Concrete Coring wins $130k with Siegel

Company wins $130,000 over breach of contract

Published: January 14, 2010

By Angela Riley

angela.riley@molawyersmedia.com

A St. Louis County jury has awarded $130,000 to a concrete coring company in its breach of contract case against two contractors who allegedly refused to pay its costs of labor and materials for a project.

Concrete Coring Co. of St. Louis was hired on as a sub-subcontractor for a construction project of the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District. KCI Construction Co. was the general contractor for the project, and Condaire Inc. was the subcontractor.

Concrete Coring’s job on the project was to drill holes through a concrete lift station. The lift station’s purpose was to pump sewage and take it to a nearby wastewater treatment plant. Concrete Coring was to drill the holes for pipes to go through the structure.

Concrete Coring’s attorney, Gary Siegel, of Siegel Poger, said that Concrete Coring and Condaire never had a signed contract for the work. Concrete Coring made a $44,000 bid for the work, and both parties exchanged proposals back and forth.

“We sent the last proposal, and [Condaire] invited them to the job site,” he said. “I argued that since they were invited to work it was as if they signed the last proposal and were bound by that.”

However, Siegel said that the conditions of the job site were different than what Condaire had communicated to Concrete Coring. The concrete in the lift station had a steel cage in it to help support the structure when the holes were drilled into it. There were holes in the cage for the pipes to go through.

Concrete Coring was informed that the pipes were not aligned so the holes would have to be drilled askew and there was a possibility that the company might hit the steel cage.

Because Concrete Coring did end up having to drill into the steel, there were some delays on the project. Concrete Coring was told by Condaire that they would enter into a time and materials contract as opposed to its previous price per unit agreement. The agreement was verbal with the promise that it would be placed in writing, Siegel said, and Concrete Coring continued to drill even though they had not entered into a written contract with Condaire for the new terms because Concrete Coring had a longstanding relationship with Condaire.

It was later discovered that Condaire had become insolvent, and KCI agreed to pay Condaire’s vendors, Siegel said.

After trying without success to obtain a written contract from KCI, Concrete Coring stopped its work on the project. Concrete Coring alleged it was only paid $9,000 of $68,000 owed for time and materials.

“Condaire was KCI’s puppet,” Siegel said. “Condaire entered into an agreement with KCI that KCI would receive any money Condaire wins in a lawsuit. Condaire owes KCI $1 million, and the only asset they had left was their counterclaim against my client.”

Condaire’s $70,000 counterclaim alleged Concrete Coring essentially walked off the job, causing Condaire to lose time and money to find another coring company.

“KCI had argued that while it assured my client they would pay them, it was only for the $44,000 bid [Concrete Coring] made and not for time and materials,” Siegel said. “That was their calculation on why they paid Concrete Coring $9,000.”

KCI and Condaire are represented by Patrick Mickey, of Brown & James, who did not return messages requesting comment.

A jury awarded Concrete Coring $59,598 from Condaire and $70,304 from KCI Construction. It also found in favor of Concrete Coring on Condaire’s counterclaim.

The case is Concrete Coring Co. of St. Louis v. Condaire Inc. and KCI Construction Co., 2107CC-03605.