Cocchi v. Morais Concrete Service, Inc.

2015 Mass. App. Div. 49
CourtMassachusetts District Court, Appellate Division
DecidedMarch 17, 2015
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 2015 Mass. App. Div. 49 (Cocchi v. Morais Concrete Service, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts District Court, Appellate Division primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cocchi v. Morais Concrete Service, Inc., 2015 Mass. App. Div. 49 (Mass. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

McGill, J.

When the defendant contractor paid $5,000.00 for the plaintiff subcontractor’s three days of work, the plaintiff brought a contract action seeking additional costs and damages. After a jury-waived trial on the merits of this case, written findings issued and judgment entered in favor of the plaintiff against the defendant. Specifically, the trial judge determined that the plaintiff proved a contract existed only for the first day of work, but proved only quantum meruit for the next two days of work. The plaintiff filed this Dist./Mun. Cts. RAD. A., Rule 8C, appeal of the judg[50]*50ment, damages award, and the court’s finding of no contract for the final two days of work. We reverse in part and affirm in part.

First, we reverse the trial judge’s conclusion that the document signed after the first day of work constituted a contract between the parties. Based upon the trial judge’s findings of fact, we find that sometime before the first day of work, the plaintiff entered into an oral contract with the defendant to perform all work for $5,000.00. This $5,000.00 contract governed all work performed thereunder. The trial judge’s findings of fact do not show proof of any receipt of any consideration for the defendant’s promise to pay an increased rate of payment on the original contract reflected in the documents signed after the first day of work. Second, we affirm the trial judge’s conclusion that the two signed documents, signed after the original contract on the first day of work, were merely “invoices” and not contracts. However, since the initial $5,000.00 contract governs all work performed, we reverse the trial judge’s award of quantum meruit for the final two days of work. Lastly, we find that G.L.c. 261, §1 and Mass. R. Civ. P., Rule 54(d), do not authorize the plaintiffs recovery of attorney’s fees.

In order to detail our decision, a brief recitation of the facts as warranted by the record is appropriate.3 In 2008, pursuant to a public bidding process, the defendant, Moráis Concrete Service, Inc. (“Moráis”), entered into a contract with the town of Longmeadow for various site work at two locations. The two sites were located at Mill Road and Fenwood Road in Longmeadow. The municipal contract included, among other things, the removal of trees, installation of drainage devices, and landscaping and backfill at the two sites. Moráis hired the plaintiff, Paul B. Cocchi, doing business as Paul’s Tree Service (“Cocchi”), as a subcontractor to perform the work regarding the removal of trees, brush, and debris on the project based on a price quote of $5,000.00 for the site work. At some point after this agreement, Moráis told Cocchi that he needed to pay his employees the prevailing wage rate because the work was pursuant to a municipal contract. Although Cocchi usually paid his employees $12.00 to $14.00 per hour, the prevailing hourly wage for a chainsaw operator at the time was $36.59 and the prevailing hourly wage for a bucket truck operator was $43.00 per hour.

On October 16, 2008, Cocchi and two employees worked for seven hours at the Fenwood Road site and, after the work was completed, presented a bill for $2,100.00. The bill indicated that Cocchi and each of his two employees would be paid $43.00 per hour, and that he would charge 65% for overhead. The bill also included an hourly [51]*51charge for the use of a chipper ($15.00) and a bucket loader ($75.00). In total, Cocchi’s rate, now including the prevailing wage, would be $300.00 per hour. Morais’s agent approved the price for the equipment and hourly costs plus overhead for that day only. The agent informed Cocchi that he would have to address the increased charges and costs with Moráis. However, Cocchi did additional work without discussing the additional charges and costs, including 62 more work hours at the sites. On October 25, 2008, after completing work on the Fenwood Road site, Cocchi presented a bill for services for $13,500.00, citing a $300.00 hourly rate. This amount included seven hours of work on October 16,2008. On October 30,2008, Moráis paid Cocchi a total of $5,000.00. On November 6,2008, after completing work on the Mill Road site, Cocchi presented a further bill for services for $7,200.00 for a total demand of $15,700.00, less the previously paid $5,000.00. Moráis offered to pay an additional $5,000.00. The lawsuit ensued.

Contract formation requires a bargain in which there is a manifestation of mutual assent to the exchange. I & R Mechanical, Inc. v. Hazelton Mfg. Co., 62 Mass. App. Ct. 452, 454-455 (2004), citing Situation Mgt. Sys., Inc. v. Malouf, Inc., 430 Mass. 875, 878 (2000). The manifestation of mutual assent between contracting parties generally consists of an offer by one and the acceptance of it by the other. Id at 455, citing RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF CONTRACTS §22(1) (1981). An offer is the manifestation of willingness to enter into a bargain made in such a way as to justify the other person in understanding that his assent will conclude the agreement. Levenson v. L.M.I. Realty Corp., 31 Mass. App. Ct. 127, 130 (1991). Although “[ajdvertisements, price quotations, and price lists generally do not constitute offers but are instead usually considered requests for offers or invitations to negotiate,” I & R Mechanical, Inc., supra at 455, a price quote, directed to a specific individual or entity regarding a specific job, may in some circumstances constitute an offer. See Loranger Constr. Corp. v. E.F. Hauserman Co., 376 Mass. 757, 760 (1978) (Loranger). In Loranger, the defendant subcontractor submitted a price quotation to the plaintiff general contractor estimating that the defendant could perform the requested work for $15,900.00. Id at 759. When the defendant refused to perform the work for the quoted price, the plaintiff engaged another subcontractor at a higher rate and later initiated suit against the defendant for the difference in price. Id. The Court determined that the defendant’s quotation constituted an offer to perform the work for the quoted price. Id at 760. In I & R Mechanical, Inc. v. Hazelton Mfg. Co., the Court, citing Loranger, noted that “there was evidence [in Loranger] that the supplier prepared its ‘quotation’ based on information from the architect’s office; contacted the general contractor directly by telephone to give the quotation; and proposed in its quotation to actually perform a portion of the work, and not simply supply materials.” I & R Mechanical, Inc., supra at 456. Further, the Court in Loranger distinguished the case from Cannavino & Shea, Inc. v. Water Works Supply Corp., 361 Mass. 353 (1972), in that it did not involve the general circulation of a price list to many contractors ■without a specification of quantify. Loranger, supra at 760.

Additionally, in order to establish a contract, the general rule is that a promise by one party to another must be supported by legal consideration moving from the prom-isee to the promisor. Marine Contrs. Co. v. Hurley, 365 Mass. 280, 286 (1974), citing Cottage St. Methodist Episcopal Church v. Kendall, 121 Mass. 528, 529-530 (1877). A [52]*52court generally “does not concern itself with the adequacy of consideration.” Graphic Arts Finishers, Inc. v. Boston Redev. Auth., 357 Mass. 40, 43 (1970). It is enough that the consideration is valuable; it need not be adequate. Barnett v. Rosen, 235 Mass.

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