PHILADELPHIA – A gas station and convenience store owner in Northeast Philadelphia is pursuing legal action against an engineering firm which he says performed shoddy construction work at his establishment, which he had to pay another firm nearly $60,000 to fix afterwards.
Mamraj Singh (individually and doing business as “Oxford Avenue Real Estate, LLC”) and Express Fuel Mart, LLC, both of Philadelphia, filed suit in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas on Oct. 20 versus OM Consulting Engineers, Inc. (also doing business as “OM Builders, Inc.”), Rad Patel and Giraj Patel, all of Philadelphia.
On or about Sept. 13, 2016, the parties entered into a contract for certain extensive repairs, construction and building at the property located at 5203 Oxford Avenue in Philadelphia, in exchange for $120,000, the suit says. Work was to be completed within 45 days of the issuance of the building permits, which took place on Jan. 17 of this year, the suit says.
Despite a payment scheduled being presented in the contract, the defendant insisted on a different payment schedule which used smaller increments of payment – which by the time April 14 arrived, totaled $100,000. On April 20, the defendants allegedly demanded the plaintiff pay an additional $8,200 for work performed outside the scope of the contract, work never approved or authorized by the plaintiffs, the suit says.
When the plaintiffs refused, the defendants ceased working at the property and have not returned to date, and the work which was completed was supposedly below-grade for industry standards and code law, the suit says
As a result of that subpar work, the plaintiffs had to spend $59,200 to pay another firm, Design Incorporated, to fix what had been done at the property to that point, the suit says. That second attempt was completed on Aug. 25.
Per the terms of the contract, the defendants would be assessed a $100 daily penalty for every day beyond 45 that the work remained incomplete, which spanned 130 days (April 17 to Aug. 25) and $13,000, the suit says. In addition to the $59,200 of extra work funds, this penalty amount brought the grand total to $72,200, the suit says.
For multiple counts of breach of contract, civil conspiracy and misrepresentation, the plaintiff is seeking damages, individually, jointly and severally, of $72,000, plus interest, court costs and counsel fees as may be permitted by law.
The plaintiff is represented by Richard A. Gutman in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas case 171002670
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nickpennrecord@gmail.com