Duke v. Philip Johnson Alan Ritchie Architects P.C

In Dukes v. Philip Johnson/Alan Ritchie Architects, P.C., 252 S.W.3d 586 (Tex. App.--Fort Worth 2008, pet. denied), four people had drowned in a city-owned fountain, and their representatives sued the architects who had contracted with the city to assist with the fountain's earlier renovation. See id. at 590. However, the court concluded that the architects' contract with the city did not impose a duty to perform a safety review. See id. at 594-95. As a result, the court did not proceed to address the issue of whether such a duty would have extended to third-party visitors. See id. The Fort Worth Court of Appeals held that architects who undertook to inspect Fort Worth's Water Gardens, but whose contract with the City of Fort Worth defined the scope of their duties and did not include a safety assessment, could not be liable to the survivors of persons who drowned in the Water Gardens under a negligent undertaking theory. The court held that because the architects were merely attempting to comply with their contractual obligations, and nothing in the record showed "an affirmative act undertaken by Johnson/Ritchie or Johantgen that broadened the scope of their duty," a negligent undertaking theory did not apply. Id.