Smith v. Town of Tukwila

Citations

• 118 Wash. 266
• 203 P. 369
• 1922 Wash. LEXIS 633

Syllabus

<p>Municipal Corporations (165) — Public Improvements — Contract —Abandonment by Contractor — Evidence — Sufficiency. Where contractors on public work abandon their contract, they thereby create an anticipatory breach which furnishes an excuse for nonperformance on the part of the other party.</p> <p>Same (166) — Contract—Performance—Approval or Certificate of Officers — Necessity. Where it is a prerequisite to the right of a public contractor to recover an installment payment due on a street improvement contract that he shall procure a certificate by the street committee stating the amount earned, a report by one member of the street committee to the town council of what is due the contractor will not excuse the nonproduction of the certificate.</p> <p>Same (157, 158) — Contractor’s Bond — Validity—Common Law Bond. Where a bond taken to secure the faithful performance of a public contract does not comply with the statutory requirements that it have more than one surety and be for the full amount of the contract price, it is nevertheless valid as a common law bond.</p> <p>Principal and Surety (3) — Execution of Bond — By Cosurety. A surety on a contractor’s bond on public work who signs on the understanding that another surety is to be procured, cannot escape liability where the bond is accepted by the obligee with no notice of such condition.</p>