A major construction company has filed a lawsuit against three manufacturers, alleging that defective metal panels have caused significant damages. McKinstry Co., LLC filed the complaint in the District Court of Harris County on September 13, 2024, targeting Nucor Insulated Panel Group, LLC d/b/a Metl-Span, NCI Group, Inc. d/b/a Metl-Span, and Cornerstone Building Brands, Inc. d/b/a Metl-Span.
The case revolves around allegations that insulated metal panels designed and manufactured by the defendants developed bubbles, ripples, and other flaws due to inherent or manufacturing defects. These panels were installed by McKinstry in a commercial building project known as the West Edge Project in Seattle, Washington. The issues with the panels have led to litigation in King County, Washington where McKinstry was named as a third-party defendant based on these alleged defects.
McKinstry claims that they were contracted by Sellen Construction Company to supply and install these panels for Urban Visions MFA Second and Pike LLC. According to McKinstry's petition, preliminary inspections conducted in 2021 revealed significant deformities such as bubbling and warping in the panels. Despite notifying the defendants about these issues and conducting further investigations which confirmed the defects were not due to installation errors but rather manufacturing flaws, no corrective action was taken by the defendants.
In their filing, McKinstry outlines multiple causes of action including breach of contract, negligence, products liability, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. They argue that under Texas law (Chapter 82 of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code), they are entitled to indemnification from the defendants for any losses incurred due to these defective products.
McKinstry is seeking actual damages exceeding $1 million for pre-suit investigation costs and legal fees incurred while defending against claims made in Washington state litigation. They also seek damages equal to any judgment rendered against them related to these defective panels along with pre-judgment interest at legal rates and post-judgment interest as provided by law.
The attorneys representing McKinstry Co., LLC are Shelly D. Masters and Katrina L. Colwell Arp from Cokinos | Young law firm based in Austin Texas. The case has been assigned Case ID: 2024-62280 under Judge Bernitta Barrett at Harris County District Court.