A contractor constructing a high-rise apartment building in downtown Miami sued the supplier of a crane that collapsed during Hurricane Irma.
Miami-based L&R Structural Corp. sued Maxim Crane Works LP after its crane collapsed at the construction site of X Miami, an apartment development formerly known as Vice.
In the lawsuit filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, L&R charged Maxim with breach of express warranty, breach of lease and product liability. L&R, which had leased the crane for $23,000 a month, also accused Maxim of negligence for providing a deficient plan to prepare the construction site for a hurricane.
L&R claimed that Maxim was responsible under their lease agreement for disassembling and relocating the damaged crane after Hurricane Irma hit Miami on Sept. 10.
Maxim refused to do so and instead sent an engineer to monitor L&R’s removal of the broken crane at the L&R’s expense, according to the lawsuit.
In a Sept. 19 letter to the contractor, Maxim told L&R that it was responsible for costs stemming from the crane accident under the terms of their lease agreement.
Holland & Knight attorneys Michael Candes, James McCrae and Andrew Albaugh filed the lawsuit on behalf of L&R.
Construction of X Miami, a 31-story building with 464 apartments, is scheduled to conclude in fall. The building’s developer is Property Markets Group. [Daily Business Review] – Mike Seemuth