Hagberg v. John Bailey Contractor

435 So. 2d 580, 44 A.L.R. 4th 253
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 29, 1983
Docket82-753
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 435 So. 2d 580 (Hagberg v. John Bailey Contractor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hagberg v. John Bailey Contractor, 435 So. 2d 580, 44 A.L.R. 4th 253 (La. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

435 So.2d 580 (1983)

J.R. HAGBERG d/b/a Jim Jackson Contractor, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
JOHN BAILEY CONTRACTOR and R.L. Abshire Construction, Inc., A Joint Venture, and Trinity Universal Insurance Company, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 82-753.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

June 29, 1983.
Rehearings Denied August 17, 1983.

*582 Camp, Carmouche, Van M. Davidson, Jr., Lake Charles, for defendants-appellants.

Gold, Little, Simon, Weems & Bruser, Robert G. Nida, Alexandria, for plaintiff-appellee.

Before GUIDRY, STOKER and KNOLL, JJ.

KNOLL, Judge.

J.R. Hagberg doing business as Jim Jackson Contractor (hereafter Hagberg) sued John Bailey Contractor and R.L. Abshire Construction, Inc., joint venturers (hereafter Bailey), together with Bailey's surety, Trinity Universal Insurance Company. Hagberg's basis for recovery of $95,704.49 is an oral contract with Bailey to rejuvenate approximately eleven miles of roadway in Lake Arthur, Louisiana.

In 1980 the Town of Lake Arthur, Louisiana advertised for bids for the rejuvenation and resurfacing of certain municipal streets (hereafter Lake Arthur Project). The Lake Arthur Project was comprised of two distinct, but interrelated activities. Hagberg's task was to scarify the existing road, to heat the dislodged surface, and to apply a liquid bonding agent. Bailey was to immediately follow this treatment with a "lay-down" machine which would apply a thin, evenly distributed layer of asphalt. "Rollers" would then compact the entire surface and complete the bond with the old road.

During the Fall of 1980, J.R. Hagberg as superintendent of James A. Jackson d/b/a Jim Jackson Contractor negotiated an oral contract between Bailey and Jackson for heater-scarifying work to be performed in connection with the paving and rejuvenation of the Lake Arthur streets. At that time James A. Jackson d/b/a Jim Jackson Contractor (hereafter Jackson) held a valid Louisiana contractor's license for the work to be undertaken.

The contract between Bailey and Jackson called for the payment to Jackson of 76¢ per square yard of heater-scarifying and $1.50 for each gallon of rejuvenating agent used in the process. Bailey utilized those figures to submit a bid to the Town of Lake Arthur of 88¢ per square yard unit price for the heater-scarifying and $1.50 for each gallon of rejuvenating agent used.

Three contractors submitted bids of little variance on the Lake Arthur Project. From that group of bids the Town of Lake Arthur selected Bailey's proposal.

In 1980 Jackson began to suffer financial setbacks which resulted in his bankruptcy by the end of the year. On December 1, 1980, James A. Jackson, through the bankruptcy court, sold and assigned to J.R. Hagberg the assets of Jim Jackson Contractor, including the contract to perform the Lake Arthur Project. After the consummation of this transaction James Jackson remained as a consultant to Hagberg.

James A. Jackson and J.R. Hagberg developed the process of heater-scarification and rejuvenation together with the specialized equipment needed to do this work. Even though this technique of road improvement had been used successfully in other states, at the time of this lawsuit, it had only been used in two locations within Louisiana, those being at Jennings and Lake Arthur. These construction operations were performed under the supervision of J.R. Hagberg.

Hagberg commenced work on the Lake Arthur Project on December 15, 1980, and completed the heater-scarifying work on February 12, 1981. On the basis of the amount of work done and the respective unit prices, Hagberg charged Bailey $95,704.49. Bailey has not paid any of Hagberg's invoices.

On March 11, 1981, Hagberg filed a notice of claim under the Public Works Act. Pursuant to R.S. 9:4941 Bailey filed a surety bond with the Recorder of Mortgages for Jeff Davis Parish on May 6, 1981, so that it could receive payment from the Town of Lake Arthur. A notice of acceptance of the Lake Arthur Project was filed on June 7, 1982.

Hagberg filed suit on July 6, 1981, against Bailey and its surety. On August *583 31, 1981, the defendants filed their answer and reconvened for payment of $143,550 allegedly occasioned by Hagberg's failure to perform the Lake Arthur Project in a workmanlike manner. On March 10, 1982, the defendants filed a peremptory exception to the lawsuit alleging that Hagberg did not possess a valid Louisiana contractor's license during the time he performed the subcontract work on the Lake Arthur Project.

After trial on the merits, the district court rendered judgment in favor of Hagberg and against John Bailey Contractor, R.L. Abshire Construction, Inc., and their surety, Trinity Universal Insurance Company, jointly and in solido, in the sum of $95,704.49 together with attorney fees in the amount of $8,613.40. The judgment further granted Hagberg legal interest on 90% of the principal amount of the judgment from March 11, 1981, and interest on the remaining 10% from July 22, 1982. Bailey's reconventional demand was rejected.

In its suspensive appeal Bailey contends that the trial court erred when it found that: (1) Hagberg was entitled to recover $95,704.49 claimed against Bailey even though Hagberg violated a prohibitory law by engaging in the business of contracting in Louisiana without a contractor's license contrary to R.S. 37:2150, et seq.; (2) Bailey failed to establish by the preponderance of the evidence that Hagberg promised or committed himself to a production rate in excess of that which was actually delivered; (3) Bailey failed to prove by the preponderance of the evidence that Hagberg negligently failed to perform work in a workmanlike manner which damaged and delayed Bailey; and, (4) Bailey was not entitled to damages from Hagberg by reason of Hagberg's negligent failure to perform work in a workmanlike manner.

Hagberg has answered the appeal asking for an increase in the attorney fee award and seeking legal interest on the entire principal amount of the judgment from March 11, 1981.

We will treat specification of error one and Hagberg's answer to the appeal individually; specifications of error two, three, and four will be consolidated for discussion.

APPLICATION OF R.S. 37:2157(A)

Under the licensing provisions LSA-R.S. 37:2157(A) defines a contractor as:

"... any person, firm, partnership, co-partnership, association, corporation, or other organization, or any combination thereof, who undertakes, attempts, or submits a bid or offer to construct, supervise, superintend, oversee, direct or in any manner assume charge of the construction, alteration, repair, improvement, movement, demolition, putting up, tearing down, or furnishing labor, material, or equipment and installing same for any building, highway, road, railroad, sewer, grating, excavation, pipeline, public utility structure project, development, housing, or housing development, improvements, or any other construction undertaking for which the cost of same is fifty thousand or more."

For the purpose of this statute a contractor must not only furnish labor, material or equipment, but he must also oversee its installation in the project. Messina v. Koch Industries, Inc., 283 So.2d 204 (La.1973). Messina, supra, states: "The conjunctive `and' requires the supplier-potential contractor to be in charge of both furnishing and installing."

In addition to furnishing specialized equipment and 3871.7 gallons of rejuvenating agent, Hagberg provided labor and supervisory personnel for the heater-scarifying portion of the Lake Arthur Project.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
435 So. 2d 580, 44 A.L.R. 4th 253, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hagberg-v-john-bailey-contractor-lactapp-1983.