Commonwealth v. Cumberland Construction Co.

494 A.2d 520, 90 Pa. Commw. 273, 1985 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1086
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 20, 1985
DocketAppeals, Nos. 2168 C.D. 1983 and 2051 C.D. 1983
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 494 A.2d 520 (Commonwealth v. Cumberland Construction Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Cumberland Construction Co., 494 A.2d 520, 90 Pa. Commw. 273, 1985 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1086 (Pa. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

Opinion by

Senior Judge Barbieri,

This is a consolidated appeal from an order of the Board of Claims (Board) which resulted from a claim filed by Cumberland Construction Company ('Cumberland) against the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) for additional work it performed in connection with Contract No. 20106. Cumberland appealed from that portion of the Board’s order which denied its claim .for damages and additional compensation in connection with that contract. PennDOT appealed from that portion of the Board’s order which awarded Cumberland additional compensation for additional work performed in connection with that contract and from that portion of the Board’s order which directed PennDOT to pay over to Cumberland the sum it had previously withheld as liquidated damages. We affirm the order of the Board.

The factual background of this case may be summarized as follows. In May 1973, PennDOT advertised for bids on Contract No. 20106. This contract called for the construction of two roadside rest areas along'Interstate Route 80 in Greene Township, Clinton County. The work to be performed included the construction of .ramps, parking areas, buildings, sew[276]*276age and water systems, power ,supplies, highway lighting and appurtenances, and some landscaping. Cumberland submitted the low bid and was awarded .the contract on June 28, 1973, although the contract was no.t actually signed until July 10, 1973. As a result of unusual .subsurface conditions, consisting primarily of quicksand and large boulders, Cumberland was required to perform additional work in order to complete the contract. Some of this additional work was performed at PennDOT’s direction ¡while other additional work was undertaken by Cumberland on its own, presumably dictated by the conditions found at the site. The existence of these unusual .subsurface conditions was not known to Cumberland but was previously known ¡to PennDOT. PennDOT did not inform Cumberland of these conditions prior to the commencement of work. PennDOT also agreed to make regular progress payments under the contract. These .progress payments, however, were made irregularly and in September 1974 Cumberland experienced an acute cash-flow problem and obtained the cash necessary to complete the project from its bonding company. The bonding company .subsequently sold off much of Cumberland’s equipment to recover the funds it advanced to complete ¡the project and Cumberland eventually ceased doing business as a result.

The project was completed by Cumberland on July 29, 1975 and it received PennDOT’s “tentative quantities”1 in mid-December 1975, which enabled it to calculate with some degree of specificity what it was due. Cumberland filed its complaint with the Board [277]*277on January 29,1976. Twenty-four hearings were held between 'September 19, 1979 and October 16, 1981. On July 5, 1983, the Board entered its final order which sustained several of Cumberland’s claims and directed PennDOT to pay to Cumberland $11,500 which it had withheld as liquidated damages. The Board denied Cumberland’s claim for consequential and punitive damages against PennDOT for the destruction of its business and denied the claim for additional compensation for a quantity of rock used in the performance of the contract. Both Cumberland and PennDOT appealed that order.

In its appeal, PennDOT initially contends that Cumberland’s complaint was not filed with the Board in a timely manner and that the Board, therefore, was without jurisdiction to hear the claim. PennDOT also contends that the Board erred in finding that Cumberland was entitled to additional compensation for work performed under, but not .specified in, the contract, and that the Board erred in directing PennDOT to pay over to Cumberland the $11,500 it had .withheld as liquidated delay damages. Cumberland contends that the Board erred in denying its claim for consequential and punitive damages resulting from PennDOT’s failure to make timely progress payments and in ruling that it was not entitled to the contract -unit price for Selected Borrow Excavation — Special of $175 per cubic yard for additional quantities of “shot rock” or rip-rap2 which was used to backfill the westbound parking area and under the sewage treatment plant tank pad. We shall address PennDOT’s contentions first-

[278]*278PennDOT’s initial contention is that Cumberland failed to file its complaint with the Board within .six months after the accrual of its claim as required by Section 6 of the Act of May 20, 1937, P.L. 728, as amended, 72 P.S. §4651-6. PennDOT argues that Cumberland’s claims against it arose prior to the contract completion date of July 29, 1975 and its complaint filed with the Board on January 29,1976 was untimely and the Board was without jurisdiction to adjudicate the claim. We disagree.

The pertinent provision of Section 6 reads as follows :

The Board shall have no power and exercise no jurisdiction over a claim asserted against the Commonwealth unless the claim shall have been filed within six months after it accrued. The claimants [sic] shall advise the department involved, in writing, of such claim, specifying the details thereof, and shall within the same period, file with the secretary of the board a concise and specific written statement of this claim. . . . (Emphasis added.)

Under this section, a claim accrues when the injured party is first capable of litigating it. C. J. Langenfelder & Son, Inc. v. Department of Transportation, 44 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 585, 404 A.2d 745 (1979). We have previously held that this does not occur until the injured party is capable of formulating the detailed statement of claim required by Section 6. See Department of Public Welfare v. Federated Security, Inc., 49 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 411, 411 A.2d 284 (1980).

We are also aware that the parties may agree to contractual provisions precedent to the accrual of claims under the contract. Allen N. Lashner, Inc. v. Department of Highways, 1 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 486, 275 A.2d 403 (1971). The parties did so here. Section 109.09 of PennDOT’s Form 408 Specifications [279]*279(1970), as amended and included in the contract, provided, among other things, that claims based upon “differences in measurements or errors of computation” do not accrue until the issuance by PennDOT of a final .settlement certificate. This certificate was issued in December 1975 and Cumberland’s complaint was filed with the Board on January 29, 1976. Cumberland also complied with the other statutory condition precedent to filing a claim specified in Section 6 of the Act quoted above, giving PennDOT notice of intent within ten days of the “inception” of its claim, contained in PennDOT’s Form 408 Specifications. On the basis of the record presented before the Board, we are satisfied that Cumberland presented its claim in a timely manner and that the Board had jurisdiction to adjudicate Cumberland’s claim.

We next turn to PennDOT’s contention that Cumberland was not entitled to .additional compensation for certain excavation work it performed which was not specified in the contract.

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Bluebook (online)
494 A.2d 520, 90 Pa. Commw. 273, 1985 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1086, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-cumberland-construction-co-pacommwct-1985.