San Francisco Lumber Co. v. O'Neil

THE COURT. This is an action to enforce several mechanics’ and materialmen’s liens. The defendants, Edward and Mary E. O’Neil, were the owners of the property against which the liens are sought to he enforced, and entered into a written contract with the contractors, Cook & Wry, for the construction of the building involved in this action. The court below rendered judgment for plaintiffs foreclosing their liens for certain amounts [456]of money, the judgment being based upon the theory that the contract between the owners and Cook & Wry was a valid contract within the meaning of the mechanics’ lien law, and declined to give judgment for. any greater amount than was due from said defendants to said contractors under the contract. From this judgment, and from an order denying their motions for a new trial, the plaintiffs appeal.

The only question involved on this appeal is whether or not the written contract above referred to was filed in the county recorder’s office as required by section 1183 of the Code of Civil Procedure. The facts in relation to the filing of the said contract are as follows: The papers filed with the recorder consisted

of three documents: 1. The paper which contained the agreements or covenants of the parties, with their original signatures thereon; 2. The original specifications referred to in the first instrument, also bearing the signatures of the parties; and 3. A sun-print copy of the plans and drawings, bearing a photographic representation of those documents and of the signatures thereto. In the first document above referred to the contractor agreed to construct a certain building “in conformity with the plans, drawings, and specifications for the same made by Charles J. Devlin, the authorized architect employed by the owner, and which are signed by the parties hereto, and are to be kept and remain in the office of said architect subject to the inspection of the parties.thereto and others concerned in said erection, in addition to which a duplicate copy of said plans and specifications is to be filed in the county recorder’s office.” The third document above mentioned, .to wit, the plans' and drawings, was as much a part of the contract as either of the other two, and it was just as necessary to file that document in the recorder’s office as to file either of the others. Altogether they completed the contract, and they had to be all filed with the recorder in order to comply with section 1183: That section makes no provision for the filing of a copy of the contract, or of any part thereof; and,' as’ it is the established law that where plans or specifications are part of the contract they must be filed (Greig v. Riordan, 99 Cal. 323, and cases there cited), there is no warrant for holding that the filing óf a copy thereof satisfies the requirement of filing. It is said that this view works a hardship to the respondents. This