LEADERSHIP HOUSING SYSTEMS OF FLORIDA, INC., APPELLANT,
v.
T & S ELECTRIC, INC., APPELLEE
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Leadership Housing Systems appealed a summary judgment dismissing its contractual indemnity claim against T & S Electric, its electrical contractor. The court affirmed, holding that the indemnity clause in the construction contract did not clearly and expressly permit indemnification for damages caused by the owner's own negligence.
An indemnity agreement will not be construed to indemnify a person for damages caused by that person's own negligence unless the contract clearly and expressly states such liability is undertaken by the indemnitor. The indemnity clause at issue did not constitute such a clear and express agreement.
[1] An indemnity agreement will not be construed to allow a person to be indemnified for damages caused by his own negligence unless the contract clearly and expressly states…
[2] A contractual provision requiring a contractor to indemnify an owner does not clearly and expressly obligate the contractor to indemnify the owner for damages caused by t…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“An indemnity agreement will not be construed to allow a person to be indemnified for damages caused by his own negligence unless the contract clearly and expressly stated that such liability is undertaken by the indemnitor.”
This quote establishes the controlling legal standard for interpreting indemnity clauses and the strict requirement for clear and express language to cover a party's own negligence.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAn employee of T & S Electric was injured on a construction project where Leadership Housing was the owner and T & S Electric was the electrical contr…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
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ANSTEAD, Judge.
This is an appeal from a final summary judgment entered against the appellant, Leadership Housing Systems of Florida, Inc., on its claim for contractual indemnity against appellee, T & S Electric, Inc. An employee of appellee was injured on a construction project wherein appellant was the owner and appellee the electrical contractor. The employee claimed appellant negligently caused his injury and recovered a judgment against appellant based on a verdict finding the appellant 70% negligent and the appellee 30% negligent. The employee’s damages were reduced accordingly and judgment for the reduced amount entered against appellant.
Appellant filed an indemnity claim against appellee predicated on the following provision in their construction contract:
INDEMNIFICATION (Except due to Owner’s sole negligence)
(a) Contractor shall forever indemnify and save harmless Owner, its officers, directors and employees, from any obligation, liability, lien, claim, demand, cause or causes of action whatsoever, or loss whatsoever due to or arising out of or claimed to arise out of the performance by contractor of the contract and/or the doing or failing to do anything by the contractor, his agents, servants, employees or invitees. . . .
The trial court entered a final summary judgment against appellant on the basis that this provision did not clearly provide that appellee would indemnify appellant for damages caused by appellant’s own negligence.
An indemnity agreement will not be construed to allow a person to be indemnified for damages caused by his own negligence unless the contract clearly and expressly stated that such liability is undertaken by the indemnitor. Charles Poe Masonry v. Spring Lock Scaffold, 374 So. 2d 487 (Fla.1979); University Plaza Shopping Center, Inc. v. Stewart, 272 So. 2d 507 (Fla. 1973); Walter Taff Bradshaw & Associates, P.A. v. Bedsold, 374 So. 2d 644 (Fla.4th DCA 1979). Also see Alba v. Pelican Marine Divers, Inc., 391 F.Supp. 954 (E.D.La.1975).
We agree with the trial court that the contract provision set out, supra, does not constitute a clear and express agreement by appellee to indemnify appellant for damages caused by appellant’s own negligence. The final summary judgment was therefore appropriate.
Since we affirm the granting of final summary judgment in favor of appellee we need not consider appellant’s contention that the court erred in denying its motion for summary judgment on the same claim.
Accordingly, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
DOWNEY and HERSEY, JJ., concur.
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Jones v. Holiday Inns, Inc., 407 So. 2d 1032 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981)…So. 2d 487 (Fla.1979). There is no doubt the indemnity provision in question did not clearly and unequivocally call for appellee’s indemnification for judgments based upon its own negligence. Spring Lock, supra; Leadership Housing v. T & S Electric, 384 So. 2d 733 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980); University Plaza v. Stewart, 272 So. 2d 507 (Fla.1973); Walter Taft Bradshaw & Associates, P. A. v. Bedsole N. B. C. Homes, Inc., 374 So. 2d 644 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979). It is unclear whether the liability judgment against appellee…
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Marino v. Weiner, 415 So. 2d 149 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982)…ees to be indemnified against damages occasioned solely by their own negligence. See Charles Poe Masonry v. Spring Lock Scaffolding Rental Equipment Co., 374 So. 2d 487 (Fla.1979); Leadership Housing Systems of Florida, Inc. v. T & S Electric, Inc., 384 So. 2d 733 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980). But the contract language “... occasioned wholly or in part by an act or omission of Lessee ...” manifests the lessee’s unequivocal intent to indemnify the lessors in cases where the lessors and lessee are found to be jointly ne…
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Gencor Indus., Inc. v. Fireman's Fund Ins. Co., 988 So. 2d 1206 (Fla. 5th DCA 2008)…or did not “clearly and equivocally” express an intent to indemnify Gencor against its own negligence. Id.; see also Charles Poe Masonry v. Spring Lock Scaffolding Rental Equip. Co., 374 So. 2d 487, 489 (Fla.1979); Leadership Housing v. T & S Elec., 384 So. 2d 733, 734 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980). Gencor also claims FFIC’s breach of contract action was barred by the warranty, disclaimer and release provisions in the contract. However, these provisions pertain to product defects, not to Gencor’s performance of servic…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Univ. Plaza Shopping Ctr., Inc. v. Stewart, 272 So. 2d 507 (Fla. 1973)
- Charles POE Masonry, Inc. v. Spring Lock Scaffolding Rental Equip. Co., 374 So. 2d 487 (Fla. 1979)
- Oceanus McCALL v. State, 374 So. 2d 644 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979)