152 Mich. 310 | Mich. | 1908
Plaintiff is a contractor and builder in
The terms of the contract need not be set forth as it is of considerable length. The owner agreed to pay the contractor $1,892 for the work and materials as follows:
■ “ On certificates issued from time to time as the work progresses, reserving 10 per cent, until the work is entirely completed and accepted by the owner and architect. It being understood that the final payment shall be made within thirty days after this contract is completely finished ; provided that in each of said cases the architect shall certify in writing that all the work‘upon the performance of which the payment is to become due has been done to their satisfaction.”
The contract also provides:
“It is further mutually agreed by the parties hereto that the inspection of any work by the architect, or the issuance of certificates thereon by him, or payments made by the owner under this contract, shall not release the contractor of any obligation to perform the work in a good and workmanlike manner, and in case of any default or defects being found at any time, either in workmanship or materials, the same, with all damages due thereto, shall be repaired, replaced or made good by the contractor at his own cost and expense.”
Defendant insists that the house was not built according to plans and specifications and he was not bound by
“ The contractor shall make no claim for additional work unless the same shall be done in pursuance of an order from the architect.”
Paragraph 10 provides:
“Should the contractor at anytime refuse or neglect to supply a sufficiency of properly skilled workmen or of materials of the proper quality, or fail in any respect to prosecute the work with promptness and diligence, or fail in the performance of any of the agreements on his part herein contained, such.refusal, neglect or failure being certified by the architect, the owner shall be at liberty, after three days’ written notice to the contractor, to provide any such labor or materials, etc. * * *
“And if the architect shall certify that such refusal, neglect or failure is sufficient ground for such action the owner shall also be at liberty to terminate the employment of the contractor for the said work and to enter upon the premises and take possession of all materials thereon, and to employ any other person or persons to finish the work, and to provide materials therefor. * * *
“The expense incurred by the owner as herein provided either for furnishing materials or for finishing the work and any damage incurred through such default, shall be audited and certified by the architects, whose certificate thereof shall be conclusive upon the parties.”
It is clear that, under this contract, the determination of the architect as to what is required of the contractor by
The contract was drawn by the architect as the agent of the owner, and was signed by the architect and not by the owner, the owner adopting the' contract as his after its execution. The architect is described in the contract as agent of the owner. The provision in paragraph 13, “ that in each of the said cases the architect shall certify in writing that all the work upon the performance of which the payment is to become due has been done to their satisfaction,” indicates clearly that the acceptance ££by the owner and architect” is to be evidenced by the certificate of the architect. This certificate the contractor obtained, and being made by the owner’s unquestioned agent acting entirely within the scope of his express authority, it bound the owner, in the absence of any showing of fraud or collusion, as much as though he himself had signed it. Lamson v. City of Marshall, 133 Mich. 250. The trial judge correctly held that defendant was estopped by the architect’s certificates from raising the question of a failure on the part of the contractor to comply with the plans and specifications, so far as such failure Was not the result of bad workmanship.
Defendant was not allowed to show faulty workmanship, the court holding that he had accepted the house and was estopped. The question of acceptance upon this record was one of fact for the jury so far as the question of good workmanship and materials was concerned. Gier v. Daiber, 148 Mich. 190. '
-The question of damages from faulty workmanship
The judgment of the circuit court is reversed, and a new trial ordered.