13 Ga. App. 405 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1913
In section 1 of the act approved .August 12, 1910, entitled “an act for the protection of persons, furnishing material and labor for the construction of public works, and for other purposes,” it is provided that any person who enters into a contract with the State, or a county, or a municipal corporation, for the repair, construction, or prosecution of any public building or public work shall be required to execute a bond, conditioned .that the contractor “shall promptly make payment to all persons supplying him or them with labor or material, or both, in the execution of the work provided for in such contract.” In section 2 it is provided that the person furnishing the material or labor,, after the completion of the contract and within a year, shall, upon making affidavit that the labor or material has been supplied and payment therefor has not been made, be furnished .with a certified copy of the bond, “and shall within said period have a- right of action thereon,” and be authorized to bring suit on the bond in the name of the State, county or municipal corporation, as the case may be, for the use of the person furnishing the labor or material. Acts 1910, p. 86. The Town of Grantville entered into a contract with .John E. Grandy & Son, to construct a school building. The contractors executed a bond conditioned that they should “faithfully perform said contract on their part, according to the terms, covenants, and conditions thereof, except as are hereinafter provided.” The bond contained no condition requiring the contractors to pay for any labor or material furnished to them. The Woodward Lumber Company, in the name of the Town of Grantville,
Without reference to whether the suit is barred or whether the claim should have been filed with the municipal authorities as a condition precedent to suit, we are clear that the petition set forth no cause of action. The act of 1910 was passed for the sole benefit and protection of persons furnishing material and labor for the construction of public works. This is its declared purpose as expressed in the title. Persons furnishing material or labor to be used in the construction of private property have a lien, and are therefore protected. They have no such protection in reference to public property. The purpose of the act of 1910 was to afford to persons who furnished material or labor to a contractor, to be used in construction of public works, a remedy for the collection of their debts. To this end it was provided that the public authorities should take from the contractor a bond for the protection of laborers and materialmen, upon which they might bring suit. It does not follow, however, that an action will lie against a municipality which fails to take this bond. Since all persons are bound to take notice of a public law, it may be that a contract with public au