Supreme Court of Florida

A post-1986 standard form commercial general liability (CGL) policy with "products-completed operations hazard" coverage, issued to a general contractor, provides coverage when a claim is made against the contractor for damage to the completed project caused by a subcontractor's defective work, unless a specific exclusion applies to bar coverage. Defective work performed by a subcontractor that causes damage to the contractor's completed project and is neither expected nor intended from the standpoint of the contractor can constitute "property damage" caused by an "occurrence" as those terms are defined in a standard form commercial general liability policy.

Appellate Information

• Decided 12/20/2007
• Published 12/20/2007

Judges

• PARIENTE, J.

Court

• Supreme Court of Florida

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Ronald L. Kammer and Sina Bahadoran of Hinshaw and Culbertson, LLP, Miami, Florida;  June Galkoski Hoffman of Fowler, White, and Burnett, P.A., Miami, FL;  Joseph R. Miele, Jr. of Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman, and Goggin, Fort Lauderdale, FL;  and Donna M. Greenspan of Edwards, Angell, Palmer and Dodge, LLP, West Palm Beach, FL, for Petitioners., Denise V. Powers, Coral Gables, FL, on behalf of National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies;  William D. Horgan of Fuller, Johnson, and Farrell, P.A., Tallahassee, FL, on behalf of Complex Insurance Claims Litigation Association;  Pamela A. Chamberlin of Mitrani, Rynor, and Adamsky, P.A., Miami, FL, on behalf of Mid-Continent Casualty Company;  John Bond Atkinson, Rebecca A. Brownell, and Ellie A. Levy of Atkinson and Brownell, P.A., Miami, FL, and Shaun McParland Baldwin and Donald E. Elder of Tressler, Soderstrom, Maloney and Priess, Chicago, IL, on behalf of Amerisure Mutual Insurance Company;  Perry N. Bass, Houston, TX, and Christopher W. Martin and Levon G. Hovnatanian of Martin, Disiere, Jefferson and Wisdom, LLP, Houston, TX, on behalf of Hartford Fire Insurance Company;  and David K. Miller and Ginger L. Barry of Broad and Cassel, Tallahassee, FL, and Keith Hetrick, Florida Home Builders Association, Tallahassee, FL, and R. Hugh Lumpkin and Michael F. Huber of Ver Ploeg and Lumpkin, P.A., Miami, FL, on behalf of Florida Home Builders Association, National Association of Home Builders, Arvida/JMB Partners, L.P., Arvida Managers, Inc., Arvida/JMB Management, L.P. and Mercedes Home Corporation;  Warren H. Husband of Metz, Husband, and Daughton, P.A., Tallahassee, FL, and Patrick J. Wielinski of Cokinos, Bosien, and Young, P.C., Arlington, TX, on behalf of Associated General Contractors of America, Florida Associate General Contractors Council, Inc., the Associated General Contractors of Greater Florida, Inc., South Florida Chapter of the Associated General Contractors, Florida East Coast Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America, Inc., American Subcontractors Association, Inc., and American Subcontractors of Florida, Inc.;  Stephen A. Marino, Jr. of Ver Ploeg and Lumpkin, P.A., Miami, FL, on behalf of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers;  Duane A. Daiker and Steven G. Schember of Shumaker, Loop, and Kendrick, LLP, Tampa, FL, on behalf of Amwest Surety Insurance Company;  Daniel J. Santaniello and Paul Stephen Jones of Luks, Santaniello, Perez, Petrillo, and Gold, Orlando, FL, James P. Waczewski of Luks, Santaniello, Perez, Petrillo and Gold, Tallahassee, FL, and Joseph L. Oliva of Oliva and Associates, ALC, San Diego, CA, on behalf of Poole and Kent Company, for Amici Curiae.


• For Appellees:
  
• Mark A. Boyle, Sr., Michael G. Fink and Geoffrey H. Gentile, Sr. of Fink and Boyle, P.A., Fort Myers, FL, for Respondents.