Fairmont Cement Stone Manufacturing Co. v. Davison

142 N.W. 899, 122 Minn. 504, 1913 Minn. LEXIS 621
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedJuly 25, 1913
DocketNos. 18,100—(148)
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 142 N.W. 899 (Fairmont Cement Stone Manufacturing Co. v. Davison) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fairmont Cement Stone Manufacturing Co. v. Davison, 142 N.W. 899, 122 Minn. 504, 1913 Minn. LEXIS 621 (Mich. 1913).

Opinion

Taylor, C.

Appeal by defendants from an order overruling a demurrer to the complaint.

“The general rule is that a complaint, to be bad on demurrer, must be wholly insufficient; if to any extent, on any reasonable theory, it presents facts sufficient - to justify a recovery, however inartificially the facts may be stated, the complaint will on demurrer be sustained.” Casey v. American Bridge Co. 95 Minn. 11, 103 N. W. 623, 624; Wessel v. Wessel Mnfg. Co. 106 Minn. 66, 118 N. W. 157; Vukelis v. Virginia Lumber Co. 107 Minn. 68, 119 N. W. 509; Rasmussen v. Town of Hutchinson, 111 Minn. 457, 127 N. W. 182.

In proceedings in the district court of the county of Martin under chapter 448, page 641, Laws of 1907, a judicial ditch was established [506]*506and designated as judicial ditch No. 6. Plaintiff is the contractor who constructed the ditch. Defendant Davison is the engineer appointed in the ditch proceeding, and the other defendants are the sureties upon his bond as such engineer. A copy of the bond is made a part of the complaint.

Pnder the statute, it was the duty of the engineer to make a survey and plat of the ditch and plans and specifications therefor, and place stakes 100 feet apart along the course thereof, (sections 3 [p. 643] and 5 [p. 650]); also to give, in tabular form, the depth of cut and the width at top and bottom, “at the source and outlet and at each one hundred foot stake or monument of said ditch” (section' 3, p. 647) ; also to “report a form of contract as complete in its provisions as practicable and which contain detailed and complete specifications by direct statement, or by reference to other parts of the report, and shall provide for all necessary supervision of the laying of tile, excavation and other construction work of the contractor or contractors, and which shall define the relation which shall exist between the county and the contractor or contractors, and which shall give the engineer the right with the consent upon application and order of the court therein, to modify his plans and specifications as the work proceeds, and as circumstances may require” (section 3 [p. 648]) ; also “to inspect the laying of tile, excavation and all other work of construction from time to time as provided for in the specifications and provisions in his report, and as provided for in the contract for construction” (section 17 [p. 662]).

While in some of its statements the complaint is not as clear and certain as it might be, it alleges that plaintiff contracted to construct the ditch “according to the plans and specifications” of the engineer; and that it was the duty of the engineer to establish the grade line and stake out the work so that plaintiff could lay the tile to grade, and “to give to the plaintiff all necessary and proper direction for the construction of each and every part of the work provided for in said contract.”

The complaint further alleges in substance and with sufficient certainty as against a demurrer, that plaintiff laid 6,900 feet of underground tile under the supervision of and as directed by the engi[507]*507neer; that, solely through his negligence, the tile was not laid at the proper grade, and for that reason plaintiff was compelled to take it up and relay it; that plaintiff took up the tile and relaid it under the supervision of and exactly as directed by the engineer; that the engineer failed to establish “the proper grade the second time that said tile were laid,” and solely by reason of his negligence 5,000 feet of the tile relaid was not placed at the correct grade, and solely for that reason plaintiff was again compelled to take it up and again relay it.

Plaintiff seeks to recover from the engineer and his sureties, as damages, the expense incurred in taking up and relaying the tile.

Neither the contract nor the plans and specifications for the ditch are before us, and the duties imposed upon the engineer thereby must be determined from the provisions of the statute and the somewhat meagre statements relating thereto contained in the complaint. The statute requires the contract to “provide for all necessary supervision of the laying of tile,” and to “define the relation which shall exist between the county and the contractor,” and requires the engineer “to inspect the laying of tile * * * from time to time as provided for in the * * * contract.” The complaint alleges that it was the duty of the engineer not only to establish the grade line and stake out the work, but “to give to the plaintiff all necessary and proper direction for the construction of each and every part of the work.”

The allegations of the complaint construed in the light of the statute are sufficient, as against the demurrer, to justify the inference that the contract imposed upon the engineer the duty to determine the grade at which the tile should be placed, to point out such grade to the plaintiff as the work progressed, and to supervise the laying ■of the tile and see that it was placed at such grade.

The statute is broad enough to authorize the insertion in the contract of provisions imposing such duties upon the engineer, and if ¡such duties were in fact imposed upon him the complaint states a ■cause of action upon his bond for failure to perform them.

2. It is insisted that under the conditions of the bond the sureties are not liable for the failure of the engineer to perform his duties [508]*508pertaining to the work of construction, but only for his failure to perform his duties in surveying the ditch and in reporting such survey.

The statute requires the engineer to give a bond payable to the county for “the use of such county” and also “for the use of all parties who may show themselves to be aggrieved or injured by any negligence or malfeasance on his part in acting as such engineer, * * * conditioned that he will, diligently, honestly, and to the best of his skill and ability, perform his duties as such engineer.”

The bond in controversy is entitled:

“State of Minnesota, |
“County of Martin. £ SS''
District Court,
Seventeenth Judicial District.
“In the matter of the Judicial Ditch Proceeding now pending in Martin County, Minnesota, and known as Judicial Ditch No. Six (6), under Chapter 448 of Laws of 1907.”

It is payable to the county of Martin, “for the use of said county and of all parties who may show themselves aggrieved or injured by any negligence or malfeasance on the part of said principal as engineer as hereinafter specified.” After reciting that the principal has been appointed “engineer to make a survey of the proposed ditch above specified and to make a report thereof to the court, pursuant to the statutes in such case made and provided,” the conditions of the bond are stated as follows:

“Now, Therefore, If the said principal who has been appointed engineer to make a survey of said proposed ditch, shall diligently, honestly, and to the best of his skill and ability, perform his duties as such engineer, shall take an oath to faithfully perform his said duties, and shall not be guilty of any negligence or malfeasance in acting as such engineer in making such survey, and reporting thereon to said court, then the above obligation shall be void; otherwise it shall be and remain in full force and effect.”

The bond is entitled in the ditch proceeding.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
142 N.W. 899, 122 Minn. 504, 1913 Minn. LEXIS 621, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fairmont-cement-stone-manufacturing-co-v-davison-minn-1913.