Little Joe's Asphalt, Inc. v. C.W. Luebbert Construction Co.

74 S.W.3d 830, 2002 Mo. App. LEXIS 1031, 2002 WL 976214
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 14, 2002
DocketNo. WD 60024
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 74 S.W.3d 830 (Little Joe's Asphalt, Inc. v. C.W. Luebbert Construction Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Little Joe's Asphalt, Inc. v. C.W. Luebbert Construction Co., 74 S.W.3d 830, 2002 Mo. App. LEXIS 1031, 2002 WL 976214 (Mo. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

PAUL M. SPINDEN, Chief Judge.

C.W. Luebbert Construction Company, Inc., appeals the circuit court’s judgment [832]*832awarding $17,541 in damages to Little Joe’s Asphalt, Ine., for the paving work that it did on a parking lot owned by Central Jackson County Fire Protection District in Grain Valley. Luebbert contends that Little Joe’s could not recover under quantum meruit because Little Joe’s services had no value in that the paving was defective. It also asserts that, even if a ■ contract existed, Little Joe’s could not recover under breach of contract because Little Joe’s performance did not comply with the contract’s specifications.1 Luebbert also appeals the circuit court’s judgment against Luebbert on its counterclaim for breach of implied warranty. Luebbert asserts that Little Joe’s was obligated to provide a proper parking lot for the owner. We affirm the circuit court’s judgment in part but reverse and remand for a new trial on damages only:

The evidence established that Luebbert was a general contractor that was hired to construct a fire training facility for the fire district. Luebbert subcontracted paving of the parking lot to Asphalt Plant Sales, Inc. (APSI), for $17,665.86.2 APSI never signed the contract but began the work.

APSI partially completed the work but did not finish it. On November 23, 1999, Luebbert sent a letter to APSI demanding that the paving be completed. APSI assured Luebbert that it would send someone out to complete the work.

APSI asked Little Joe’s to complete the project. Initially, Little Joe’s declined APSI’s request because APSI owed Little Joe’s money from previous contracts. Later, it told APSI that it would look at the project and consider doing it.

On December 2, 1999, Joseph Buehler,3 vice president of Little Joe’s, met with Jason Luebbert, a principal of Luebbert. Jason Luebbert told Buehler that the project needed a two-inch surface course placed on the existing base course of asphalt that APSI had already laid. No written contract was signed between Luebbert and Little Joe’s. According to Theresa Buehler, president of Little Joe’s, Little Joe’s agreed to do the work for “whatever price APSI had agreed with Luebbert.” Little Joe’s completed the paving work on December 13,1999.

Little Joe’s sent an invoice to APSI and forwarded a copy of the invoice to Lueb-bert. The invoice was for $17,541.90— almost the amount APSI quoted Luebbert that the entire paving project would cost. Because the parking lot had begun to show defects — rutting, “alligatoring” and pooling of water — Luebbert refused to pay Little Joe’s. In January 2000, Luebbert received payment from the fire district for the entire project, but the fire district retained $2,024. According to Jason Luebbert, the fire district threatened to sue Luebbert if it did not correct the parking lot’s problems. . ■

On June 8, 2000, Little Joe’s sued Lueb-bert, seeking payment of the amounts owed by Luebbert under three alternative theories: (1) breach of contract; (2) petition on account, and (3) quantum meruit. Luebbert filed a counterclaim for breach of warranty, alleging that Little Joe’s performed its work on the project in a careless, negligent and unworkmanlike manner and that the paving did not comply with [833]*833the project’s specifications. The case was tried to the court, and the circuit court entered judgment for Little Joe’s in the amount of $17,541.90 with interest and entered judgment for Little Joe’s on Lueb-bert’s counterclaim.

In its first point on appeal, Lueb-bert contends that the circuit court erred in granting judgment for Little Joe’s on its claim under quantum meruit because the paving work was defective so Little Joe’s services had no value. Quantum meruit is a remedy for the enforcement of a quasi-contraetual obligation and is based on a promise implied by the law that a person will pay the reasonable value for services or materials provided at that person’s request or with his approval. Cotner Productions, Inc. v. Snadon, 990 S.W.2d 92, 98 (Mo.App.1999). The Supreme Court has described quantum meruit:

“[AJbsent a family relationship, where one performs valuable services for another, the benefit of which has been received and enjoyed by him, the law presumes an intention on the part of the former to charge and the latter to pay the reasonable value thereof and implies a promise on the part of the one receiving the services to pay a reasonable value for said services.”

Smith v. Sypret’s Estate, 421 S.W.2d 9, 14 (Mo.1967) (quoting Embry v. Martz’ Estate, 377 S.W.2d 867, 368 (Mo.1964)); see also Kinetic Energy Development Corporation v. Trigen Energy Corporation, 22 S.W.3d 691, 697 (Mo.App.1999). Thus, to recover under quantum meruit, a plaintiff must plead and prove that “ ‘it provided to defendant materials or services at the request or with the acquiescence of defendant, that those materials or services had a certain reasonable value, and that defendant, despite demands of plaintiff, has failed and refused to pay the reasonable value of those materials and labor.’ ” Green Quarries, Inc. v. Raasch, 676 S.W.2d 261, 270 (Mo.App.1984) (quoting Berra v. Bieg Plumbing Company, Inc., 584 S.W.2d 116, 118 (Mo.App.1979)).

Viewing the evidence and all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the circuit court’s judgment and disregarding contrary evidence, substantial evidence supported the circuit court’s judgment. Little Joe’s met its burden in establishing the elements necessary to recover under quantum meruit. Little Joe’s provided paving services and materials at the request of, or with the acquiescence of, Luebbert. These materials and services included patching areas of the base course of asphalt, cold planing and sweeping the base course, fine grading of a drive on the project and laying the surface coat of the asphalt over the base course of paving that had been laid by APSI.

Little Joe’s presented evidence that these materials and services had value. Luebbert contends that Little Joe’s services had no value because the paving was defective. Little Joe’s expert testified, however, that the “alligator” cracks indicated soft subgrade conditions. Most of the pavement cracks were around the southwest corner of the simulator building where fire trucks and other vehicles entered and exited the facility. According to this expert, the vehicles’ weight exceeded the subgrade’s strength and caused the cracking. He also noted that subsequent pavement damage occurred as water infiltrated the cracks and further softened the subgrade. ■ He acknowledged that problems with cracking and pooling of water varied at different places in parking lot. The expert examined asphalt samples and concluded that the asphalt used by Little Joe’s complied with American Public Works Association guidelines. The expert concluded that, although sampling and laboratory testing from elsewhere on the site [834]

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Bluebook (online)
74 S.W.3d 830, 2002 Mo. App. LEXIS 1031, 2002 WL 976214, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/little-joes-asphalt-inc-v-cw-luebbert-construction-co-moctapp-2002.