## Facts

- A tract home was built in Palo Alto in 1951 by a builder-vendor and sold to the original purchasers in 1952; it was later resold to David Kriegler in 1957.
- The builder hired a heating contractor to install a radiant-heating system embedded in the home’s concrete slab.
- Because of a copper shortage, the contractor used terne-coated steel tubing supplied by a manufacturer and installed it using methods comparable to copper installations.
- The radiant-heating system later failed due to corrosion of the steel tubing, causing leakage and physical damage to the house and requiring extensive repairs and disruption to the occupants.
- The trial court found the system was defective as installed and that the defect caused physical damage to the structure.

## Issues

1. Whether strict products liability applies to a mass builder-vendor for a defective component system incorporated into a house, permitting a subsequent purchaser to recover for physical damage to the structure.
2. Whether substantial evidence supported a finding that the builder-vendor was negligent in selecting and installing the radiant-heating system.
3. Whether the builder-vendor could recover from the tubing supplier and heating contractor on implied-warranty or indemnity theories, and whether the builder’s negligence barred such recovery.

## Decision

- The court affirmed judgment for the homeowner against the builder-vendor.
- The court held the builder-vendor was strictly liable in tort for physical damage caused by the defective radiant-heating system.
- The court also held the evidence was sufficient to support negligence liability against the builder-vendor.
- The court affirmed judgment for the supplier and heating contractor on the builder-vendor’s cross-claims, finding no proven breach of implied warranties and concluding the builder’s negligence barred recovery in any event.

## Legal Principles

- A mass builder-vendor who places standardized homes into the stream of commerce may be treated as a manufacturer for strict products-liability purposes.
- Strict liability may attach for latent defects in an installed component system that existed when the home left the builder-vendor and that proximately caused physical damage to the structure.
- Lack of contractual privity does not bar strict-liability recovery by a foreseeable homeowner, including a subsequent purchaser, for physical damage from a defective product incorporated into the home.
- A builder-vendor seeking to shift loss to suppliers or subcontractors must prove the asserted implied-warranty basis for recovery; where the builder’s own negligence substantially contributes to the harm, indemnity-based shifting may be denied.

## Conclusion

The court imposed strict products liability on a tract home builder-vendor for physical damage caused by a defective slab-embedded radiant-heating system, allowed recovery by a subsequent purchaser, and refused to shift the builder’s liability to the component supplier or heating contractor where implied-warranty proof failed and the builder’s negligence supported the loss.


Kriegler v. Eichler Homes, Inc., 269 Cal. App. 2d 224, 74 Cal. Rptr. 749 (Ct. App. 1969)