Cell-Crete Corp. v. Federal Ins. Co.

FACTS

A. The Project and the Payment Bond

In November 2013, Granite entered a written contract with the County of

Riverside, agreeing to perform construction services on a project called the Airport

Boulevard (Avenue 56) at Grapefruit Boulevard (Highway 111) and Union Pacific

Railroad Grade Separation project in Thermal, California. In November 2014, Granite

2 and Cell-Crete agreed Cell-Crete would, as part of the project, furnish and install

lightweight concrete and perform related work.

Granite, as principal, executed a payment bond under the terms of Civil Code

section 9554 with Federal as surety for the project. As a condition for acting as surety,

Federal required Granite to agree to defend Federal, indemnify them, and hold them

harmless against any loss, cost, damage, or expense, “including court costs and attorneys’

fees, which it shall at any time incur by reason of its execution and/or delivery of said

bond or bonds or its payment of any claim or liability thereunder.”

B. The Arbitration Proceedings

Disputes arose between Granite and Cell-Crete during construction of the project.

Cell-Crete filed a demand for arbitration against Granite with the American…