Opinion
May 27, 1988
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Livingston County, Houston, J.
Present — Dillon, P.J., Boomer, Pine, Balio and Lawton, JJ.
Order unanimously modified on the law and as modified affirmed without costs, in accordance with the following memorandum: Defendants William C. Larsen, P.E., P.C. and Larsen Engineers/Architects appeal from an order of Supreme Court, which granted the motions of plaintiff and of third-party defendant, P.S. Bruckel, Inc., for summary judgment dismissing the third-party complaint of Larsen Engineers against P.S., Bruckel, Inc. for indemnity. The order also denied the motion of Larsen Engineers to set aside the verdict against it as against the weight of the evidence.
We modify the order by denying the motions for summary judgment dismissing the third-party complaint. The sole issue raised by the parties on appeal was whether the indemnity agreement unequivocally expressed an intention that Larsen Engineers is to be indemnified for any liability arising out of a violation of Labor Law § 240, whether or not it was negligent. In granting summary judgment dismissing Larsen Engineers' third-party complaint, Supreme Court held that the agreement did not unequivocally express such intent. We disagree.
The indemnity agreement need not contain express language referring to the negligence of the indemnitee. All that is required is that "the intention to indemnify can be clearly implied from the language and purposes of the entire agreement, and the surrounding facts and circumstances" (Margolin v New York Life Ins. Co., 32 N.Y.2d 149, 153). The indemnity clause in the contract executed by P.S. Bruckel, Inc. provides that the contractor shall perform all work in compliance with "all * * * state laws * * * which in any manner affect the work * * * and the Contractor shall indemnify and save harmless the Owner and its officers and agents against any claim or liability arising from or based on the violation of any such laws, ordinances or regulations." This provision clearly evinces the intention that the contractor is to indemnify the agent of the owner, Larsen Engineers, from any liability Larsen may incur because of a violation of any State statute, including a violation of section 240 Lab. of the Labor Law.