Guest Post
By: Gaetano P. Piccirilli and Zachary D. Sanders

In construction claims, Pennsylvania's economic loss doctrine generally bars tort claims against parties to which the contractor has no privity of contract and has suffered only economic harm - i.e. lost profits, delay damages, etc. Until 2005, the economic loss doctrine prevented contractors and subcontractors from suing an owner's design professional directly for economic losses resulting from defective designs. In 2005, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in Bilt-Rite Contractors, Inc. v. The Architectural Studio, held that a design professional may be liable for economic losses to a contractor or subcontractor under a negligent misrepresentation theory in situations "where it is foreseeable that the [design documents would] be used and relied upon by third persons, even if the third parties have no direct contractual relationship with the supplier of information."