Appellate Division Rules Subcontractor Cannot Maintain Claim against Owner

In Andrew R. Mancini Assoc., Inc. v. Mary Imogene Bassett Hosp., the Third Department of the Appellate Division ruled that a subcontractor could not maintain a claim directly against the owner noting that "subcontractors cannot maintain actions for breach of contract against parties with whom they are not in privity."  The subcontractor in this case had attempted to argue that while it performed work for a general contractor, it also performed separate work outside the scope of the subcontract directly for the owner.  However, the uncontradicted evidence apparently showed that the additional work that was performed directly for the owner was undisputedly paid for.  Therefore, all that was left unpaid was the work performed by the subcontractor for the general contractor and that was not a claim that the subcontractor could bring directly against the owner. 

Vincent T. Pallaci is a partner at the New York law firm of Kushnick Pallaci, PLLC where his practice focuses primarily on the area of construction law.  He can be reached at (631) 752-7100 or vtp@kushnicklaw.com