Opinion ID: 2209178
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Who Is the General Contractor?

Text: Assuming we were to agree that the question of who is the general contractor is dispositive in this case, we think it clear that summary judgment should not have issued. The question of agency is an issue of fact to be submitted to the trier of fact under appropriate applicable legal principles. Etheridge v. Atlantic Mutual Insurance Co., 480 A.2d 1341, 1346 (R.I.1984). Therefore, the characterization of Gilbane or Mansour as the general contractor (that is, the type of agency vis-a-vis the State) is clearly a question of fact. It was not within the purview of the trial justice, in ruling on a motion for summary judgment, to choose between conflicting affidavits concerning who was the project's general contractor. Therefore, the trial justice erred in granting Fidelity's motion for summary judgment.