United States ex rel. Lank Woodwork Co. v. CSH Contractors, Inc.

452 F. Supp. 922, 25 Cont. Cas. Fed. 82,658, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16759
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedJuly 6, 1978
DocketCiv. No. 78-463
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 452 F. Supp. 922 (United States ex rel. Lank Woodwork Co. v. CSH Contractors, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States ex rel. Lank Woodwork Co. v. CSH Contractors, Inc., 452 F. Supp. 922, 25 Cont. Cas. Fed. 82,658, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16759 (D.D.C. 1978).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

JOHN H. PRATT, District Judge.

The sole issue raised by the cross-motions for summary judgment filed by the subcontractor and surety in this action under the Miller Act, 40 U.S.C. §§ 270a, 270b, is whether the action was timely filed under the one-year limitations period incorporated in the Act. Id. § 270b(b). To prevail on a motion for summary judgment, a party must demonstrate that no genuine issue of material fact, viewed in the light most favorable to the opposing party, impedes its right to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c); see Bloomgarden v. Coyer, 156 U.S.App.D.C. 109, 116, 479 F.2d 201, 208 (1973).

In connection with a contract between the United States and CSH Contractors for the remodelling of a facility at the National Zoological Park, CSH as principal and Aetna as surety entered into a bond rendering each of them liable for claims of suppliers of materials or labor for use by CSH in fulfilling its obligations as prime contractor. Lank Woodwork entered into a contract with CSH Contractors to supply certain wooden doors and other items for incorporation in the remodelling. On December 16, 1976, Lank Woodwork delivered to the job-site the doors it assumed were covered by its contract with CSH. On inspection of the doors that day, the CSH agent at the site determined that two were damaged and rejected both, returning one to Lank Woodwork the same day. The CSH agent also determined that a basement stairwell door included in the CSH-Lank contract had not been supplied. In its answers to Aetna’s interrogatories, Lank indicates that it had read the specifications to indicate that the door in question, Door No. 14, was metal and therefore not within its contract with CSH. Answers of Plaintiff to Defendant Aetna Insurance Company’s Interrogatories No. 11(a), at 6-7. On March 15,1977, agents of the United States conducted a final inspection of the work, and by letter of March 16,1977 to CSH Contractors, identified the missing or defective components [924]*924of the job for correction by CSH. The letter does not advert to Door No. 14 as such, but it does contain a directive that CSH “[hjang missing stair door” in the basement. On March 18, 1977, Lank Woodwork delivered to the job-site Door No. 14 and replacements for the two damaged doors, all three doors having been ordered from the manufacturer by Lank after December 16, 1976. This action was filed March 17, 1978. Lank seeks to recover the sum of $6,224.75, alleging to be due and owing after demand on both defendants.

Although the Miller Act is remedial in nature and intent, the one-year limitations period which forms an integral part of the statute is jurisdictional in character. United States for the use of Celanese Coatings Co. v. Gullard, 504 F.2d 466, 468 (9th Cir. 1974). The determinative question here is whether the three doors delivered by Lank Woodwork to the job-site March 18, 1977 were “part of the original contract” or furnished merely for the “purpose of correcting defects, or making repairs following inspection of the project.” United States for the use and benefit of Austin v. Western Electric Co., 337 F.2d 568, 572-73 (9th Cir. 1964). If none of the three was supplied as part of the original contract, this action is untimely. On the other hand, if even one door was supplied in the course of Lank Woodwork’s performance on the original contract, the action is timely, though not by more than two days.

The parties’ memoranda in support of their motions

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Bluebook (online)
452 F. Supp. 922, 25 Cont. Cas. Fed. 82,658, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16759, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-ex-rel-lank-woodwork-co-v-csh-contractors-inc-dcd-1978.