A contractor’s lawsuit alleges Centre County has refused to pay $236,495 for its reconstruction of the retaining walls at the county courthouse in Bellefonte.
JG Contracting Company sued the county on Monday for breach of contract. It claims that it completed the project “in a good and workmanlike manner,” but that the county has withheld payment based on cracks in the walls that the company says were the result of typical shrinkage and not a construction defect.
A filing by the county on Monday, meanwhile, indicates it plans to sue JG Contracting for breach of contract, though a complaint was not yet filed. The county does not comment on ongoing legal matters, a spokesperson said.
Centre County’s Board of Commissioners in 2023 authorized a design/build contract with the Allegheny County-based company to reconstruct the retaining walls, which were at least 125 years old, on the north and south sides of the courthouse.
JG Contracting says it finished the work in accordance with the contract, but that the county refused to issue a certificate of of substantial completion and withheld payment of the contract balance.
The county, according to the lawsuit, did not provide formal notice of any deficiency in the work by the deadline set under the state Procurement Code. It did, however, call into question vertical cracks that appeared in the completed walls.
Both JG Construction’s third-party engineer and the county’s engineering consultant observed that they were “typical shrinkage cracks that were not indicative of any construction defect and that did not present any structural concerns,” attorney Matthew Jameson wrote.
“Final resolution of addressing the shrinkage cracks in the walls” was among the items to be completed or corrected prior to final payment, according to the company’s letter of substantial completion in October 2024.
Jameson wrote that the work was substantially completed, has been in use by the county and that the county “failed to perform its contractual obligation to inspect the work for nearly a year.”
JG Construction also alleges that the withheld payment includes $33,575 for replacement fencing that was added to the contract and completed, and for which the county has identified no defects.
The two-count lawsuit claims breach of contract and violation of the Procurement Code. The company is seeking the full payment plus interest, attorney fees and court costs.
“The County’s action in failing to make payment is in bad faith,” Jameson wrote.
