Third District Court of Appeal
State of Florida
Opinion filed November 22, 2017.
Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
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No. 3D15-2591
Lower Tribunal No. 13-30482
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Perez-Gurri Corporation, etc.,
Appellant,
vs.
Don McLeod, et al.,
Appellees.
An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Bronwyn C.
Miller, Judge.
GPG Law, and Christopher J. Perez-Gurri (Fort Lauderdale); Samson
Appellate Law, and Daniel M. Samson, for appellant.
Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer, P.A., and Thomas A. Valdez and Karen
M. Shimonsky (Tampa), for appellee M2G2 Architects, LLC.
Before LOGUE, SCALES, and LUCK, JJ.
LOGUE, J.
Perez-Gurri Corporation (the General Contractor) appeals a trial court order
dismissing its action against defendants Engineering Design Associates, Inc.,
Mitchell Stewart, and Robert Salsbury (the EDA Defendants). We reverse. The
General Contractor is not contractually barred from bringing a delay damages
claim against these defendants and the General Contractor should be allowed an
opportunity to amend its complaint to address the trial court’s added ruling—made
without notice to the parties—that the complaint did not meet minimum pleading
standards against these defendants.
The General Contractor is a Florida construction company that successfully
bid on, and became the general contractor for, a City of Miami renovation project
for the Caribbean Marketplace in Little Haiti. The City’s prime consultant on the
project subcontracted with an architect who, in turn, subcontracted with the EDA
Defendants to prepare mechanical, electrical, and plumbing design services. When
construction on the renovation project was delayed, the General Contractor sued
the EDA Defendants.
In its fourth amended complaint, the General Contractor alleged that the
delay was caused by the EDA Defendants’ professional malpractice in the
preparation of the design documents for the renovation project. The EDA
Defendants moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing in part that a “No Damages
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for Delay” clause in the contract between the General Contractor and the City of
Miami insulated the EDA Defendants from liability.
In October 2015, the trial court entered a nonfinal order granting the EDA
Defendants’ motion to dismiss based on the “No Damages for Delay” clause in the
contract between the General Contractor and the City. The General Contractor
moved for entry of final judgment so it could challenge on appeal the trial court’s
interpretation of the General Contractor-City contract. The trial court indicated that
in order for it to enter a final dismissal with prejudice, the General Contractor
would have to “affirmatively state that [it] cannot embrace another theory because
it has to be clear that the Court is allowing [it] leave to amend.” The General
Contractor thereafter gave formal notice that it was not going to amend its
complaint as to the claims brought against the EDA Defendants. It stated, “[i]n
light of this Court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law, including those that
relate to the contract, Plaintiff believes that any further amendment would be
futile.”
The trial court entered its final judgment of dismissal in February 2016.
However, in addition to its prior ruling that the General Contractor’s claims were
precluded by the “No Damages for Delay” clause, the trial court added a new basis
for dismissal—that the General Contractor failed to meet minimum pleading
requirements. This appeal followed.
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We reverse and remand for two reasons. First, for the reasons explained in
the companion case of Perez-Gurri Corp. v. McLeod, No. 3D15-2590 (Fla. 3d
DCA Nov. 22, 2017), the “No Damages for Delay” clause in the contract between
the General Contractor and the City insulates only the City from liability for delay
damages.
Second, we conclude it was error to add an alternate basis for dismissal not
raised by the parties—a pleading deficiency—without first giving the General
Contractor notice of this new ground and an opportunity to amend its complaint.
The record shows that the General Contractor’s statement that it would not amend
its complaint was predicated solely on its effort to appeal the trial court’s
dispositive ruling that the delay damages clause protected the EDA Defendants.
Prior to making that statement, the General Contractor had no notice that the trial
court was going to dismiss its case on the alternative basis that the pleadings were
insufficient. Accordingly, we reverse and remand for the trial court to provide the
General Contractor an opportunity to amend its complaint against the EDA
Defendants.
Reversed and remanded.
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