Consolidated Electrical Distributors, Inc. v. Kirkham, Chaon & Kirkham, Inc.

Defendants appeal from a judgment entered after trial without jury in an action by plaintiff on a public works bond and on a stop notice claim.

The proceedings arise from relations of various parties engaged in the construction of an elementary school known as Valhalla Elementary School in the City of Pleasant Hill. The school was to be, and now is, a part of the Mount Diablo Unified School District (hereinafter the “School District”). Plaintiff was a supplier of materials to one of the defendants, an electrical subcontractor doing business as Walnut Creek Electric, a corporation (hereinafter “Electric”). As the result of the untimely economic demise of Electric and its inability to pay plaintiff for the material supplied, plaintiff, as principal, brought an action against Hartford Accident & Indemnity Company (hereinafter “Hartford”) which had issued a contractor’s bond assuring that if the primary contractor, Kirkham, Chaon & Kirkham, Inc., a corporation (hereinafter “Kirkham”) and its subcontractors failed to pay for any labor and/or materials used in connection with said school project, Hartford would pay the same to the parties furnishing such labor or materials. By…