Titan Elec. v. La Unified School Dist.

WILLHITE, Acting P.J.

Public Contract Code section 4107 [1] provides that the prime contractor on a public works project cannot "[substitute a person as subcontractor in place of the subcontractor listed in the original bid" unless any of nine listed circumstances exists and the awarding authority consents. (§ 4107, subd. (a).) The statute further provides that absent the awarding authority's consent, the prime contractor cannot "allow [a subcontract] to be performed by anyone other than the original subcontractor listed in the original bid." (§ 4107, subd. (b).)

In the instant case, Kemp Bros. Construction, Inc. (Kemp) was the prime contractor for the Los Angeles Unified School District (the District) on two public works construction projects: the Huntington Park Elementary School (the Huntington Park project) and the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies (the LACES project). Titan Electric Corporation (Titan) was Kemp's electrical subcontractor on the projects.

During construction, Kemp petitioned under section 4107 to replace Titan with another subcontractor on both projects, alleging inter alia that Titan had failed or refused to perform its subcontracts ( id., subd.…