional as-needed repairs to the gate. The gate repair company moved for summary judgment on the ground it owed no duty to the subtenant to advise the owner of the property of design defects of the gate, unrelated to the repairs undertaken by the gate repair company. The gate repair company had not negligently repaired the gate, had not failed to make any requested repairs, had not undertaken any repairs related to the alleged design defect, had not contracted with the owner of the property to inspect and maintain the gate, and had not voluntarily undertaken a systematic inspection of the sliding gate. We conclude the gate repair company did not owe a duty to the subtenant to warn the owner of the property of design defects unrelated to the repairs. We affirm.

Facts and Procedural Background

Susan Oh leased a unit in a commercial office building from the owner of the property. Plaintiff and appellant Peter Seo subleased part of the unit. The office…