McDowell v. Riley

Citations

• 16 Pa. Super. 515
• 1901 Pa. Super. LEXIS 103

Syllabus

<p>Mechanics' liens — New structure — Alterations and repairs — Notice—Act of May 18, 1887, P. L. 118.</p> <p>The alterations or repairs 'which come within the operation of the Act of May 18, 1887, P. L. 118, requiring notice to owner before a lien can be filed, are such as are incorporated into the old building or added as an appendage to the original structure; in such cases the old building must continue to constitute a substantial part of the completed structure. Where the structure is so completely changed that in common parlance it may. properly be called a new building, or a rebuilding, it comes within the general mechanic’s lien law</p> <p>When, in cases of this character, the facts are undisputed and there is no evidence from which a jury ought to be permitted to find that the structure is a new one, it is the duty of the court to declare the work one of repair. When the facts are disputed or the inferences to be drawn from tho evidence are doubtful, the question is for the jury.</p> <p>On a scire facias sur mechanic’s lien where the defense is that the construction was merely an addition and repair, and that no notice had been given, as required by the Act of May 18, 1887, P. L. 118, the court is in error in not submitting the ease to the jury, where the evidence tends to show that a frame dwelling house had been consumed by fire, inside and out, except a portion of the roof, which was held in a sagging position by rafters which extended over from an adjoining structure, and a few charred, but not wholly consumed, studding, not capable of supporting new weather boarding and plastering lath, and that in rebuilding, a new frame for the external walls had been put up, that new weather boarding, new joists, new floors, and a new staircase had been erected, and that the house had been relathed and replastered throughout, and that the only material from the old house used was a part of the roof.</p>