McKenzie Construction Company v. Pittman

288 S.W.2d 527, 1956 Tex. App. LEXIS 2133
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 7, 1956
Docket12939
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 288 S.W.2d 527 (McKenzie Construction Company v. Pittman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McKenzie Construction Company v. Pittman, 288 S.W.2d 527, 1956 Tex. App. LEXIS 2133 (Tex. Ct. App. 1956).

Opinions

W. O. MURRAY, Chief Justice.

This is a plea of privilege case involving Subdivision No. 5 of Art. 1995, Vernon’s Ann.Civ.Stats.

In August, 1939, Mrs. Clara Driscoll, a feme sole, was desirous of building a hotel and office building upon a lot or parcel of land located 180 feet on Broadway and 100 feet on Antelope Street in the City of Corpus Christi, Nueces County, Texas. On August 18, 1939, she entered into a written contract with Wyatt C. Hedrick, an architect, to prepare plans and specifications and to perform other duties in connection with the erection of this hotel and office building.

Thereafter, on October 7, 1939, Mrs. Driscoll made and entered into a written contract with A. J. McKenzie, individually, and the McKenzie Construction Company, a corporation, to perform certain duties in connection with the construction and erection of the hotel and office building. Both the Hedrick and McKenzie contracts were amended and changed by other written agreements subsequently entered into by the parties. The building was completed and accepted by Mrs. Dris-coll.

The east and north walls of the building were faced with stone. It is alleged that thereafter this stone broke and crumbled and that it was necessary to remove all of the stone and replace it with brick, at an expense of more than $200,000. After the death of Mrs. Driscoll, this suit was brought by W. Preston Pittman, Dr. Mclver Furman and I. W. Keys, as Independent Executors and Trustees of the Estate of Mrs. Clara Driscoll, Deceased, against Wyatt C. Hedrick, A. J. McKenzie and McKenzie Construction Company, charging a breach of their respective contracts. Wyatt C. Hedrick filed a plea of privilege to be sued in Tarrant County, the county of his residence, and A. J. McKenzie and McKenzie Construction Company filed pleas of privilege to be sued in Bexar County, the county of their residence. Thereafter, A. J. McKenzie died [529]*529and The Alamo National Bank, as Independent Executor of the Will and Estate of A. J. McKenzie, Deceased, was made a party to the suit, and the bank filed its plea of privilege to he sued in Bexar County, the county of its residence.

After a lengthy hearing, the trial court overruled the pleas of privilege of McKenzie Construction Company and The Alamo National Bank, as Independent Executor of the Estate of A. J. McKenzie, and both of those defendants have prosecuted an appeal to this Court from that part of the order. The court sustained the plea of privilege of Wyatt C. Hedrick and ordered that part of the cause which related to him transferred to Tarrant County, from which order W. Preston Pittman and Dr. Mclver Furman, as Independent Executors and Trustees of the Estate of Mrs. Clara Driscoll, Deceased, prosecuted an appeal to this Court. In the meantime, I. W. Keys had died.

These two appeals have been consolidated in this Court under Cause No. 12939.

We will first consider the appeal by McKenzie Construction Company and The Alamo National Bank, Independent Executor of the Estate of A. J. McKenzie, Deceased.

Appellees Pittman and Furman alleged that A. J. McKenzie, McKenzie Construction Company and Wyatt C. Hedrick had been guilty of fraud in inducing Mrs. Driscoll to accept and pay for the building as having been constructed in accordance with the plans and specifications, but the trial court found against the allegations of fraud and they pass out of the case so far as these appeals are concerned.

The only question presented by this appeal is whether the trial court erred in finding that A. J. McKenzie and McKenzie Construction Company had agreed in writing to undertake the obligation of erecting and constructing the hotel and office building in Nueces County, including the placing and setting of the stone on the east and north walls.

The execution of the contract is not denied, and it plainly provides that the hotel and office building is to be erected in Nueces County. The question is, Did McKenzie and his company agree to construct and erect the building ?

The contract does not specifically, in so many words, state that A. J. McKenzie and McKenzie Construction Company were to erect and build the hotel and office building, but when the contract is read from its four corners it is plainly implied that they were to do so.

The contract bears the heading:

“Contract For Constructing The Robert Driscoll Eighteen Story Office And Hotel Building For Mrs. Clara Driscoll Corpus Christi, Texas”

And it provides that McKenzie and his company are to be known as “Contractor.” No one else is mentioned as “contractor.”

Paragraph No. 1 reads as follows:

“1. Scope Of Work:
“This agreement shall provide for the furnishing of all labor and materials and everything else that is necessary to construct an eighteen story office and hotel building, located at the corner of North Broadway and Antelope Streets, in the City of Corpus Christi, Texas, including all mechanical equipment, such as plumbing, heating and electrical wiring, and air conditioning, in strict accordance with plans and specifications that have already been prepared by Wyatt C. Hed-rick, Architect and Engineer of Fort Worth, Texas, and dated the Sth day of September, 1939, and any additional work required to be done, in accordance with plans and specifications to be furnished by said Wyatt C. Hed-rick, Architect.” (Emphasis ours.)

Paragraph No. 3 provides in part as follows:

[530]*530■“3. Obligations Of The Contractor:
“The Contractor shall exercise, for the Owner’s benefit, his best knowledge and skill in planning the work, purchasing materials, furnishing labor, supplying equipment and performing all other services incident to the work. He shall cooperate fully with the Owner and the Architect and faithfully execute the intent of this agreement.” (Emphasis ours.)

Paragraph No. 8 provides that the contractor is to receive for his services a “Service Fee” of $65,000.

Paragraph No. 11 provides that “The Contractor guarantees that the total cost to the Owner of all of the work * * * shall not exceed” the sum of $1,695,500.

Paragraph No. 12 provides for the dis-i tribution of any savings between the Owner, the Architect and the Contractor.

Paragraph No. 15 provides that on the 15th of each month the Contractor is to furnish the Owner with a progress report of the work.

Paragraph No. 16 provides that the Contractor is responsible for coordinating the work of subcontractors with his general plan of executing the work.

Paragraph No. 21 provides that the Owner has the right to terminate the contract, take charge of the site and complete the work herself.

When the parties decided to supplement the contract they included in such amending contract the following statement:

“Whereas, an Agreement was made on the 7th day of October, 1939, by and between the McKenzie Construction Company, a corporation duly organized under the laws of Texas, and A. J. McKenzie, an individual, both of Bexar County, Texas, as First Party, (and hereinafter called the Contractor), and Mrs.

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McKenzie Construction Company v. Pittman
288 S.W.2d 527 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1956)

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Bluebook (online)
288 S.W.2d 527, 1956 Tex. App. LEXIS 2133, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mckenzie-construction-company-v-pittman-texapp-1956.