229 Conn. 303 | Conn. | 1994
The sole issue presented by this certified appeal is whether, under General Statutes § 49-41,
The material facts are not in dispute. On May 1,1990, the defendant awarded a contract to Austin Driveway Services, Inc. (general contractor), to perform paving work on certain public roads and parking lots in New Milford. The general contractor hired the plaintiff to supply asphalt and other road construction materials for the project, and the plaintiff did so in a timely man
The plaintiff contends that the defendant was obligated to ensure that a payment bond had been posted because § 49-41 directs that the general contractor shall furnish a bond “[bjefore any contract . . . is awarded . . . .” We do not agree with the statutory construction urged by the plaintiff. Section 49-41 provides in relevant part that “[bjefore any contract . . . for the construction, alteration or repair of any public building or public work of the state or of any subdivision thereof is awarded to any person . . . that person shall furnish to the state or the subdivision a bond in the amount of the contract . . . for the protection of persons supplying labor or materials in the prosecution of the work provided for in the contract . . . .’’In determining whether the legislature, in enacting § 49-41, intended to impose a duty on a state or municipality to secure a payment bond from the general contractor for the benefit of a subcontractor, “we are guided by the well established principles of statutory construction which require us to ascertain and give effect to the apparent intent of the legislature. . . . When the language of the statute is plain and unambiguous, we need look no further than the words themselves because we assume that the language expresses the legislature’s intent.” (Citations omitted.) State v. White, 204 Conn. 410, 421, 528 A.2d 811 (1987); see also Sanzone v. Board of Police Commissioners, 219 Conn. 179, 186-87, 592 A.2d 912 (1991); Winslow v. Lewis-Shepard, Inc., 216 Conn. 533, 537-38, 582 A.2d 1174 (1990). Section 49-41 is clear and unambiguous:
Moreover, our conclusion that the defendant owed no duty to the plaintiff to require the general contractor to post a payment bond is fully supported by the legislative history of § 49-41. The original predecessor of § 49-41, chapter 118 of the Public Acts of 1917,
In 1941, the legislature enacted General Statutes § 694f,
As we have discussed, the legislature, in enacting § 49-41, did not intend to impose upon the state or its subdivisions the duty to obtain a payment bond for the protection of subcontractors. Under the statute, it is the obligation of the general contractor to furnish the bond and the responsibility of the subcontractor to assure itself that the bond has been posted. Because the defendant owed no legal duty to the plaintiff to
The judgment of the Appellate Court is affirmed.
In this opinion the other justices concurred.
General Statutes § 49-41 provides in relevant part: “public structures. BONDS FOR PROTECTION OF EMPLOYEES AND MATERIALMEN, (a) Before any contract exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars in amount for the construction, alteration or repair of any public building or public work of the state or of any subdivision thereof is awarded to any person, except a design professional, as defined in section 4b-55, that person shall furnish to the state or the subdivision a bond in the amount of the contract which shall be binding upon the award of the contract to that person, with
O & G Industries, Inc. v. New Milford, 29 Conn. App. 783, 617 A.2d 938 (1992).
We granted the plaintiff’s petition for certification to appeal limited to the following issue: “Under General Statutes § 49-41, does a municipality owe a duty to a subcontractor or material supplier to obtain a payment bond from the general contractor?” O & G Industries, Inc. v. New Milford, 225 Conn. 905, 621 A.2d 286 (1993).
We have held that a construction contract is voidable if the general contractor fails to furnish a payment bond as required by General Statutes § 49-41. Norwalk v. Daniele, 143 Conn. 85, 89, 119 A.2d 732 (1955). Neither party, however, has claimed that the contract was invalid in this case.
Chapter 118 of the Public Acts of 1917 provided: “Any officer or agent contracting in behalf of the state or any sub-division thereof for the construction, alteration, removal or repair of any public building or any bridge constructed under the provisions of chapter 337 of the public acts of 1915, shall require from each contractor, as a condition precedent to the execution of a contract for any such construction, alteration, removal or repair, a bond with sufficient surety, which bond shall be conditioned for the faithful execution of the contract according to its provisions and for the payment for all materials and labor used or employed in the execution of such contract. Any person, firm or corporation having any claim for materials or labor furnished in the execution of any such contract, shall file with the officers or agents contracting for any such construction, alteration, removal or repair, a statement of such claim within sixty days after he ceased to furnish such materials or labor, which claim, if correct, shall be paid by such officer or agent, who shall recover the amount thereof with costs from the surety on such bond.”
General Statutes (Sup. 1941) § 694f provided in relevant part: “Before any contract exceeding one thousand dollars in amount for the construction, alteration or repair of any public building or public work of the state or of any subdivision thereof is awarded to any person, such person shall furnish to the state or such subdivision a bond in the amount of the contract which shall be binding upon the award of the contract to such person, with a surety or sureties satisfactory to the officer awarding the contract, for the protection of persons supplying labor or materials in the prosecution of the work provided for in such contract for the use of each such person.”
General Statutes § 49-41 differs from General Statutes (Sup. 1941) § 694f in only two respects: (1) § 49-41 applies to state or municipal contracts exceeding $25,000, whereas § 694f concerned public contracts in excess of $1000; and (2) design professionals are exempt from the requirements of § 49-41, while no category of general contractor was exempt under § 694f. Neither of these distinctions bears upon the issue in this case.
We also note that prior to 1941, the state or municipal contracting agent was responsible for the administration of any claims filed by a subcontractor on the bond. See Public Acts 1917, c. 118; General Statutes (Sup. 1933) § 1594c. In 1941, however, the legislature “divested the contracting agent or official of the state or municipality of the responsibility for the payment of a subcontractor’s claims”; Nor’easter Group, Inc. v. Colossale Concrete, Inc., supra, 207 Conn. 478-79; and, instead, placed the responsibility with the subcontractor to initiate an action on the bond. General Statutes (Sup.
Section 270a (a) of title 40 of the United States Code provides in relevant part: “Before any contract, exceeding $25,000 in amount, for the construction, alteration, or repair of any public building or public work of the United States is awarded to any person, such person shall furnish to the United States the following bonds, which shall become binding upon the award of the contract to such person . . .
“(1) A performance bond with a surety or sureties satisfactory to the officer awarding such contract, and in such amount as he shall deem adequate, for the protection of the United States.”
See, e.g., Barnes & Sweeney Enterprises, Inc. v. Hazel Park, 169 Mich. App. 422, 425 N.W.2d 572 (1988) (no government liability); Penstan Supply, Inc. v. Pennsylvania State University, 44 Pa. Commw. 347, 403 A.2d 1054 (1979) (no government liability); Heldenfels Bros., Inc. v. Corpus Christi, 832 S.W.2d 39 (Tex. 1992) (no government liability); but see Medical Clinic Board v. Smelley, 408 So. 2d 1203 (Ala. 1981) (government liable); Cowin & Co. v. Merrill, 202 Wis. 614, 233 N.W. 561 (1930) (government liable).
The Court of Appeals held that the District Court had improperly denied the town’s petition for interpleader, and remanded the case to the District Court for further proceedings. Royal School II, supra, 358 F.2d 815-17.