Cleon A. Prier, Appellants v. Refrigeration Engineering Company, Respondents

Summary

The Washington Supreme Court reversed a tort-based judgment and held that a contractor who holds itself out as qualified to design and install a specialized system impliedly warrants the sufficiency of its plans and specifications, so liability rests in contract. It held the owner entitled to the full $36,189.71 cost of tearing out and replacing the defective ice sheet and base, because the modifications were necessary to give the owner what it had contracted for and involved no unreasonable economic waste. The court sustained the $2,500 consequential damages award as supported by substantial evidence, and held the general damages claim to be a liquidated sum bearing prejudgment interest from October 17, 1963, the date repairs were completed, because the character of the claim rather than the defense controls liquidity.