State Ready Mix, Inc. v. Moffatt & Nichol

Mixing concrete, like baking a cake, is fraught with problems when the recipe is not followed. Here, concrete supplier, State Ready Mix, Inc. (State), wrote the concrete mix design (the recipe) and prepared a bad batch of concrete that was used to construct a harbor pier. State blames the bad concrete on the civil engineer who drafted the pier plans and helped the general contractor by gratuitously reviewing State’s concrete mix design. In the words of Clare Boothe Luce, “No good deed goes unpunished.” (See Wright v. Beverly Fabrics, Inc. (2002) 95 Cal.App.4th 346, 348 [ 115 Cal.Rptr.2d 503 ].)

When State was sued to recoup the cost of replacing the concrete, it filed a cross-complaint for equitable indemnity and contribution against the civil engineer, Moffatt & Nichol (Moffatt). The trial court sustained, without leave to amend, Moffatt’s demurrer to the second amended cross-complaint. State appeals. We affirm and conclude the cross-complaint is barred by the economic loss rule. (Aas v. Superior Court (2000) 24 Cal.4th 627, 643 [ 101 Cal.Rptr.2d 718 , 12 P.3d 1125 ].) State cannot seek equitable indemnity or contribution for damages caused by the breach of its own…