First National Bank v. City of Seattle

Citations

• 71 Wash. 122
• 127 P. 837
• 1912 Wash. LEXIS 705

Syllabus

<p>Municipal Corporations — Public Work — Contracts — Performance or Breach — Extras—Evidence—Sufficiency. In an action against a city on a contract for laying a sewer, the plaintiff is not entitled to recover for extra work through a change of grade, requiring the relaying of pipe, where it appears that the pipe had to be relaid because out of alignment in violation of the contract, and the change of grade was at the contractor’s request and did not call for extra work under the plan under which he submitted his bid; especially where supplemental contracts waived all the extras contemplated by the parties at the time the work was done, and no claim for extras was made as required by a stipulation in the contract that such extras must be submitted previous to the final acceptance.</p> <p>Same. The fact that the city allowed a claim for extras for relaying part of the pipe, does not entitle the plaintiff to a claim for extras for laying the balance.</p> <p>Same — Claims of Laborers — Right to Balance Retained. As between an assignee of a contractor, and a surety company guaranteeing labor claims, under a city contract for public work providing that 70 per cent of the amount earned should be paid the contractor as the work progressed, and SO per cent retained by the city to secure the payment of laborers and materialmen, any balance due to the contractor on the completion of the work after deducting 30 per cent must be applied to discharge unpaid labor claims in excess of the 30 per cent retained by the city for their security, where the contractor agreed to pay all such claims, and that the city might withhold all payments until satisfied that all wages were paid, and the assignment recited that it was not valid against any claim for labor or materials.</p>