New Britain Lumber Co. v. American Surety Co.

154 A. 147, 113 Conn. 1, 1931 Conn. LEXIS 67
CourtSupreme Court of Connecticut
DecidedApril 6, 1931
StatusPublished
Cited by34 cases

This text of 154 A. 147 (New Britain Lumber Co. v. American Surety Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
New Britain Lumber Co. v. American Surety Co., 154 A. 147, 113 Conn. 1, 1931 Conn. LEXIS 67 (Colo. 1931).

Opinions

Avery, J.

The complaint alleges that the William H. Allen Company, Inc., as principal, and the defendant, as surety, executed a bond to the chairman of the school board in the town of Newington, conditioned that the principal would indemnify the town against any loss directly arising by reason of the failure of the principal to faithfully perform its contract with the town for the construction of a new high school, and would pay for all materials and labor used in the execution of the contract; that the plaintiff, knowing of the execution of the bond and relying thereon, furnished building materials which were used in the construction of the high school, and that the Allen Company has failed to pay for the materials so used. The defendant demurred to the complaint upon several grounds which, as stated in its brief, may be summed up in two main contentions: (1) that the plaintiff had no right of action directly against the surety, but must proceed under the statute to collect from the town, and (2) that it was not alleged that the plaintiff had filed a statement of its claim within sixty days after ceasing to furnish materials, as required by the statute. The demurrer refers in terms to Chapter 121 of the Public Acts of *3 1927, but both parties agree that the applicable statute is Chapter 170 of the Public Acts of 1925, appended in the footnote.

The bond which was annexed to the complaint as an exhibit reads as follows:

“know ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, That We, William H. Allen Company, Inc., of the city of New Britain, state of Connecticut, (hereinafter called the Principal), and the American Surety Company of New York (hereinafter called the Surety), as Surety, are held and firmly bound unto the Chairman, School Board, Town of Newington (hereinafter called the Obligee), in the sum of Seventy Four Thousand and 00/100 ($74,000.00) Dollars, for the payment whereof said Principal and Surety bind themselves firmly by these presents.

“whereas, the Principal has entered into a written contract dated May 2nd, 1928, with the Obligee, for *4 furnishing materials and for the construction of a new High School, in the Town of Newington, Connecticut, in accordance with the specifications therefor prepared by Delbert K. Perry and Earle K. Bishop, Architects, a copy of which is hereto annexed:

“now theeefoee, The condition of this obligation is such, that if the Principal shall indemnify the Obligee against any loss or damage directly arising by reason of the failure of the Principal to faithfully perform said contract, and shall pay for all materials and labor used or employed in the execution of the said contract, then this obligation shall be void; otherwise to remain in full force and effect.

“peovided, howevee, That no claim, suit or action by reason of any default shall be brought against the Principal or Surety after the twenty-fifth day of April, 1930.”

Accompanying the bond, and attached to the complaint as an exhibit, was the contract between the contractor and the town, the owner. It is entitled “The Standard Form of Agreement between Contractor and Owner for Construction of Buildings,” and contains the following pertinent provisions:

“Article 6. The Contract Documents—The General Conditions of the Contract, the Specifications and the Drawings, together with this Agreement, form the Contract, and they are as fully a part of the Contract as if hereto attached or herein repeated.”

“Article 30. Guaranty Bonds. The Owner shall have the right, prior to the signing of the Contract, to require the Contractor to furnish bond covering the faithful performance of the Contract and the payment of all obligations arising thereunder, in such form as the Owner may prescribe and with such sureties as he may approve.”

The bond sued upon in this case was conditioned *5 for the faithful performance of a contract to erect a public building for the town of Newington. Under the statute cited in the footnote, the agent contracting in behalf of the town was obligated by law to require from the contractor, as a condition precedent to the execution of the contract, a bond with sufficient surety conditioned for the faithful execution of the contract, and for the payment for all materials and labor used or employed in the execution thereof. The bond given in this case was, therefore, one required by the statute. An examination of the provisions of the bond shows that its language is substantially the language of the statute; and the bond runs to the officer who made the contract in behalf of the town, thus literally complying with the terms of the statute. The bond, being one required by the statute as a condition precedent to the execution of the contract, and the language of the instrument being almost identical with the language of the statute, the bond and statute are to be construed together; and the language of the bond is to be interpreted in the light of the statute and with a view to effectuating the legislative intent manifested therein. 5 McQuillin on Municipal Corporations (2d Ed.) p. 460; 44 Corpus Juris, 356; St. Louis, Use of Contracting & Supply Co., v. Hill-O’Meara Construction Co., 175 Mo. App. 555, 158 S. W. 98; United States, Use of Hill, v. American Surety Co., 200 U. S. 197, 26 Sup. Ct. 168, 171. Where a statutory bond is given, the provisions of the statute will be read into the bond. Philip Carey Co. v. Maryland Casualty Co., 201 Iowa, 1063, 206 N. W. 808, 810; People v. Metropolitan Surety Co., 211 N. Y. 107, 105 N. E. 99, 107; Nye-Schneider-Fowler Co. v. Roeser, 103 Neb. 614, 173 N. W. 605, 607; Monona County v. O’Connor, 205 Iowa, 1119, 215 N. W. 803, *6 805; “If the law has made the instrument necessary, the parties aré deemed to have had the law in contemplation when the contract was executed.” Fogarty v. Davis, 305 Mo. 288, 295, 264 S. W. 879, 880. “The liability of the surety under a statutory bond is measured and defined by the statute; and [the] construction of the statute is a construction of the bond. In such a case, the statute becomes a guide to the surety as- to the extent of the obligation assumed.” Schisel v. Marvill, 198 Iowa; 725, 729, 197 N. W. 662, 663.

We are not dealing in this case with a situation like that presented in Byram Lumber & Supply Co. v. Page, 109 Conn. 256, 146 Atl. 293, which was a case where a private property owner procured a bond to be given by his contractor conditioned that the contractor, the principal in the bond, should “pay all persons . who have contracts directly with the principal for labor or materials.” We held that the purpose of the provision in that bond was to give rise to a direct obligation of the surety to subcontractors, and that the plaintiff in that case was entitled to recover, as a third party beneficiary of the contract, under the rule stated in this State by the decision in Baurer v. Devenis, 99 Conn.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United Concrete Products, Inc. v. NJR Construction, LLC
207 Conn. App. 551 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2021)
Paradigm Contract Management Co. v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance
979 A.2d 1041 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 2009)
Herbert S. Newman & Partners, P.C. v. CFC Construction Ltd. Partnership
674 A.2d 1313 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1996)
Newman Partners v. Cfc Const. Ltd, No. Cv91-0318137-S (Nov. 28, 1994)
1994 Conn. Super. Ct. 11804 (Connecticut Superior Court, 1994)
J. R. Cristoni, Inc. v. Reliance Ins., No. Cv94 0358013 (Jul. 25, 1994)
1994 Conn. Super. Ct. 7007 (Connecticut Superior Court, 1994)
Bourgeois Shaw, Inc. v. Quadrangle Ltd., No. Cv-033578s (Nov. 3, 1993)
1993 Conn. Super. Ct. 9495 (Connecticut Superior Court, 1993)
Atlantic Pipe Corp. v. Quadrangle Ltd., No. Cv 87-0336982 (Oct. 28, 1993)
1993 Conn. Super. Ct. 9165 (Connecticut Superior Court, 1993)
Okee Industries, Inc. v. National Grange Mutual Insurance
623 A.2d 483 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1993)
Lewin Supply Company, Inc. v. Petersen, No. Cv92-290921s (Mar. 5, 1992)
1992 Conn. Super. Ct. 2059 (Connecticut Superior Court, 1992)
G. R. Cummings Co. v. Ami Industries, No. Cv91-0238627 (Nov. 14, 1991)
1991 Conn. Super. Ct. 9455 (Connecticut Superior Court, 1991)
American Masons' Supply Co. v. F. W. Brown Co.
384 A.2d 378 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1978)
Dupuis v. Welfare Commissioner
378 A.2d 610 (Connecticut Superior Court, 1977)
Johnson Acoustics, Inc. v. P. J. Carlin Construction Co.
292 A.2d 273 (Connecticut Superior Court, 1971)
American Mason's Supply Co. v. F. W. Brown Co.
280 A.2d 366 (Connecticut Superior Court, 1971)
Royal School Laboratories, Inc. v. Town of Watertown
236 F. Supp. 950 (D. Connecticut, 1965)
International Harvester Co. v. L. G. DeFelice & Son, Inc.
197 A.2d 638 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1964)
Metropolitan Casualty Co. v. Billings
192 A.2d 541 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1963)
Seletsky v. Roy
177 A.2d 805 (Connecticut Superior Court, 1961)
Seletsky v. Roy
23 Conn. Supp. 139 (Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, 1961)
MacDonald v. Standard Accident Insurance
111 A.2d 347 (Connecticut Superior Court, 1955)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
154 A. 147, 113 Conn. 1, 1931 Conn. LEXIS 67, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/new-britain-lumber-co-v-american-surety-co-conn-1931.