Opinion
November 15, 1991
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Monroe County, Curran, J.
Present — Doerr, J.P., Boomer, Lawton and Davis, JJ.
Order unanimously modified on the law and as modified affirmed without costs, in accordance with the following memorandum: Defendants, Walter Kidde Company, Inc. (Kidde) and Mealane Corp. (Mealane), are entitled to summary judgment dismissing the negligence and strict products liability causes of action. Plaintiff's losses are purely economic and are, therefore, not recoverable under either tort theory (see, Schiavone Constr. Co. v. Mayo Corp., 56 N.Y.2d 667, revg 81 A.D.2d 221 on dissenting opn [Silverman, J.]; Arell's Fine Jewelers v. Honeywell, Inc., 170 A.D.2d 1013; Graham v. Rockwell Intl. Corp., 135 A.D.2d 1128; Hemming v. Certainteed Corp., 97 A.D.2d 976, appeal dismissed 61 N.Y.2d 758). Even assuming that plaintiff's damages are attributable to the deterioration or breakdown of the fire suppression systems, "the injury is properly characterized as `economic loss' and plaintiff is relegated to contractual remedies" (Hemming v. Certainteed Corp., supra; see also, Arell's Fine Jewelers v. Honeywell, Inc., supra; Richman v. Albert, 127 A.D.2d 992, lv denied 70 N.Y.2d 745). Because plaintiff's negligence and strict products liability causes of action must be dismissed, the cross claims asserted against Kidde and Mealane for contribution must also be dismissed since "[t]he existence of tort liability is a prerequisite to any claim for contribution" (Arell's Fine Jewelers v. Honeywell, Inc., supra, at 1014, citing Board of Educ. v. Sargent, Webster, Crenshaw Folley, 71 N.Y.2d 21, 27-28).