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the manufacturer, and/or installer of the fuel tank and related fuel distribution apparatus;
All Fire Systems, Inc. ("All Fire"), the tester of the fire suppression system; and ABCO
Peerless Sprinkler Corporation ("ABCO"), the manufacturer, and/or installer of the
sprinkler system associated--are alleged to have been negligent in the design and
construction of 7WTC. (Am. Compl. 7272 ¶¶ 174-79.) The allegations track those
against the Construction Defendants.
4. The Citigroup Construction Defendants
The Citigroup Construction Defendants--AMEC PLC, the general
contractor; Skidmore Owings and Merrill, L.L.P. ("Skidmore"), the architect; Flack &
Kurtz ("Flack"), the mechanical engineer; Centrifugal Associates, Inc. ("Centrifugal"),
the infrastructure and mechanical subcontractor; and Irwin Cantor, the structural
engineer--are alleged, by the same general allegations as were used in the previous
groupings of defendants, to have been negligent in the design and construction of 7WTC.
(Am. Compl. 7272 ¶¶ 183-88.)
C. Motions Attacking Duty of Care
All categories of Design and Construction Defendants move to dismiss on
the ground that they did not have a duty of care in favor of Con Ed. The Owning and
Managing Defendants, 7 WTC Company and Silverstein Properties, move also to dismiss
for lack of proximate cause. As to the latter group, I hold, for the reasons discussed in
the previous section relating to the Citigroup Defendants, that the issue of proximate
cause is fact laden and inappropriate for a motion to dismiss at the pleadings stage. As to
the issue of duty of care, I hold, for the reasons stated below, that the design
professionals, such as architects and engineers, and the construction and contractor
