Shoemaker v. Riebe
Shoemaker v. Riebe
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
This controversy was between the subcontractor and the general contractor for the erection of a building for the First National Bank of Tamaqua. The plaintiff, who was a subcontractor for the cut stone work, claims that at a time when he had largely completed his work in accordance with the stipulations of his contract, he was
The case turns entirely upon disputed questions of fact, which were submitted to the jury in a charge minutely covering every phase of the case, as disclosed by the testimony. The jury were instructed that if the plaintiff was at fault in locating the wall, or in putting up the stone work, then the contractor and the owner were justified in having the wall taken down and rebuilt at plaintiff’s expense. But if they found, as a matter of fact that the line as given to him was improperly located, then he was not responsible for that mistake, and if the jury found that otherwise the work of plaintiff was properly performed, he was entitled to recover. We find nothing wrong in these instructions.
In the first assignment of error it is alleged that the court below erred in affirming a point to the effect that the contractor was bound to give to the plaintiff the proper line for the wall. That this instruction was right appears from an inspection of the contract, which shows that the contractor was made responsible for the correct location of all walls, &c., before proceeding with
The remaining assignments of error raise the question of the extent of the authority of the architect, under the contract with plaintiff, and whether this authority was properly exercised in dismissing plaintiff from the work, and in preventing him from completing it. In the original proposal for the work submitted by plaintiff, the only reference to the function of the architect, was in the statement that the cut stone 'was to be set in place “as shown on the front elevation, cleaned and pointed as per plans and specifications” of the architect. In accepting this proposal the contractor agreed to make monthly payments as per architect’s estimate. A year afterwards and at a time when a greater part of the work had been performed, a disagreement arose which was settled, and the plaintiff then agreed to finish the bank front in a manner satisfactory to the architect; but here again there was evidence that the architect failed to furnish detailed drawings which were necessary to enable the work to be done. It is evident that the plaintiff could not properly be held responsible for the fault of the architect, or for that of contractors upon other portions of the building, which may have affected the stone work. There was no dispute as to the proper construction of the drawings or specifications, such as under the general contract was to be submitted to the decision of the architect. The controversy was as to where the responsibility lay for the wrong location of the wall, and for the weakness of the brick piers in the rear of the wall, which interfered with the stone work in front. According to the testimony of the plaintiff, when the trouble was discovered the architect
Reference
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Contracts — Building contracts — Breach—Architects—Authority to assess damages — Bet-off—Case for jury. 1. The authority of an architect, under a subcontract for the construction of certain stone work which provides that monthly payments shall be made to the subcontractor “as per architect’s estimate,” and that the work shall be completed in a manner satisfactory to the architect, does not extend to a final determination of the amount of compensation due the subcontractor where he had been discharged by the architect before the completion of the work, and the legality of this action was denied and depended on disputed facts. 2. In an action of assumpsit by a subcontractor against a general contractor to recover a balance due on a contract for the construction of a wall, where defendant averred that the wall had been improperly located, so that the whole work had to be tom down and rebuilt, the cost of which tearing down and rebuilding defendant sought to set off against plaintiff’s claim, and where plaintiff’s evidence tended to show that the wall had been located in accordance with defendant’s directions, and that difficulty had also been occasioned by reason of the poor construction of certain brick piers in the rear of the wall, with which plaintiff had nothing to do, the ease was for the jury to determine which party was responsible for the rebuilding of the wall, and a verdict for plaintiff was properly sustained where there was evidence that though plaintiff had not completed the work, he had been discharged at the instance of the architect before the work was finished, without reasonable cause.