Facts

Claimant is a general contractor who was hired to construct a brand new two-story community and recreational facility owned by the respondent at a property in South Los Angeles. The owner stopped paying the architect and this caused the job to come to a complete stop. Claimant filed suit against the owner.

CLAIMANT'S CONTENTIONS:
The contractor's claims consisted of progress payments, retention, costs, and extra work claims. The general contractor contended that unknown conditions at the site increased the costs of construction and that any stoppage of work or delays at the project was the fault of the construction manager. Claimant also contended that it had performed the entire contract, to the extent possible, and was therefore entitled to all overhead and profit because it fulfilled all obligations through the scheduled completion date of the project.

Claimant filed an action in arbitration to assert claims for increases to the construction contract, all overhead and profit earned at the project, and to recover all unpaid retention.

RESPONDENT'S CONTENTIONS:
The owner contended that the contractor was not owed any additional funds for extra work and was not owed any compensation due to a stoppage of the work.

Settlement Discussions

Claimant made a CCP 998 Offer for $999,000 payable to the contractor. Respondent made a pre-arbitration 998 offer of $3.2 million payable to the owner.

Damages

Claimant sought $1.4 million from the owner/respondent after work at the project stopped.

Result

The parties settled and the owner/respondent agreed to pay the claimant/contractor $790,000 just prior to arbitration.

Other Information

FILING DATE: June 7, 2016.