Dreher v. McKenzie

31 Ohio C.C. Dec. 139, 16 Ohio C.C. (n.s.) 55, 1908 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 299
CourtCuyahoga Circuit Court
DecidedDecember 7, 1908
StatusPublished

This text of 31 Ohio C.C. Dec. 139 (Dreher v. McKenzie) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Cuyahoga Circuit Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dreher v. McKenzie, 31 Ohio C.C. Dec. 139, 16 Ohio C.C. (n.s.) 55, 1908 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 299 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1908).

Opinion

MARVIN, J.

The relation of the parties to each other here is the reverse of the relation in which they stood in the court of common pleas. The terms plaintiff and defendant, as used in this opinion, will refer to the parties as they stood in the original action.

The plaintiff brought suit against the defendant for a balance claimed to be due for work and materials furnished in the erection of a building at the northeast corner of Euclid avenue and 105th street, in the city of Cleveland.

The petition alleges that the parties entered into a written contract for a certain part of the construction of this building; that contract is in writing and is attached to and made a part of the petition. (Parenthetically it may be said here, that to make such a contract a part of the pleading is not good practice and is not contemplated by the code. However, it is a defect which can only be remedied by motion, and the pleading is therefore good, although the proper way would have been to follow Sec. 5086 R. S. (Sec. 11334 G-. C.) and attach it, without making it a part of the pleading.)

Subsequent to the making of the contract already named, another written contract was entered into, as to certain other work which the plaintiff was to do for the defendant.

The petition sets out further that certain work, other than that specified in either the original or subsequent written contract, was done, and that the plaintiff fully performed all the things by him to be done in both of said written contracts (specifying the items), and then follow these words: ■

“And plaintiff further says that between July 19, 1906, and December 21, 1906, the said plaintiff at the request of the defendant,. Anton Dreher, and his authorized agents, the Harvey Bros., and upon the order of said architects, furnished additional materials and performed the labor incident thereto not called for in this original contract and that the reasonable value thereof is $1,244.72, said additional work and material being as [141]*141follows, to wit:” Then follows an itemized account of such additional work and materials.

The defendant answered admitting the making of the written contracts and denied that the plaintiff had fully- performed on his part, and then by way of cross-petition, set up claim for damages because of the failure on the part of the plaintiff to fully complete his contract. The result of the trial was a verdict and judgment for the plaintiff. The form of the verdict is that the jury found a certain amount due to the plaintiff on his petition and that there was due to the defendant a certain other amount, on his cross-petition, and then found as the amount to be recovered’ by the plaintiff, the difference between the amount found due to him on his petition and the amount due to the defendant on his cross-petition. The amount of the latter being less than the amount of the former.

One of the errors complained of is that this verdict is inconsistent and is not properly framed. This objection is not well taken. Where the plaintiff is entitled upon a building contract to recover because he has substantially performed his contract, it is proper to fix the amount remaining unpaid upon the contract price as an amount due to him and then fix the same amount due to the defendant, because of the failure to fully complete the contract according to all its sepcifications and make the recovery the difference between the two.

One of the provisions of the original contract reads as follows:

“Item 3. Should any alteration be required in the work shown or described by the drawings or specifications, a fair and reasonable valuation of the work added or omitted shall be made by the contractor, and the sum herein agreed to be paid for the work according to the original specification, shall be increased or diminished, as the case may be. In ease such valuation is not agreed to, the contractor shall proceed with the alterations, upon the written order of the architects, keeping exact account of the cost of labor and materials involved in the alterations, and if the same be less than that originaly shown and described, the net difference shall be deducted from the sum herein agreed to be paid,- but, if more, then the additional cost together with -per cent, of the same shall be added to this sum. ’ ’

Another clause of the contract reads:

[142]*142“Item- 8. The contractor shall make no claim for additional work unless the same shall be done in pursuance of an order from the architects.”

It is contended on the part of the plaintiff in error that these two items shall be considered together. In this contention we think the plaintiff in error is right, and that the additional work spoken of in item 8, is one of the things contemplated by the word “alterations,” and the words “the work added or omitted” in item 3.

The account for additional materials and labor in the petition, for which the sum of $1,244.72 is made, is clearly for additional materials and labor upon the same building and in connection with the same work provided for in the written contracts, and this is shown too by the language of the petition, already quoted, and which is here re-copied as follows: “the said plaintiff, at the' request of the defendant, Anton Dreher, and his authorized agents, the Harvey Bros., and upon the order of said architects, furnished additional materials and performed the labor incident thereto not called for in the original contract,” and it follows that unless by reason of some other contract made between the parties, there was a waiver of the provisions of item 3, the plaintiff was not entitled to recover therefor, because there is not claim that there was any written order for this made by the architects, nor was there any valuation made before the work was done which was either agreed to or not agreed to. The contemplation of the parties clearly was, when the original contract was made that if additional material or labor was to be furnished, the contractor should make a valuation before furnishing the same, and if this valuation was agreed to, he should go on and furnish the labor and materials; if it was not agreed to, then upon a written order of the architects he should go on and furnish the labor and materials, keeping an exact account of the cost, and recover therefor.

Here, as already said, no valuation was made nor was there any written order. However, the fact that these parties had entered into a written contract providing that except by a written contract and order nothing further should be done by the plaintiff for which he should be paid, this did not prevent the [143]*143parties from agreeing to a waiver of this stipulation, nor did it prevent the parties from entering into a new or additional contract in any way in which they might have made a contract, if this written contract had not been made.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
31 Ohio C.C. Dec. 139, 16 Ohio C.C. (n.s.) 55, 1908 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 299, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dreher-v-mckenzie-ohcirctcuyahoga-1908.