Bishop Contracting Co., Inc. v. Center Bros., Inc.
| Decision Date | 14 June 1994 |
| Docket Number | No. A94A0881,A94A0881 |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
| Parties | BISHOP CONTRACTING COMPANY, INC. v. CENTER BROTHERS, INC. |
Varner, Stephens, Wingfield & Humphries, William W. Hopson, Dorothy H. Bishop, Atlanta, for appellant.
Tony Center, Atlanta, for appellee.
This case involves a dispute between a general contractor, Bishop Contracting Company, Inc., and its subcontractor, Center Brothers, Inc., regarding the amount owed by Bishop to Center Brothers under a construction contract. Center Brothers brought the underlying action against Bishop to collect on six extra work orders. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Center Brothers for $8,510.68 as contract damages and $13,530.82 as expenses of litigation. Bishop appeals asserting several enumerations of error.
1. In its first enumeration of error, Bishop contends the trial court erred in denying its motion to enforce the arbitration clause of the construction contract. We agree.
The construction contract was an American Institute of Architects' (AIA) standard form agreement between contractor and subcontractor, and was entered on February 3, 1988. The contract provided that Center Brothers would perform all work required by the contract documents for "drywall, ceilings, acoustical wall panels, demountable partitions, and plaster." The contract further established procedures for changes or increases in the work and payment for such changes. Specifically, the contract required that Center Brothers, "prior to the commencement of such changed or revised Work, shall submit promptly to the Contractor written copies of any claim for adjustment to the Contract Sum and Contract Time for such revised Work in a manner consistent with the Contract Documents."
Of particular relevance to our inquiry, the contract established that
This contract is governed by former OCGA § 9-9-82 which provided "[a] written agreement to submit any existing controversy to arbitration or a provision in a written contract to submit any controversy thereafter arising to arbitration is enforceable and confers jurisdiction on the courts of the state to enforce it and to enter judgment on an award." Former OCGA § 9-9-86(a) provided that upon motion by an aggrieved party, the court shall compel arbitration of an issue upon its determination that the agreement to arbitrate was valid and that the claim was not barred by time limitations.
After the present action was filed in Cobb State Court, Bishop filed a motion to stay, pending arbitration. The court denied the motion and determined that...
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...to stay and compel arbitration does not waive the right to raise the issue on a final appeal. Bishop Contracting Co. v. Center Bros., Inc., 213 Ga.App. 804, 805(1), 445 S.E.2d 780 (1994). Accordingly, we find that the defendants' actions did not waive their right to 2. Turning to the issue ......
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