Opinion
33491.
DECIDED APRIL 25, 1951.
Breach of contract; from Fulton Superior Court-Judge Andrews. January 15, 1951.
Will Ed Smith, William W. Daniel, White, Douglas Arnold, for plaintiff in error.
C. Donald Lowrie, M. T. Hartman III, contra.
The petition set out a cause of action, good against general demurrer, for the alleged damage sustained by the plaintiff by reason of the failure of the defendant to build and complete the plaintiff's house for the contract price, and the trial judge erred in dismissing the petition on general demurrer.
DECIDED APRIL 25, 1951.
W. V. Jones, known as Vance Jones, brought suit in the Superior Court of Fulton County against J. D. Bohannon, alleging substantially that the defendant was indebted to him in the sum of $2,316.74, with interest, as damages for the breach by the defendant of the contract hereinafter set out; that the defendant, as contractor, and the plaintiff, as owner, entered into a written contract for the construction by the defendant of a dwelling for the plaintiff for $5500, a copy of this contract being attached to the petition; that said defendant entered upon the performance of said contract and constructed the residence of the plaintiff contemplated under the contract; that in the performance of this contract the defendant was advanced sums of money to pay for labor and materials going into the residence to be constructed, by the Coleman Hardware Company which was under "an arrangement and agreement between petitioner, the defendant and Coleman Hardware Company whereby such advances made to the contractor would be on the credit of petitioner, and said sum of money aforesaid was charged to petitioner and was petitioner's obligation as between petitioner and Coleman Hardware Company"; that the plaintiff has paid and otherwise satisfied the hardware company for the advances made to the defendant; that in addition to payments made by the Coleman Hardware Company to the defendant on account of the contract price as above set forth, the defendant obtained advances from the plaintiff on account of the contract price between November 18, 1948 and January 20, 1949, totalling $169.79; that the total of advances made by the plaintiff or on the plaintiff's account and credited to the defendant was $7816.74; that the defendant having contracted to do the work specified under said contract for $5500, the defendant has therefore breached the contract sued on in the sum of $2316.74; and that the plaintiff accepted the work from the defendant on or about March 11, 1949, and became liable for the full cost price on or about said date. Attached to the petition was the contract referred to, to wit: "This agreement made the 12th day of November 1948, and by and between J. D. Bohannon hereinafter called the contractor and Mr. Vance Jones hereinafter called the owner, witnesseth that the contractor and the owner for the considerations hereinafter named agree as follows: Article 1. The contractor agrees to provide for all the materials and labor and to perform all the work shown on the drawings plan No. A-6-M-F.H.A. Commitment No. 10-031767 and attached specifications prepared by B. E. Roebuck, Architect, on residence for owner, same to be fabricated and erected on owner's lot under F. H. A. supervision. Article 2: The contractor agrees to begin work on above residence at once, and to complete same as rapidly as inspections and weather conditions permit. Article 3: The owner agrees to pay the contractor the sum of $5500 upon completion of above job. And to furnish the contractor funds to meet all weekly pay rolls while building is under construction. Total amount of pay rolls or any other advances to be deducted from principal when job is completed, inspected and accepted by F. H. A. inspector or their authorized representative." This contract was signed by both the plaintiff and the defendant.
The defendant demurred generally on the ground that no cause of action against him was set out therein either at law or in equity.
The trial judge sustained said demurrer and dismissed the petition, and to this judgment the plaintiff excepts.
The question here is: Did the petition, considering the contract made a part thereof, set forth facts showing any liability on the part of the defendant contractor as to the plaintiff, growing out of said contract? Properly construed, it appears from the allegations that the defendant, a building contractor, agreed to erect and to construct a dwelling house for the plaintiff, the owner of the land, at a cost to the owner of $5500, and that any and all pay roll and material advances made by the plaintiff to the defendant or made to the defendant contractor by others and charged to the plaintiff's account, were to be credited against the contract price of $5500, the contractor to pay the difference. It appears that all advances made by the Coleman Hardware Company, evidently a materialman, directly to the contractor, were made under an arrangement and agreement whereby the plaintiff would be liable therefor; that the plaintiff has paid the amount advanced by said hardware company to the defendant (as he was legally obligated to do), which amounted to $7316.74, less $169.79 advanced directly by the plaintiff to the defendant; that the contractor agreed to build and complete the house for $5500, that the contractor expended $2316.74 more than what he agreed to construct this house for, which the plaintiff was legally bound to, and did pay. In other words, it appears that the dwelling of the plaintiff, built by the defendant contractor, cost the plaintiff $7316.74, that the defendant contractor had contracted to build the house at a cost to the plaintiff of $5500, and that the plaintiff had been damaged in the sum of $2316.74, the amount sued for. It appears, therefore, that the contractor failed to live up to and perform his contract with the plaintiff to build this house for $5500, and that because of this the plaintiff had to expend the sum of $2316.74 more than the contract price for the erection of his house. Therefore, the defendant has damaged the plaintiff in the sum of $2316.74 by reason of his failure to perform this contract, that is, to build this house for the contract price of $5500. While the contract itself provides that "the contractor agrees to provide all the materials and labor and to perform all the work shown on the" plans, the contract also provides that the "total amount of pay rolls or any other advances to be deducted from the principal when job is completed, inspected and accepted," and the contention of the defendant that this contract had been departed from, under the allegations of the petition, when it appeared that the plaintiff made cash advances to the said contractor, and also credit advances through the hardware company, all of which went into the construction of the house, is not well taken. Properly construed, the materials advanced by the hardware company were for the building of this house under this contract and while the plaintiff agreed to pay therefor, the agreement was between the defendant contractor, the plaintiff owner, and the hardware company, and this was not such a separate undertaking by the plaintiff as constituted a departure from the contract. This was an agreement which grew out of the contract of the defendant to build this house for $5500.
There is no fraud alleged for misappropriation of funds by the contractor. There is no element of money had and received by the contractor. There seems to be no principle of law, as admitted by counsel for the contractor, which would allow the plaintiff to recover the amount sued for, unless it be for a breach of contract. Counsel for the contractor contends that the plaintiff has no remedy at law at all. As to this contention of counsel for the defendant we can not agree. We are convinced that, under the allegations of the petition, the contractor breached his contract and the plaintiff has a remedy against him for such breach, as the allegations of the petition plainly set forth.
The court erred in sustaining the general demurrers and in dismissing the petition.
Judgment reversed. MacIntyre, P. J., and Townsend, J, concur.