40 Pa. Super. 331 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1909
Opinion by
It seems to be necessary to make a rather extended statement of the facts which the plaintiffs allege they could have sustained before the jury. In making the following statement we are not assuming that the alleged facts cannot be successfully contradicted, but only that the plaintiffs seemed to have made a prima facie case, provided the jury found various allegations in their favor. But the learned court below saw fit to give a binding instruction in favor of the defendants on a technicality and thus put the plaintiff out of court; hence, this appeal.
The Butler Brewing Company desiring to build a brewery in Butler, Penna., entered into a contract for the construction of the same with the Wilhelm Griesser Construction Company of New York and Pittsburg. Among other things to be furnished by the contractor were eleven chip vats or pressure tanks and the said contractor sublet that portion of its contract to Thaler Brothers of Chicago, plaintiffs, who undertook the construction
The plaintiffs sent their foreman to Butler to set up the tanks and the typewritten letter was handed to him, and it was never returned to the plaintiffs but was lost or destroyed. When the
After the trial and verdict, the plaintiffs moved the court for leave to amend their lien and pleadings, so as to cure the notice and attach the plans and specifications, etc., which the court permitted as to the lien but held that the notice could not be amended as that was a preliminary matter to the filing of the lien, and that the court had no power to permit the notice to be amended.
The error complained of specifically is directing the jury to find a verdict in favor of the defendants as follows: “In this case notice was given thirty days prior to the filing of the lien, but it seems that that notice, whilst it embraced a copy of this contract, did not embrace a copy of the specifications referred to therein and according to which this work was to be done. Now under these circumstances we are obliged to say to you that this lien is for that reason not self-supporting; that the lien does not show that such notice was given embracing that portion of these specifications relating to the vats in controversy. No such notice seems to have been given to the owner, that portion seemingly having been omitted. For these reasons we are constrained to say that this claim cannot be supported and it is our duty to say to you under the law that it is your duty to return a verdict in favor of the defendant.” This charge was duly excepted to and a bill sealed.
In the first place, the contract between the plaintiffs and the
While the plaintiffs seem to have had the services of a good many lawyers, it must be admitted that the work of making out and serving their notice of lien was not very artistically done, but, in our opinion, it was a substantial compliance with the provisions of the act of June 4,1901. We think this case is ruled by Day v. Penna. R. R. Co., 35 Pa. Superior Ct. 586, and the cases therein cited. In that case we said: “When we remember that the appellee’s contract was attached to this no
“We do not consider the alleged insufficiencies of the notice and claim as presenting any substantial difficulty. 'The object of the notice is to inform the owner of the demand and the nature thereof, in order that he may require payment of the contractor, or in default thereof withhold the amount from the contract price:’ Thirsk v. Evans, 211 Pa. 239. All the cases agree that a substantial compliance is sufficient, and this is shown to exist whenever enough appears on the face of the statement to enable the owner to ascertain the amount of the claim, its date, and the nature and amount of the labor or material out of which it arises: Este v. Penna. R. R. Co., 27 Pa. Superior Ct. 521. In American Car, etc., Co. v. Alexandria Water Co., 215 Pa. 520, a lien was filed by a subcontractor and it was stricken off by the court below. In reversing the judgment and reinstating the lien much was said by the Supreme Court that applies to the case in hand (see p. 525): 'But all the cases agree that a substantial compliance is sufficient, and this is shown to exist wherever enough appears, on the face of the statement, to point the way to successful inquiry. Adherence to the terms of the statute is indispensable, but the rule must not be pushed into such niceties as serve but to perplex and embarrass a remedy intended to be simple and summary, without, in fact, adding anything to the security of the parties an interest in the building sought to be incumbered. Certainty to a common intent has, therefore, always been held to suffice:’” Day v. Penna. R. R. Co. 224 Pa. 193, was affirmed by the Supreme Court as follows: “Per Curiam. The judgment is affirmed on the opinion of the Superior Court.”
Now, referring to the present case for a moment with the fact that written notice of the amount of the plaintiffs’ claim, its nature and character, and a copy of the contract under which the material was furnished and the work done, was served on the president of the Butler Brewing Company at the proper time and that contract referring to the plans, drawings and.
In the recent case of McVey v. Kaufmann, 223 Pa. 125, the court below was reversed for sustaining a lien by a subcontractor on account of defects in the notice. In that case, after quoting the notice, Mr. Justice Brown says: “Neither in the notice nor in the attached affidavit is the contract set forth under which the appellee’s claim. Nothing can be gathered from them as to a contract between the subcontractors and the contractor, except that there was one. The date of it is not given, not one of its .terms is stated, and whether it was written or verbal no one can tell.” But the notice in the present case is open to no such criticism. It contains all the requisites, refers to the contract and attaches a copy of the same to the notice.
The judgment is reversed with a venire facias de novo.