News & Events

Articles & Publications

Design Professional's Liability: The Confusion About the Economic Loss Rule
Brian K. Fielden

This article discusses the status of the "economic loss rule" in North Carolina. The "economic loss rule" issue arises when courts allow general contractors and subcontractors to sue design professionals, with whom they have no privity of contract, for purely economic losses resulting from the design professional's negligence in performing its duties with its contract with the owner. The "economic loss rule" states that a contractor or subcontractor in this situation cannot recover in negligence for purely economic losses when there has been no physical injury or damage to property that is not subject to the contract.