Yakima Fruit & Cold Storage Co. v. Central Heating & Plumbing Co., No. 42201

• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Washington
• Writing for the Court: WRIGHT; HAMILTON
• Citation: 503 P.2d 108,81 Wn.2d 528
• Parties: YAKIMA FRUIT & COLD STORAGE CO., a Washington corporation; and Cohodas-Lancaster-Frank Co., a Washington corporation, Appellants, v. CENTRAL HEATING & PLUMBING CO., a Washington corporation, Respondent.
• Docket Number: No. 42201
• Decision Date: 16 November 1972

Page 528

81 Wn.2d 528 503 P.2d 108 YAKIMA FRUIT & COLD STORAGE CO., a Washington corporation;
and Cohodas-Lancaster-Frank Co., a Washington
corporation, Appellants,
v.
CENTRAL HEATING & PLUMBING CO., a Washington corporation, Respondent. No. 42201. Supreme Court of Washington, En Banc. Nov. 16, 1972.
Rehearing Denied Jan. 31, 1973.

[503 P.2d 109] Horswill, Keller, Rohrback, Waldo & Moren, Kenneth L. Cornell, Seattle, for appellants.

Halverson,

Page 529

Applegate, McDonald, Bond, Grahn & Wiehl, Alan A. McDonald, Yakima, for respondent.

WRIGHT, Judge.

This is an action for property damage allegedly caused by the defective design and installation of a certain faulty refrigeration system and equipment in a cold storage warehouse.

Appellant Cohodas-Lancaster-Frank Company, Inc., is the owner of a cold storage warehouse in the city of Yakima, Washington, which it leases to the Yakima Fruit & Cold Storage Company, Inc. The owners and officers of the Yakima Fruit & Cold Storage Company, Inc., are: S. M. Cohodas, President; Paul Lancaster, Vice-President; and Herbert Frank, Secretary-Treasurer and General Manager. Respondent, Central Heating & Plumbing Company, Inc., is a corporation engaged in construction work specializing, inter alia, in refrigeration systems.

On July 3, 1961, Yakima Fruit and respondent entered into a written contract whereby respondent was to construct and install a refrigeration system and equipment in the above-mentioned warehouse in order to modernize its use as a cold storage warehouse.

The refrigeration system and equipment were to be similar to those in another of Yakima Fruit's cold storage warehouses located across the street from the structure here involved. The installation in the warehouse across the street had been designed by a registered professional engineer, and that system was copied, as closely as was feasible. In conjunction with the installation of the refrigeration system, an entire floor of the warehouse was removed. Eighteen thousand feet of pipe, which had been attached to the same building for more than forty years, was refashioned and reinstalled to the building, utilizing approximately 500 welds to join the system in as permanent a fashion as was possible.

Payment for the work done by the respondent was made by the owner of the building, Cohodas-Lancaster-Frank Company, Inc., after the work had been completed during the calendar year 1961.

Page 530

On May 26, 1968, a portion of the cold storage system and equipment collapsed, causing damage to fruit stored in the warehouse in excess of $100,000.

Appellants' complaint for property damage was dismissed upon respondent's motion for summary judgment, on the basis that the action was barred by RCW 4.16.300 through 4.16.320, because such action did not accrue within six years of the date of completion of the work performed by the respondent. This appeal is taken from the trial court's summary judgment of dismissal.

The first issue raised on appeal is whether the trial court erred in granting the respondent's motion for summary judgment and thereby finding that no genuine issue existed as to any material fact.

[503 P.2d 110] Pursuant to CR 56(c), a summary...