Ambassador Baptist Church v. Seabreeze Heating & Cooling Co.

• Decision Date: 03 December 1970
• Docket Number: Docket No. 7531,No. 1,1
• Citation: 28 Mich.App. 424,184 N.W.2d 568
• Parties: AMBASSADOR BAPTIST CHURCH, a Michigan corporation, Plaintiff- Appellant, v. SEABREEZE HEATING AND COOLING CO., a Michigan corporation., Melvin Sachs, Thomas Flaherty, Jr., jointly and severally, Defendants-Appellees
• Court: Court of Appeal of Michigan — District of US

Page 568

184 N.W.2d 568

28 Mich.App. 424

AMBASSADOR BAPTIST CHURCH, a Michigan corporation Plaintiff- Appellant, v. SEABREEZE HEATING AND COOLING CO., a Michigan corporation Melvin Sachs, Thomas Flaherty, Jr., jointly and severally, Defendants-Appellees.

Docket No. 7531.

Court of Appeals of Michigan, Division No. 1.

Dec. 3, 1970.

Released for Publication March 12, 1971.

Leave to appeal Denied March 15, 1971.

Royal G. Targan, Dearborn, for plaintiff-appellant.

Gregory Pillon, Detroit, for Seabreeze Heating and Cooling Co.

Richard J. Tonkin, Detroit, for Melvin Sachs and Thomas Flaherty, Jr.

Before LESINSKI, C.J., and BRONSON and ENGEL, ^* JJ.

PER CURIAM.

Plaintiff brought suit to recover damages for negligent design and installation of a heating plant for the Ambassador Baptist Church. Plaintiff sought to hold defendants Sachs and Flaherty liable as the registered architects who prepared the plans for the construction of the church. At the close of plaintiff's proofs below, defendants moved for and were granted a directed verdict.

The only issue on appeal is whether the trial court was correct in determining that plaintiff had failed to produce sufficient evidence to take the case to the jury.

In reviewing the record we follow the rule that on a defendant's motion for directed verdict, the facts are to be viewed most favorably to the plaintiff. Inconsistencies and factual questions are resolved against the moving party. Birkhill v. Todd (1969), 20 Mich.App. 356, 174 N.W.2d 56; Pollock v. Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Company (1957), 349 Mich. 12, 84 N.W.2d 238.

Plaintiff's evidence showed that the city of Allen Park issued a building permit for the church upon receipt of a set of plans identified as being prepared by defendants. The cover sheet of these plans listed defendant Flaherty as designer and was embossed with defendant Sachs' seal as a registered architect. The chief building inspector of Allen Park testified that the heating plans were included in the general plans submitted for approval under the name of defendant Sachs.

Registered architects testified that affixing a seal to a set of plans customarily signifies the assumption of responsibility by the architect. Moreover, the Board of Registration for Architects, Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, pursuant to its statutory authority, ¹ adopted a rule which would have similar effect. ²

There also was testimony from plaintiff's expert witnesses that the design of the heating system was inadequate for its purpose, that the design was below general community standards, and that there was a lack of reasonable care in the preparation of the plan.

The record reveals that plaintiff established a Prima facie case. The responsibility of an architect is similar to that of a lawyer or a physician. The law requires the exercise of ordinary skill and care common to the profession. Chapel v. Clark (1898), 117 Mich. 638, 76 N.W. 62; Bayne v. Everham (1917), 197 Mich. 181, 163 N.W. 1002. In that respect, plaintiff showed, through the expert testimony, that defendants did not meet that standard. See Lince v. Monson (1961), 363 Mich....