A group of subcontractors has failed to get $3.7 million from a Capstan developer due to cancelled contracts, after a B.C. Supreme Court judge said the work done was worth about 10 per cent of what they were claiming.
The subcontractors, working under subcontractor Tarrier Group, put liens worth almost $3.7 million on the Pinnacle development – close to No. 3 Road and Sea Island Way – but developer Pinnacle Living and general contractor Mondiale Development claimed the maximum owed was about $380,000.
The judge noted in her reasons for judgment that Tarrier didn’t refute Pinnacle’s amount, and putting $3.7 million in liens against the development was an “abuse of process.”
The entire contract between Mondiale and Tarrier was worth $6.12 million, but Tarrier was only to be paid as work was completed.
The judge further said Mondiale doesn’t have to pay the contractor, Tarrier, for unpaid work because to finish the project and remediate any defects would cost more than what was owing.
“Such costs in the present case exceed the unpaid price of completed work,” Justice Carol Ross said in her reasons.
Only one subcontractor, Fairway Recycle Group, which approached Pinnacle directly to get its invoices paid, was considered separately from the rest of the subcontractors that had put liens on the development.
The judge concluded Fairway should be paid, but all other companies that had collectively placed the $3.7 million worth in liens on the project, will “absorb their own costs.”
