In the case of Dean, et al. v. Barrett Homes — http://lawlibrary.rutgers.edu/courts/supreme/a-15-09.opn.html — New Jersey’s Supreme Court was faced with the question of whether New Jersey’s Products Liability Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:58C, allowed purchases of a residential home to sue the manufacturer of an allegedly defective exterior finishing system. In reaching its decision, the Court wrote that the Product Liability Act “is not concerned with providing a consumer with a remedy for a defective product per se; it is concerned with providing a remedy for the harm or the damage that a defective product causes to people or to property.” As such, the Court ruled that the Act precluded plaintiffs from “recovering any damages for harm that the EIFS caused to itself.” However, the Court went on to note that the Act only applied to integrated products. Here, the Court concluded that the EIFS was not fully integrated into the structure of the house, such that the Products Liability Act would apply. Rather, it was a stand alone product such that the plaintiffs retained a cause of action pursuant to which they may proceed against the product’s manufacturer.”

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