Pruett v. Precision Plumbing, Inc.

• Decision Date: 09 September 1976
• Docket Number: CA-CIV,No. 1,1
• Citation: 27 Ariz.App. 288,554 P.2d 655
• Parties: , 1976-1977 O.S.H.D. (CCH) P 21,346 Richard D. PRUETT, by and through his guardian ad litem, Estelle Johnson, Appellants, v. PRECISION PLUMBING, INC., an Arizona Corporation, and H. R. Stewart dba Stewart Construction Company, Appellees. 2902.
• Court: Arizona Court of Appeals

Page 655

554 P.2d 655

27 Ariz.App. 288, 1976-1977 O.S.H.D. (CCH) P 21,346

Richard D. PRUETT, by and through his guardian ad litem, Estelle Johnson, Appellants, v. PRECISION PLUMBING, INC., an Arizona Corporation, and H. R. Stewart dba Stewart Construction Company, Appellees.

No. 1 CA-CIV 2902.

Court of Appeals of Arizona, Division 1, Department B.

Sept. 9, 1976.

Cunningham, Goodson & Tiffany, Ltd., by James P. Cunningham, James W. Ryan, Phoenix, for appellants

Charles Ripps, Phoenix, for Precision Plumbing.

J. Stephen Mullen, Burch, Cracchiolo, Levie, Guyer & Weyl, by Brian Kaven, Phoenix, Oliver H. Maud, Jr., Casa Grande, for Stewart Const. Co.

OPINION

WREN, Judge.

This appeal arises from the granting of defendants' motion for a directed verdict in a tort action for personal injuries sustained by the plaintiff-appellant, Richard D. Pruett, in a fall from the roof of an office building during its construction. At the time of the accident, Pruett was employed by Embe Construction Company, the masonry and plastering subcontractor on the job. Pruett filed suit against the owner of the property, Precision Plumbing, Inc., and the general contractor, Stewart Construction Company, alleging that the defendants negligently maintained the premises during construction. We have concluded that the motion was properly granted.

A directed verdict will be granted only when all the evidence viewed in a light most favorable to the party opposing the motion is insufficient to support a contrary verdict, or so weak that the court would feel compelled to set aside such a verdict on a motion for a new trial. Brand v. J. H. Rose Trucking Company, 102 Ariz. 201, 427 P.2d 519 (1967); Revels v. Pohle, 101 Ariz. 208, 418 P.2d 364 (1966); Peterson v. Salt River Project Agr. Imp. & Pow. Dist., 96 Ariz. 1, 391 P.2d 567 (1964). On appeal, the evidence and any reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom must also be viewed most strongly in favor of the appellant. Tanner v. Levie, 105 Ariz. 149, 460 P.2d 995 (1965).

The uncontroverted facts were that Pruett was plastering the north wall of a penthouse situated on the roof of the building at the time of his fall. The penthouse was built such that there was only a 20 inch wide space between the north wall of the penthouse and the outside wall of the building. This outside wall rose 24 inches above roof level. The wall Pruett was plastering was approximately 9 feet high and in order to reach the top, Pruett stood on a two foot high sawhorse fitted with a flat board on top. While standing atop this sawhorse in the 20 inch wide space, Pruett lost his balance and fell four stories to the ground, sustaining multiple serious injuries.

Pruett's theory for imposing liability on Precision Plumbing and Stewart is predicated upon the common law duties of owners and occupiers of land, and of employers of independent contractors exercising retained control over the work, and upon the statutory duties embodied in the regulations enacted pursuant to the Occupational Safety and Health Act, 29 U.S.C. § 651 et seq.

DUTY OF OWNERS AND OCCUPIERS OF LAND

The Restatement of Torts 2d § 343 sets forth the duties owed to invitees by a possessor of land:

' § 343. Dangerous Conditions Known to or Discoverable by Possessor

A possessor of land is subject to liability for physical harm caused to his invitees by a condition on the land if, but only if, he

(a) knows or by the exercise of reasonable care would discover the condition, and should realize that it involves an unreasonable risk of harm to such invitees, and

(b) should expect that they will not discover or realize the danger, or will fail to protect themselves against it, and

(c) fails to exercise reasonable care to protect them against the danger.'

Both Stewart and Precision Plumbing owed this duty to employees of the subcontractor; Stewart because of his capacity as general contractor and Precision Plumbing because it remained in possession through an owner's representative whose duties were much the same as the general contractor. (See discussion infra.)

As noted in § 343, liability is imposed upon the possessor of land only if he should reasonably expect that the invitees will not appreciate the danger or will fail to protect themselves against it. Murphy v. El Dorado Bowl, Inc., 2 Ariz.App. 341, 409 P.2d 57 (1965). Generally, the duty can be performed by giving a warning to the supervisor of the employees. Citizen's Utility, Inc. v. Livingston, 21 Ariz.App. 48, 515 P.2d 345 (1973). Section 343 A(1) of the Restatement further qualifies the duty owed:

' § 343 A. Known or Obvious Dangers

(1) A possessor of land is not liable to his invitees for physical harm caused to them by any activity or condition on the land whose danger is known or obvious to them unless the possessor should anticipate the harm despite such knowledge or obviousness.'

The undisputed facts were that Embe's foreman, Bill Lyons, was well aware of the dangers involved in plastering the north wall of the penthouse and that he had discussed the difficulties involved and scaffolding problems with Stewart and the owner's representative, Jerry Poziombko, a day or two before the accident. Both Stewart and Poziombko testified that they understood that the plasterers would erect scaffolding before attempting to plaster the north wall. Lyons could recall only that scaffolding was discussed but not what was finally decided. Neither Stewart nor Poziombko was aware that the plastering had begun on the north wall before the accident.

It is apparent that both Stewart and Precision Plumbing had performed their duties as defined by the Restatement. Embe and its employees were fully apprised of the dangerous condition on the land. It was an open and obvious danger and Stewart and Precision Plumbing had no reason to believe that the plasterers would fail to protect themselves. It was their clear understanding that scaffolding would be erected before the plastering job would be undertaken, and they had no knowledge of the decision by Embe to proceed without scaffolding.

DUTY OF EMPLOYER OF INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR

The testimony at trial established that Embe worked as an independent contractor; that is, neither Stewart nor Precision Plumbing had any right to control the method or manner of doing the work, but rather had the right ot direct only the sequence of the work and the end result. German v. Mountain States Telephone and Tel. Co., 11 Ariz.App. 91, 462 P.2d 108 (1969). Generally an owner or general contractor is not liable for the negligence of an independent subcontractor. Citizen's Utility, Inc. v. Livingston, supra; German v. Mountain States Telephone and Tel. Co., supra; Chesin Construction Co. v. Epstein, 8 Ariz.App. 312, 446 P.2d 11 (1968); Welker v. Kennecott Copper Company, 1 Ariz.App. 395, 403 P.2d 330 (1965). However, Pruett argues that Stewart and Precision Plumbing retained such control over the subcontractors on the job as to give rise to a duty to keep the premises safe.

Although Precision Plumbing argued that its duty was only that owed by a landowner to an invitee, we must disagree. We believe the evidence demonstrates that Precision Plumbing through its owner's representative functioned in much the same capacity as a general contractor. Stewart and Poziombko jointly supervised the job Therefore, even though Stewart actually employed Embe as a subcontractor, Precision Plumbing functioned as an employer of the subcontractors as well and therefore owed the same duties to the subcontractors as Stewart owed.

The Restatement of Torts 2d § 414 sets out the duty owed by the employer of an independent contractor:

' § 414. Negligence in Exercising Control Retained By Employer

One who entrusts work to an independent contractor, but who retains the control of any part of the work, is subject to liability for physical harm to others for whose safety the employer owes a duty to exercise reasonable care, which is caused by his failure to exercise his control with reasonable care.'

The comments to this section define what is meant by retained control and comment (b) specifically notes that § 414 is usually applied to situations where a general contractor subcontracts all or part of the work but superintends the entire job. Comment (c) is particularly instructive on the degree of retained control:

'c. In order for the rule stated in this Section to apply, the employer must have retained at least some degree of control over the manner in which the work is done. It is not enough that he has merely a general right to order the work stopped or resumed, to inspect its progress or to...