defective workmanship standing alone, that is, resulting in damages only to the work product itself, is not an occurrence under a CGL policy.” Id. The court explained that “the damages [the developer] seeks are limited to the very property upon which Pursell performed work” and “were not the result of an ‘occurrence’ as defined in the policy.” Id.
Nearly ten years after Pursell, the Iowa Court of Appeals addressed a similar issue in W.C. Stewart Construction, Inc. v. Cincinnati Insurance Co., 770 N.W.2d 850, 2009 WL 928871, at *1 (Iowa Ct.App. Apr. 8, 2009) (table opinion, publication decision pending), rev. denied (Iowa June 5, 2009). There, the insured, a subcontractor, sought coverage under a CGL policy for claims asserted against the subcontractor by a developer. Id. The developer alleged that the subcontractor’s defective grading of a construction site caused “building movement and cracks in walls erected (presumably by other subcontractors) on the ground graded.” Id. The CGL policy, like the policy in Pursell, limited coverage to an “occurrence,” which it, like the policy in Pursell, defined as “an accident, including continuous or repeated exposure to substantially the same general harmful conditions.” Id. The subcontractor attempted to distinguish Pursell on the grounds that the developer’s claim “asserted damages to property other than [the subcontractor’s] work product.” Id. at 3. The court of appeals rejected this argument, stating that the subcontractor had “read[ ] Pursell too narrowly” because “[t]he faulty workmanship in Pursell required reinstallation of plumbing and duct work with which Pursell had not been involved, just as the faulty workmanship by [the subcontractor] required reconstruction of walls [the subcontractor] had not built.” Id. Because “the damages [the developer] sought were to the very property upon which [the subcontractor] performed work,” the court held that the damages were not the result of an occurrence. Id. at 4. To hold otherwise, the court explained, “would improperly make the insurer a guarantor of the insured’s work.” Id.
In light of Pursell and W.C. Stewart, we conclude that the plaintiffs in the Pappas and Saltzman Suits did not allege property damage caused by an occurrence. Here, as in Pursell, the Policies provide coverage for “ ‘property damage’ ... caused by an ‘occurrence,’ ” which the Policies, as in Pursell, define as “an accident, including continuous or repeated exposure to substantially the same general harmful conditions.” Further, the Pappas and Saltzman plaintiffs alleged that Pella, much like the contractors in Pursell and W.C. Stewart, defectively designed and constructed its windows. Specifically, the Pappas complaint alleged that Pella knew that its windows had a defect that allowed water to leak through the window frame. Similarly, all of the claims in the Saltzman complaint derived from the allegation that Pella knew “that its windows contained an inherent defect that permitted [water] leakage.” In both cases, the property damage — whether to the windows themselves or the structure of the building near the windows — was caused by a defect that Pella was alleged to have known about. Under Iowa law, such defective workmanship, as alleged in the Pappas and Saltzman Suits, cannot be considered an occurrence, i.e., “an undesigned, sudden, and unexpected event.” Pursell, 596 N.W.2d at 70 (quotation and citation omitted).
Because the Pappas and Saltzman Suits did not allege an “occurrence,” Liberty Mutual did not owe Pella a duty to reimburse its costs in defending either action. See McCuen, 946 F.2d at 1407; Emp’rs Mut. Cas. Co., 552 N.W.2d at 641. As a result, we need not address Liberty Mutu