Ovington v. Aetna Indemnity Co.

Citations

• 36 Wash. 473
• 78 P. 1021

Syllabus

<p>Indemnity — Insurance—Bond Guaranteeing Building Contract — Notice of Acts Involving Loss — Construction—Release of Surety. An indemnity bond or policy guaranteeing the performance of a building contract, • which stipulates that notice must be given the surety of any act on the part of the contra.ctor which may involve a loss, does not require the giving of notice that the contractor has failed to pay the employees, and a notice given as soon as the claimants sought to make their claims charges against the property is in time to prevent the discharge of the surety.</p> <p>Indemnity — Building Contract — Action on Bond — Accrual—Date of First Breach — Delay in Completion of Building. Where an indemnity bond, guaranteeing a building contract, provided that actions thereon must be instituted within six months after the first breach of the contract, and the owner accepted the building after delay in its completion, the surety cannot claim that the right of action on the bond was barred six months after the time specified in the contract for the completion of the building, since the surety cannot complain of waiver of any breach of the contract by the owner’s acceptance of the building, when such waiver did not operate to the prejudice of the surety.</p> <p>Same — Alteration in Contract Increasing Cost of Building —Release of Sueety. The surety in an indemnity bond guaranteeing a building contract is not released by reason of the fact that changes were made in the plans as the work progressed, increasing the cost of the building, where the building contract provided that such changes might be made.</p>