Kann v. Bennett
Kann v. Bennett
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
When the plaintiff offered the architect’s certificate upon which he was suing, the defendant objected, inter alia, upon the ground that it was not a complete award; but it was admitted in evidence. This is complained of in the third assignment of error. The objection should have been sustained, for the award itself shows that the architect did not consider or pass upon at least three items within his cognizance, namely, the claims of the lumber company and the plumbing company, and the Jacobs claim for brick work. In Hamilton v. Hart, 125 Pa. 142, we said, per Mr. Justice Mitchell, “It is well
This litigation was here before (223 Pa. 36), and while there is nothing to show that the parties at that time mutually agreed to disregard the award, it appears from the report that the then counsel for the plaintiff conducted his case along different lines from those pursued at the last trial. Speaking by Mr. Justice Potter we said: “Under the theory upon which the cause was tried, the important question which lay at the threshold of the inquiry was whether the plaintiff had failed to furnish sufficient workmen and proper material for the erection of the house, and whether he had prosecuted the work with due diligence.” In the trial now under review the plaintiff
If the contract be regarded as a whole it is apparent that the parties selected the architect as the one to whose final decision they were willing to submit both the preliminary question of the contractor’s default and the ultimate one of the determination of the account between them; and under our cases that is a bar to a common-law action
As to one item awarded the plaintiff we feel that the architect exceeded the scope of the submission. The twenty-third and twenty-fourth assignments of error relate to the item- of 11,070.14, the rental value of the house, allowed as damages for 217 days’ delay; these assignments should have been sustained. The plaintiff might have held the defendant to the completion of the work and
We have gone into this case at some length in the hope of defining the rights of the parties so that the controversy may be brought to an end. It is not necessary to discuss the other assignments of error further than to say that the-item of $1,013.30, allowed W. H. Sims for supervising the completion of the building for the owner, was within the cognizance of the architect and his decision thereon is not subject to review. As before pointed out, the award sued upon was not final; but the agreement is in force, and should the architect make a valid award, the plaintiff’s remedy is still open to him: Hamilton v. Hart, supra.
The third, twenty-third, twenty-fourth and the last two specifications are sustained. The judgment is reversed, without prejudice.
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- Arbitration — Building contract — Award of architect — Incomplete award 1. An award of an arbitrator which is not final, or is not complete as to all the matters included in the submission, is void altogether, and is not admissible even as an account stated. 2. Where a building contract provides that matters in dispute shall be referred to the architect, whose decision shall be final and conclusive, and the architect in making his award certifies that he had not included certain items of materials furnished, as to which mechanics’ liens had been filed, the award is incomplete and cannot be sued upon. 3. In such a case the owner might have waited until the mechanics’ liens had been adjudicated, or he might have waived his rights as to the items omitted, or with the acquiescence of the contractor he might have waived the submission of such items, but as he did none of these things, he is not entitled to sue upon the incomplete award. 4. Where the parties to a building contract select the architect as the person to whose final decision they are willing to submit the preliminary question of the contractor’s default, and the ultimate one of the determination of the account between the parties, the award of the architect on these subjects is final so long as he acts independently and without fraudulent collusion with the owner. Partiality and some improper conduct on the part of the arbitrator in making the award will not impeach it, unless the party benefited thereby be implicated in the misconduct. 5. Where the award of an architect in a building contract is attacked for fraud, mere general allegations of fraud without stating the facts which sustain them are not sufficient. The facts upon which the charge is made must be shown, inasmuch as fraud is largely a conclusion of law from facts stated. 6. The rule that the award of an architect as to matters expressly made subject to his decision will not be disturbed does not at all apply beyond the express covenants of the contracting parties. Thus where a contract provides that, upon the default of the contractor, the owner may dispossess the contractor and complete the contract at the latter’s expense, and that the decision of the architect as to matters in dispute shall be final, the architect has no power to allow the owner at the expense of the contractor the rental value of the building from the date allowed by the contract for completion of the building to the date of actual completion. In such a case, however, an item allowed by the architect to the owner for the supervision of the completion of the building is within the architect’s cognizance.