Paving project squabble nets $142K to contractor

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The road to downtown beautification is sometimes paved with expensive surprises, a lesson learned by the town of Summerton in a Clarendon County court earlier this month. A jury decided the town and its design firm, LandPlan Group South, should share in the cost of glitches that arose during a revitalization project.

The jury awarded International Public Works, a contracting firm hired to work on the project, $142,000 – $90,000 from the town and $52,000 from the design firm. It found the town guilty of breach of contract, and the design firm and one of its owners guilty of professional negligence.

Summerton hired LandPlan, which has completed projects across the state, to design a downtown streetscape plan that included road widening and resurfacing, and new curbs, sidewalks and planters. The town hired International Public Works as the contractor.

T.O. Sanders, attorney for North Charleston-based International Public Works, said the plans of Herbert W. Gilliam, a designer and part owner of LandPlan, were flawed and that the design failed to anticipate the amount of clay workers would encounter in the roadbed.

“When they built the job according to the plan it either didn’t work or didn’t look right,” Sanders said.

When the contractor encountered problems with the design group’s plans, he said, Gilliam and the town failed to provide timely direction on how the work should proceed. The contractor completed the work, which cost $218,000 more than the contracted amount of $653,000. The town refused to pay for the overages.

“He didn’t get everything he asked for, but he got the majority,” said Sanders. “He was happy with the outcome.”

Among the flaws in LandPlan’s design, Sanders said, was calling for square bricks to make rounded curbs and measuring incorrectly for pavers around street lights.

“We brought in a replica that we made of the light pole base and we brought in 12 of these tile pavers and we set it up just like it looks on the ground and the jury was able to look at that the whole trial so they could see the geometry didn’t fit,” he said.

The designer blamed poor workmanship.

Sanders said case law holds that an engineer who designs owes a duty to respond to the needs of the contractor who builds from his plans.

Another major flaw in the plan was an unexpected preponderance of clay in the roadbed. Sanders said the contractor offered three options for dealing with the clay, and waited almost three months for further direction. After the town threatened to remove the contractor, workers completed the job on their own.

The contractor sought $218,000 in damages from both defendants. The town and the design firm filed counterclaims. Regarding the plaintiff’s breach of contract claim against the town, the jury awarded $100,000, reduced by $10,000 on the town’s counterclaim. Regarding the plaintiff’s professional negligence claim against the design firm, the jury awarded $100,000, reduced by $48,000 for the contractor’s negligence.

William H. Johnson, attorney for the town, and R. Davis Howser, attorney for Gilliam and LandPlan, declined to comment, citing pending post-trial motions.

Verdict Report

Injuries alleged: Breach of contract, professional negligence

Case name: International Public Works, LLC v. The Town of Summerton, The LandPlan Group South, Inc., and Herbert W. Gilliam

Case number: 2010-CP-14-000605

Court: Clarendon County Court of Common Pleas

Tried before: Jury

Name of judge: William Jeffery Young

Date of verdict or settlement: May 1, 2012

Amount: $142,000 ($90,000 against Town of Summerton, $52,000 against Herbert Gilliam/LandPlan Group South)

Highest offer: $25,000

Attorneys for plaintiff: T.O. Sanders and Michael Whitsitt, Sanders Law Firm (Charleston)

Attorneys for defendant: William H. Johnson (Manning) for Town of Summerton; R. Davis Howser, Howser Newman & Besley (Columbia) for Herbert W. Gilliam and LandPlan Group South

Has the plaintiff been successful in collecting the judgment? Not yet