Town of Franklin v. Hermitage Engineering Co.

12 Tenn. App. 434, 1930 Tenn. App. LEXIS 84
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedJune 11, 1930
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 12 Tenn. App. 434 (Town of Franklin v. Hermitage Engineering Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Town of Franklin v. Hermitage Engineering Co., 12 Tenn. App. 434, 1930 Tenn. App. LEXIS 84 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1930).

Opinion

CROWNOYER, J.

This was an action by the town of Franklin against the Hermitage Engineering Co., of Nashville, and the Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., of Hartford, Conn., _ surety on its bond, to recover for breach of a contrató to furnish material for and to install plumbing in a high school building in the town of Franklin.

The declaration as amended avetred that the plaintiff and the defendant Engineering Co. entered into a written contract by which the Engineering Co. contracted and agreed to furnish the materials and to perform all work in connection with the plumbing and heating of a high school budding in the town, of Franklin, then being erected by the plaintiff; that the defendant Engineering Co. executed bond in the sum of $13,801 with the Aetna Casualty & Surety Co. of Hartford, Conn., as surety thereon for the faithful performance of the contract and to satisfy all claims and demands incurred for the same; that (1) the Engineering Co. “as a part of its contract, and by a subsequent contract in parol, contracted and agreed to install a pump in said high school building of sufficient capacity and power to force an ample and adequate supply of water into all parts of said building,” the water works system of Franklin not having sufficient pressure to operate the plumbing on the second floor; that the pump as installed was not of sufficient force, power and capacity to provide sufficient water; and (2) that the toilets on' the second floor of said building were installed with defective or improper mechanism so that they do not properly flush, to the plaintiff’s damage in the sum of $1500.

Both defendants pleaded the general issue; and later, after the declaration was amended, as hereinabove stated, the Surety Co. then filed additional pleas of non assumpsit, nil debet and a special plea of the statute of limitations in that the bond provided that no action should be brought after twelve months from the day on which final payment falls due, and that the declaration was amended so as to sue on the parol contract as to the booster pump after twelve months had expired, and therefore was barred.

The plaintiff joined issue on all the pleas, and the case Was heard by the judge and a jury.

After the examination of the first two witnesses by the plaintiff, motions for a directed verdict for both defendants were sustained and the action was dismissed, on the grounds that the agreement as *437 to the pump was a subsequent verbal contract, which specified the name, design and size of the pump, and there was no express or implied warranty of its fitness for any purpose.

Plaintiff’s motion for a new trial having been overruled, it has appealed to this court and has assigned eight errors, which, when summarized, raise three propositions:

(1) That the court erred in directing a verdict, because there was material evidence to carry the case to the jury,. and there was no evidence to sustain the action and judgment of the court.
(2) The court erred in failing to find that the pump and the plumbing fixtures were sold and installed under a warranty.
(3) The court erred in directing a verdict before the conclusion of proof.

The facts of this case, as shown by the pleadings and the plaintiff’s ' proof, are that on January 16, 1926, the town of Franklin, a municipal corporation, entered into a written contract with the Hermitage Engineering Co., a Tennessee corporation, of Nashville, Tenn., in which defendant Engineering Co. contracted and agreed to supply the materials and perform all work in connection with the plumbing and heating of a high school building then being erected by said town, the work to be done under the direction of plaintiff’s architect.

To guarantee the faithful performance of the contract defendant Hermitage Engineering Co. executed to the plaintiff a bond in the sum of $13,801, with the Aetna- Casualty & Surety Co. of Hartford, Conn., as surety thereon.-

The contract contained the following stipulation: .

“ARTICLE III. No alterations shall be made in the work except upon written order of the architect; the amount to be paid by the owner, or allowed by the contractor, by virtue of such alterations to be -stated in said order. ’ ’

The contract provided that the specifications for plumbing, etc. were made a part of the same, but there was no mention in the contract or specifications of a booster pump.

Soon after the execution of the contract it was discovered by said Engineering Co. that the pressure in the water main was not great enough to furnish sufficient force in the high school building, especially on the upper floor, to operate the plumbing fixtures. A verbal agreement was then made 'between the town and the Engineering Co. for said Engineering Co. to supply and install a booster pump which it was represented would furnish sufficient pressure in said building, for the price of $497.

The Engineering Co. represented to the town that such pump would remedy the low pressure in the main and force sufficient *438 water to the second floor, which representations were relied upon- by the town’s representatives.

The pump was installed but failed to raise water with sufficient force to operate the plumbing fixtures in an efficient manner. When the Mayor complained to the Engineering Co., it removed the first pump, which was a one-horse power pump, and installed a two-horse power pump, which also failed to supply sufficient water and proved to be unsatisfactory.

On September 3, 3926, the architect certified that the work was completed, and the town of Franklin paid to the Engineering Co. the amount of the contract price.

The town, through its agent, the architect, complained repeatedly to the Engineering Co. that the pump was furnishing an insufficient supply of water of insufficient force, and that the mechanisms of the toilets were defective. The Engineering Co. refused and neglected to do anything about the pump or the toilets. Wherefore, the plaintiff brought this suit against the Engineering Co. and its surety on the bond.

The defendant introduced no proof to contradict this evidence and the court directed a verdict as hereinbefore stated.

The first and second assignments of error are well taken and must be sustained. The defense of the Surety Co. is that that part of the suit for damages about the booster pump was not a part of the original written contract for which it was surety but was a separate and independent verbal contract not covered by the bond. While it is the insistence of the plaintiff that the addition of the pump was an amendment of or addition to the original contract and that the pump -was treated as a part of the original specifications and the cost price was added to the total estimates, making the whole one lump sum. The plaintiff’s proof tended to sustain this proposition and was sufficient to carry the question to the jury. The bond contained a paragraph as follows:

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Bluebook (online)
12 Tenn. App. 434, 1930 Tenn. App. LEXIS 84, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/town-of-franklin-v-hermitage-engineering-co-tennctapp-1930.