Legal Implications of Buying Lumber for a Small Deck Project

Susan can sue Joe for breach of the warranty called fitness for a particular purpose.

Explanation:

Unless properly disclaimed in the contract, an implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose arises when:

• (1) the seller knows, or should know, the buyer's purpose for the goods; and
• (2) the seller knows, or should know, that the buyer is relying on the seller to determine what the buyer needs for that purpose.

Therefore, in this scenario, Susan described the size of the deck she intended to build to Joe, the owner of Joe's Lumber Yard, and relied on him to select the right lumber for the project. Since the lumber selected by Joe was not strong enough to support the deck, Susan can potentially hold Joe liable for the breach of the implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose.