County of Fayette v. Laing

Citations

• 127 Pa. 119
• 17 A. 801
• 1889 Pa. LEXIS 1090

Syllabus

<p>(a) A contract, whereby plaintiffs covenanted to erect County Home buildings for a stipulated sum, provided for authorized changes to be made in the work and materials when necessary, and for a reference of any disagreements between the parlies to the conclusive decision of the architect.</p> <p>(b) The plaintiffs claimed completion of the building according to the contract, and the county claimed deductions for deficiencies in work and materials, but no reference of the matters in dispute was ever made to the decision of the architect.</p> <p>(6) The plaintiffs brought suit to recover the balance claimed, and on the trial the judge submitted the question of fact to the jury, instructing that the duty to refer disputes to the architect for settlement was mutual, and defendant could not take advantage of its own neglect.</p> <p>1. On error, it was held that there was no such error apparent in the record as would justify a reversal of the judgment for the plaintiffs; that, while the architect had made no formal award, he had practically settled the matters in dispute, and as he was now dead it would do no practical good to reverse because no such formal award had been made.</p>