Board of Education v. Nolte Tillar Bros. Construction Co.

49 N.E.2d 99, 71 Ohio App. 469, 38 Ohio Law. Abs. 91
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 25, 1943
Docket6190
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 49 N.E.2d 99 (Board of Education v. Nolte Tillar Bros. Construction Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Board of Education v. Nolte Tillar Bros. Construction Co., 49 N.E.2d 99, 71 Ohio App. 469, 38 Ohio Law. Abs. 91 (Ohio Ct. App. 1943).

Opinion

OPINION

By ROSS, J.

This is an appeal on questions of ’aw from a final order of the Court of Common Pleas of Hamilton county, overruling a motion of defendants for judgment non obstante veredicto. The defendants’ motion for new trial was granted.

The amended petition briefly sets forth the existence of a contract, by which the defendant Construction Company agreed to ■erect a public school building for the plaintiff, that the defendant Bonding Company executed a bond covering faithful performance ■of such contract, that the defendant Construction Company breached said contract in failing to construct the building in such a manner as to be weather-proof as' provided for in the plans and specifications adopted by the parties.

The answer was in effect a general denial. There was no reply.

No demurrer was filed to the petition.

The following quotations from the record are pertinent:

“Q. This weather struck joint you first talked about, isn’t that a joint made by a mason’s trowel, so that it slopes from a *93 point underneath the upper brick to the upper edge of the lower brick?

A. That’s right.

Q. In the alternate proposal which you selected you changed from this type of joint to that type of joint?

A. Yes.

Q. And after the school building walls were found to leak did you and the brick contractor on this job, or rather, Mr. Herman Tillar, pay a visit to the Sayler Park School you built nine years ago?

A. Yes, we did.
Q. And in the Sayler Park School did you not use a weather struck joint?
A. I don’t think so, I don’t think we did.

Q. Do you recall saying to Mr. Herman Tillar, as you looked at the Sayler Park School, after the Addyston School started to leak, that you wished you had put in the weather struck joint rather than the rounded point?

A. No sir.
Q. You don’t remember saying that?

A. No sir. We use both types of joints all the time and we don’t have leaky walls, either.”

“Q. Did they ask for your opinion?

A. Ask our opinion on what?
Q. As to the cause of the leaky walls?
A. Yes, they did.
Q. And you gave them the same opinion that you gave here?
A. Yes. I still think it is because the joints have not been filled up.
Q. And that is the only cause that you assign?
A. That is my opinion, the joints have not been filled.
Q. That is your opinion?
A. Yes, I gave that as my opinion.”

The defendants presented two special charges to the Court, as follows:

“Members of the Jury, I charge you that if you find that the contractor used""the materials specified in the contract and erected the brick walls in the manner provided for in the contract you need go no further in considering any of the other questions in this case and your verdict must be for the defendants.”

“Members of the Jury, I charge you that before the plaintiff can recover in this case, the plaintiff must prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the contractor failed to use the materials specified or failed to erect the brick walls with the workmanship specified.” , ;

*94 . •• Among the clauses in the contract which is attached to the bill of exceptions appears the following:

■ “ARTICLE 6. THE CONTRACT DOCUMENTS. The General Conditions of the Contract; the Specifications and the Drawings, together with this Agreement, form the Contract, and they are as fully a part of the Contract as if hereto attached or herein repeated. The following is an enumeration of the Specifications and Drawings:”

In the documents styled “The General Conditions of the Contract for the Construction of Buildings” thus incorporated in the contract appears the following clauses:

“Art. 20. Correction of Work after final payment. Neither the final certificate nor payment nor any provision in the Contract Documents shall relieve the Contractor of responsibility for faulty materials or workmanship and, unless otherwise specified, he shall remedy any defects due thereto and pay for any damage to other work resulting therefrom, which shall appear within a period of one year from the date of substantial completion. The Owner shall give notice of observed defects with reasonable promptness. All questions arising under this article - shall be decided by the Architect subject to arbitration.”

“Art. 31. Damages. If either party to this Contract should suffer damage in any manner because of any wrongful act or neglect of the other party or of anyone- employed by him, then he shall be reimbursed by the other party for such damage.

“Claims under this clause shall be made in writing to the party liable within a reasonable time at the first observance of such damage and not later than the time of final payment, except as expressly stipulated otherwise in the case of‘faulty work or materials, and shall be adjusted by agreement or arbitration.”

“Art. 36 * * * *

“The Contractor agrees that he is as fully responsible to the Owner for the acts and omissions of his subcontractors and of persons either directly or indirectly employed by them, as he is for the acts and omissions of persons directly employed by him.”

“Art. 39. Architect’s Decisions. The Architect shall, within a reasonable time, make decisions on all claims of the Owner or Contractor and on all other matters relating to the execution and progress of the work or the interpretation of the Contract Documents.

“The Architect’s decisions, in matters relating to artistic effect, shall be final, if within the terms of the Contract Documents.

“Except as above or as otherwise expressly provided in the Contract Documents, all the Architect’s decisions are subject to arbitration.”

“Art. 40. Arbitration. All questions subject to arbitration under this Contract shall be submitted to arbitration at the choice of either party to the dispute.”

*95 * * S¡- * *

“The demand for arbitration shall be filed in writing with the Architect, in the case of an appeal from his decision, within ten days of its receipt and in any other case within a reasonable time after cause thereof and in no case later than the time of final payment, except as otherwise expressly stipulated in the Contract. If the Architect fails to make a decision within a reasonable time, an appeal to arbitration may be taken as if his decision had been rendered against the party appealing.

Sii * * *

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
49 N.E.2d 99, 71 Ohio App. 469, 38 Ohio Law. Abs. 91, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/board-of-education-v-nolte-tillar-bros-construction-co-ohioctapp-1943.