Opinion ID: 1687881
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The facts show:

Text: Landis, the general contractor, had entered into a subcontract with a construction company (Crutcher) for it to construct the first and second level concourse platforms of the stadium and the ramps leading to it. Crutcher purchased the materials for the forms from the plaintiff lumber company (Slagle-Johnson), but defaulted after two months, with the subcontract then being about thirty percent complete. (Crutcher ultimately declared bankruptcy.) Landis took over Crutcher's subcontract, using some of the material purchased from Slagle-Johnson, which Crutcher had abandoned at the job-site. At the conclusion of the construction contract, the remaining materials used and re-used for the forms were stacked up and remained at the job-site. The evidence is conflicting whether this remainder is still re-usable, it having been sawed up into particular lengths and having been previously used one or more times. The materials which were the basis of the lien consisted primarily of timbers or lumber (2 × 4's, 2 × 6's, and 4 × 4's, etc.), plyform (a special grade of plywood made especially for concrete forms), and nails. According to the record, to the knowledge of both buyer and seller the lumber and nails were purchased for the purpose of constructing the forms; there is no claim that the seller was misled or ignorant as to the destination of the materials delivered by it to the construction site. A contractor builds the forms to particular specifications for the concrete forms to be used, and he removes the material when the concrete is set. Some of the form material is damaged or destroyed in removing it; some of it is of such shape or size as to be of little or no further utility; but much of it can be cleaned, oiled, and re-used to build other forms as many as six times. Whether to use or discard a specific item is a judgment decision of the foreman, which is based upon his evaluation of the utility of the material (based upon its shape, size and condition) and the labor cost of cleaning and preserving the material or of transporting it to a new job-site. In this particular case, much of the material was used and re-used on the job-site until it had become useless as forming material. Some of it survived and allegedly would have been suitable for use on another job, although actually it was abandoned by Landis (as well as Crutcher) at the job-site.