18 Pa. Super. 578 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1902
Opinion by
In the case of Hoatz v. Patterson, 5 W. & S. 587, decided in 1843, followed by Haley v. Prosser, 8 W. & S. 133, decided in 1844, the Supreme Court held, that the mechanic’s lien law of 1836, did not authorize the filing of a lien by one who by special contract undertakes to furnish all the materials and erect a house or other building for a certain sum. To meet these decisions, the legislature declared in the 5th section of the Act of April 16, 1845, P. L. 538, that the “ provisions,” evidently referring to all the provisions, of the act of 1836, “ according to the true intent and meaning thereof, extend to and embrace claims for labor done and materials furnished and used in erecting any house or other building which may have been or shall be erected under, or in pursuance of any contract or agreement for the erection of the same, and the provisions of said act shall be so construed.” Nothing can be clearer than that the only change of the law made by the act of 1845, was to extend the right to file liens to contractors. Upon this subject Mr. Justice Strong said: “The act does not undertake to change either the form or the substance of the claim filed, or to relieve the claimant from the conditions which the act of 1836 made essential to the validity of his claim. It was passed to change the law as declared in Hoatz v. Patterson and Haley v. Prosser in which cases it had been ruled that one who, by special contract, undertakes to do the work or furnish the materials of a building, was not within the purview of the mechanic’s lien law, and was entitled to file no claim. It had no other object: ” Russell v. Bell, 44 Pa. 47. We repeat upon the authority of that case, if the citation of a decided case is needed for so plain a proposition, that no change whatever was made in the provisions of the act of 1836,
The ruling in Young v. Lyman, has been followed in all subsequent cases of the same class, and has been distinctly recognized in many other cases in which the general question was under consideration. In a very recent case, Mr. Justice Mitchell said : “So in the present case if Norton was in fact the owner, his contract with plaintiff for a lump sum was valid and would sustain the lien. The plaintiff should be allowed to so amend his claim of record as to enable him to prove the facts, if they are as be avers: ” Bohem v. Seel, 185 Pa. 382.
On the other hand it has been repeatedly held, “that a subcontractor must specify the items of his claim ’ for work or materials, and that a lumping charge for either does not sat
The claimants aver that they agreed to furnish all the brick and terra cotta necessary to fully complete the building for the sum of $3,495, according to the plans, specifications and detailed drawings (now in the possession of the owners) prepared by the architects employed by the owners, and to the entire satisfaction of the architects; that they furnished all the brick and terra cotta, and did all the necessary work to fully complete the building; that they furnished 15,000 Pompeian bricks, 15,000 stretches, 175,000 bard bricks; that they furnished all the terra cotta in accordance with the plans and specifications above mentioned, also flue lining and other materials such as lime, sand, mortar, etc., necessary to lay the brick and terra cotta work; also, that they furnished necessary bricklayers and laborers required to lay the brick and terra cotta work, the time
The judgment is reversed, the lien is reinstated and the demurrer overruled, with leave to the defendants to plead to the scire facias.