Crawford

This action was brought by an architect for a fee claimed to be due him under the terms of a written contract for professional services in connection with the construction of a hotel building. Judgment was rendered for the defendant and the plaintiff has appealed.

More specifically, the contract for the plaintiff’s services provided:

There was a fifth paragraph which required the owner to pay for surveys and borings and to make prompt statements of his requirements and decisions relating to the conduct of the work.

The plaintiff prepared plans and specifications for a thirty-room hotel which the defendant admits were satisfactory to him. Thereafter bids for its construction were sought and the lowest bid received was something over $61,000. The defendant thereupon abandoned the project because of the excessive cost of construction and refused to pay the plaintiff on the theory that he had failed to perform his part of the contract in the preparation of plans suitable to the needs of the defendant. This action was commenced on the written contract for the sum of $1963.50, % of the total fee based upon the lowest bid submitted, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (4)…