Summary
This Delaware Superior Court memorandum opinion affirms a lower court's decision holding A.S.A.P. Services liable for breach of contract and negligence per se after its inspector provided a faulty septic system report. The court found that the buyers were intended third-party beneficiaries of the inspection agreement and rejected the defendant's impossibility defense and contributory negligence claims. Additionally, the court upheld the application of the negligence per se doctrine to violations of state administrative regulations governing on-site wastewater treatment systems.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the Wilkersons are intended third‑party beneficiaries of the A.S.A.P.–Price agreement.
- Whether A.S.A.P. breached its contractual obligations under the agreement and applicable regulations.
- Whether A.S.A.P.'s conduct constitutes negligence per se under 7 Del. Admin. Code § 7101.
- Whether the damages awarded are reasonable and not speculative.
- Whether A.S.A.P. can assert an impossibility/impracticability defense.
Holdings
- The Wilkersons are intended third‑party beneficiaries of the A.S.A.P.–Price agreement.
- A.S.A.P. breached the contract by providing a defective inspection report and is liable for breach of contract.
- A.S.A.P. is liable for negligence per se because its violation of 7 Del. Admin. Code § 7101 was enacted for public safety and caused the Wilkersons' injuries.
- The $32,320 award is reasonable and supported by the record; it is not speculative.
- A.S.A.P. cannot rely on impossibility because it performed the contract defectively; the defense is unavailable.
Key quotations
“The trial court properly found that the Wilkersons were third‑party beneficiaries to the A.S.A.P.–Price agreement.”
“The negligence per se doctrine therefore applies to violations of 7 Del. Admin. Code § 7101 insofar as the “legislatively promulgated” requirement is concerned.”
Factual background
The Wilkersons purchased a home contingent on a septic system inspection report required by the sales agreement and 7 Del. Admin. Code § 7101. A.S.A.P. performed the inspection without obtaining required historic permits, misidentified the active drain field, and issued a non‑scale report. Relying on that report, the Wilkersons built a pole barn over the active drain field, causing damage and incurring $32,320 in remediation costs.
Procedural history
The Court of Common Pleas found A.S.A.P. liable for breach of contract and negligence per se after a faulty septic inspection led the Wilkersons to construct a pole building over an active drain field. A.S.A.P. appealed, arguing errors in contract interpretation, impossibility, contribution, and damages. The Superior Court reviewed the record and affirmed.