US$ 10 million damages and costs were awarded in 2017 to purchasers of residential property in the Grandview Riverwalk, Port Imperial development, New York State. A court has now decided that this must be paid entirely by the developer, a subsidiary of Hovnanian Enterprises, not by the architects RTKL. The construction was approved by the town as “Type B” meaning flame retardant wood should be used, but ended up including untreated plywood. Modifications proposed by the architects were apparently never approved by the town and possibly were not implemented. The developer ends up paying the damages, despite the judge indicating (according to specialist media) that the architects were also negligent.
“Hovnanian’s Indemnity Action Against Architect Fails in $10M Hudson County Condo Case”, New Jersey Law Journal, 14th August 2019 https://www.law.com/njlawjournal/2019/08/14/hovnanians-indemnity-action-against-architect-fails-in-10m-hudson-county-condo-case/?slreturn=20190824025957