1. When Winters entered a contract with the Emersons to install a new roof, did he have an implied obligation to perform the service skillfully, carefully, diligently, and in a workmanlike manner?

2. May a contractor escape his responsibilities under his contract with a homeowner by subcontracting with a third party who breaches the implied responsibilities to perform the work in a skillful, careful, diligent, and workmanlike manner?

The Emersons contracted with Martin Winters, the owner of Winters Roofing Company, to install a new roof on their home. When the new roof leaked, Winters agreed to fix the problems. Without the knowledge of the Emersons, Winters hired a subcontractor, Bruce Jacobs, to perform the repair work. Jacobs’s use of a propane torch in repairing the roof resulted in a fire that caused $871,069 in damages to the house and personal property. Federal Insurance Co. sued Winters to recover sums it paid the Emersons for damages resulting from the fire. Winters defended that Federal had sued the wrong party because Winters did not participate in the repair work but had subcontracted the work out to Jacobs and was neither at the job site nor supervised Jacobs’s work. From a judgment for Winters, the Court of Appeals reversed. The state Supreme Court conducted a further review.

JUDICIAL OPINION

WADE, J.…

Implied Duty to Perform Skillfully,

Carefully, Diligently, and in a Workmanlike

Manner

Since neither Federal nor the Defendant dispute the existence of a contract, the initial question is whether the Defendant breached its terms, express or implied. Federal contends that the Defendant breached its implied responsibility, while the Defendant argues that no such implied responsibility existed on his part.….

Cases from numerous jurisdictions support the principle that service contracts are accompanied by an implied obligation to perform the service skillfully, carefully, diligently, and in a workmanlike manner. See, e.g., Reliable Elec. Co. v. Clinton Campbell Contractor, Inc., 459 P.2d 98, 101 (1969) (explaining that someone who undertakes a service must perform the service in a “good workmanlike manner and in a manner befitting a skilled contractor”)…. ………………..