St. Joseph Hospital v. Corbetta Construction Co

In St. Joseph Hospital v. Corbetta Construction Co. (1974), 21 Ill. App. 3d 925, 316 N.E.2d 51, the contractor provided the exact paneling specified by the architect only to subsequently learn that the specified material did not comply with applicable building codes. At issue was: "when an owner through its agent architect directs the contractor to install certain material does not the owner impliedly warrant to the contractor that the material is suitable?" The analogy is drawn that similarly when an owner, through its agent or architect, directs the contractor to perform its work in a specific and mandatory sequence, does not the owner impliedly warrant to the contractor that the sequence is suitable? The case sites to 6th Williston on Contracts, "though the builder may be liable if he fails, by reason of defective plans furnished him, to complete work which he has undertaken, yet if he can and does complete it according to the plans he is not liable for subsequent inferiority, injury, or destruction of the work, due to the defective character of the plans." The Court determined that: "The defective plans and specifications causing the difficulty were issued by the owner's architect, not the owner, and yet the court in such cases held that the owner was bound and that the contractor who followed them was not liable to the owner." 316 N.E.2d at 65.