A case moving through the Minnesota state justice system illustrates that liability in construction contracts is an increasingly contentious and confusing issue.
In this case, a sub-contractor's problem with a prime contractor on a pipeline project in Minnesota involves slippery issues of language and risk-shifting.
The case is Engineering and Construction Innovations, Inc. (ECI) vs. L.H. Bolduc Co., Inc. Bolduc was a sheeting sub on ECI's water and sewer infrastructure project. A sewer line was damaged.
A first-level court agreed with Bolduc and its insurer that they should not have to pay for repairs, but an appeals court has said that the way Bolduc's insurance read, they are liable for the repair expense.
