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Associated Industrial Contractors2/3/2004
d to ensure that each of the column center points was on a straight 180§ angle line extending out from established points on the existing building. The north and south lines of column center points were supposed to be parallel and the corners of the addition were required to be 90§ angles.
Mr. Davis operated the electronic transit to check the distances for the placement of each nail at a center point and to check the necessary angles. Mr. Register then placed the nails; in the process, he used a plumb bob with his body blocking the wind. Although Mr. Register testified that Mr. Davis was the "instrument man," Mr. Register reported that he "did look back through the instrument to confirm straight lines through most of these points."
With respect to the offset points, Mr. Register knew that AIC would be required to excavate the footers for the columns and, as a result, remove the nails at the center points. The purpose of the offset points was to enable AIC to accurately recreate the center points originally set by the Fleming survey. The parties do not dispute that this is a conventional approach. They do dispute, however, whether Mr. Register, after completing the survey, recommended to AIC that it have a second survey performed to ensure that the center points were properly restored.
Mr. Register finished surveying the project on 22 December 2000. When AIC construction superintendent Joyce attempted to check Mr. Register's work by using a tape measure, it appeared to be accurate although he was unable to complete his check because excavation equipment had been parked along one of the lines.
In order to relocate the center points after the footers had been dug, AIC employees attached nylon strings to the offset point nails and pulled them taut. The point where the strings intersected indicated the center point for each column. On the south column line, AIC employees successfully completed the footers for three columns and recreated the center points using the offset points that Mr. Register had specified. When they started work on the fourth column, however, they realized that part of a concrete slab was extending into the area for the footer and would have to be removed. The "batter board" containing the offset nail set by Mr. Register was attached to the concrete slab and had to be moved. The "batter board" was moved back and a string attached to the original offset nail was extended back to the new "batter board" using a technique, according to AIC employees, designed to maintain the proper alignment so that AIC would be able to recreate the center point for the final column accurately. The AIC employee who performed the work described the technique as "the old way of doing it, but it's still the best way." AIC's manager for the Honda project, Scott Flanigan, claimed, "We move [batter boards] all the time. . . . It is not significant . . . event for them to call and say, Scott, we're moving a batter board."
After AIC had installed the columns and crossbeams, AIC began erecting joists on top of the columns. While setting the first joist, AIC discovered that the column at the southwest corner of the addition was 5 3/4 inches out of line so that the joist extended beyond the column. AIC then checked each of the remaining columns. They found that the columns along the north side of the addition were all set correctly, but that four columns on the south line were off: one column by 5 3/4 inches, one by 4 3/8 inches, one by 2 3/4 inches, and one by 1 3/4 inches. As a result, as Mr. Register admitted, the south line of columns "was in a straight line at a skew . . . ." The building was not square. Plaintiff had to reposition the columns at a cost of $23,000.
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