BARRY ALLEN BRILLIANT, TRUSTEE, APPELLANT,
v.
ARTHUR J. MILLER, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1993-08-24
No. 93-513
Before NESBITT, COPE and GODERICH, JJ.
622 So. 2d 1361 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1993)

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Property owner Brilliant appeals summary judgment in favor of Miller, an engineer, arising from flooding damage to Brilliant's property adjacent to a bridge reconstruction project. The court affirmed summary judgment, finding no contract existed between Miller and the supervising engineer Post Buckley that would create liability to Brilliant as a third-party beneficiary.


Holding

No contract existed between Miller (or Avart, Inc.) and Post Buckley, and therefore no breach occurred that could give rise to third-party beneficiary rights. Miller's letter was merely his opinion, not the result of a contractual obligation, so summary judgment in favor of Miller was proper.


Headnotes

[1] A third-party beneficiary claim requires the existence of a contract between the parties.

[2] An opinion letter from an engineer to a supervising firm regarding property flooding does not constitute a contract.

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Key Quotes

“Our review of the record has uncovered no facts which show either Miller, individually, or Avart, Inc., had entered into a contract with Post Buckley.”

Court's foundational finding that no contractual relationship existed between Miller and Post Buckley, which is essential to defeating the third-party beneficiary claim.

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Facts & Procedural History

Miller was president of Avart, Inc., an engineering firm that received a late assignment of a contract with the Florida DOT to provide engineering ser…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

The plaintiff, Barry Allen Brilliant, a property owner, appeals a final summary judgment entered in favor of the defendant, Arthur J. Miller, arising out of a suit for damages caused by flooding on plaintiff’s property.

Miller is the president of Avart, Inc., an engineering firm which received an assignment of a contract with the State of Florida Department of Transportation (DOT). Pursuant to the contract, Avart, Inc. was to provide certain specified engineering services related to the reconstruction of a bridge located adjacent to and bordering the backside of Brilliant’s property. Avart, Inc. received the assignment near the conclusion of the construction project, after most of the engineering work was completed. Neither Avart, Inc. nor Miller contracted to perform any work relating to the bridge’s drainage system.

During construction, an engineer at Post Buckley Shuh & Jernigan, Inc. (Post Buckley), the engineering firm hired by the DOT to supervise construction, noticed Brilliant’s property flooding, and consulted with Miller as to the cause. In a letter to Post Buckley, Miller concluded that the flooding was a preexisting condition at the property caused by lunar tides rather than by the bridge construction.

Brilliant filed a negligence suit against Miller and others, alleging that Miller, as president of Avart, Inc., “entered into a contract for engineering consulting services with the DOT and was consulted by POST BUCKLEY with respect to drainage problems at the Property.” Miller moved for summary judgment. At the hearing on the motion, Brilliant argued that he was the intended third-party beneficiary of the contract entered into between Miller and Post Buckley to determine the cause of the flooding on his property, and that Miller’s duty to him stemmed from Miller’s negligent performance of that contract. The trial court granted the summary judgment.

Our review of the record has uncovered no facts which show either Miller, individu ally, or Avart, Inc., had entered into a contract with Post Buckley. See generally, Greater New York Corp. v. Cenvill Miami Beach Corp., 620 So. 2d 1068 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993) (a meeting of the minds on all essential elements is a prerequisite to an enforceable contract). The letter written by Miller to Post Buckley was not the result of a contract. It was merely Miller’s opinion as to the cause of the flooding on the property. Since no contract existed, there can be no breach for which a third party right to sue for damages may arise. Accordingly, the summary judgment in Miller’s favor is affirmed.


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