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A public entity awarded a public works contract to a contractor. Although the contract documents required the contractor to provide a payment bond for the protection of its subcontractors, as required by law, the contractor did not provide a bond. The contractor began work on the project and failed to pay its subcontractors. The public entity subsequently terminated the contractor from the project, and the public works contract was assigned, with the consent of the public entity, to a replacement contractor. A subcontractor who had not been paid by the initial contractor brought suit against the public entity, alleging the public entity was liable for its negligence in allowing the initial contractor to commence work without having furnished a payment bond. The public entity acknowledged the initial contractor did not furnish a bond. However, the public entity sought judgment in its favor on the basis of a payment bond furnished by the replacement contractor when it, several months after the first contractor’s default, took over work on the public works contract. The trial court concluded the public entity had failed to establish the replacement contractor’s bond applied…