Duty; National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards

The court reversed the portion of the trial court’s order denying defendant’s motion for summary disposition as to a claim of negligence, and remanded. Plaintiff-Wilcomes’ “propane that had leaked out of a corroded pipe in their attic exploded, damaging the premises.” They dedicated “one line in their complaint regarding defendant’s duty.” Specifically, they claimed defendant “had a duty to perform a leak check pursuant to [NFPA] sections 54 and 58.” In the next line, plaintiffs claimed “that defendant breached that duty by failing to conduct a leak check of” their system. “Defendant moved for summary disposition under MCR 2.116(C)(8), arguing plaintiffs’ complaint was deficient because duties cannot arise from the NFPA industry standards.” Plaintiffs’ complaint was “deficient because it relied exclusively on NFPA standards as the sole basis of defendant’s duty. The trial court should have granted summary disposition under MCR 2.116(C)(8) on this basis and it erred when it concluded otherwise.”