Changed Conditions Do Not Defeat Design Immunity if the Design Anticipated the Change

In Alvis v. County of Ventura, published today, the 2^nd District Court of Appeal, Division Six, held that while a change in conditions that renders a design unsafe can result in loss of Government Code section 830.6 design immunity to dangerous condition liability, the entity does not lose the immunity if the public entity approved a design that contemplated the possibility of that specific change of condition.  The court also rejected that argument that discretionary approval of the design was insufficient to create immunity if the official who approved the design was not made aware of an expert’s opinion that the design was safe.