Blake Const. Co., Inc. v. Alley

This appeal presents the question whether a cause of action exists in Virginia for a contractor to recover from an architect or engineer for economic loss in the absence of privity.

Blake Construction Company, Inc. (Blake), general contractor, entered into a contract with the Commonwealth of Virginia, owner, for construction of an office building in Richmond. By a separate contract, the Commonwealth employed the firm of Ballou and Justice to be the supervising architects and engineers for the construction project. However, there was no contract between the general contractor and the…