## Facts

- A builder-vendor constructed a residence and sold it to the first purchasers in October 1978.
- The home was resold twice and purchased by the plaintiffs (third purchasers) in June 1979, less than nine months after the original sale.
- After moving in, the plaintiffs experienced strong odors and fumes traced to formaldehyde emissions from carpet and padding installed by the builder.
- The plaintiffs sued the builder-vendor alleging (1) breach of an implied warranty of fitness/habitability and (2) statutory strict products liability for supplying a defective product.
- The trial court dismissed the implied-warranty count for lack of privity but allowed the strict-liability count to proceed.
- The plaintiffs appealed the implied-warranty dismissal; the builder cross-appealed the refusal to dismiss the strict-liability claim.

## Issues

1. Whether a builder-vendor’s implied warranty of habitability/fitness extends to subsequent purchasers for a reasonable time, absent substantial alteration of the home.
2. Whether a builder-constructed, mass-produced home sold by a builder-vendor is a “product” under Arkansas strict-liability law, permitting strict liability to a subsequent purchaser for harm proximately caused by a defective condition.

## Decision

- The court reversed the dismissal of the implied-warranty claim and remanded, holding the warranty can run to subsequent purchasers for a reasonable time if the home has not been substantially changed.
- The court affirmed the denial of the builder’s motion to dismiss the strict-liability claim, holding the complaint sufficiently alleged statutory strict liability.
- The case was reversed and remanded in part and affirmed in part.

## Legal Principles

- A builder-vendor of a new home impliedly warrants that the home is constructed in a workmanlike manner and is fit for habitation.
- The implied warranty extends beyond the first buyer to subsequent purchasers for a reasonable length of time, provided there has been no substantial change or alteration from the condition at the original sale.
- The warranty is time-limited by a reasonableness standard tied to the nature of the defect and the time elapsed since the original sale.
- Under Arkansas strict-liability statute, a supplier engaged in the business of distributing a product may be liable for harm to person or property if a defective condition proximately causes the harm.
- A newly constructed home built and sold by a builder-vendor in the ordinary course of business may qualify as a “product” for statutory strict-liability purposes.

## Conclusion

The court rejected privity as a bar to later purchasers’ implied-warranty claims within a reasonable time and allowed strict liability to proceed on the theory that a builder-sold home can be treated as a product when statutory elements, including defect and proximate cause, are pleaded.


Blagg v. Fred Hunt Co., 272 Ark. 185, 612 S.W.2d 321 (Ark. 1981)