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Supreme Court No. 2011-140-Appeal. (PB 10-6246)

GSM Industrial, Inc. v.

: :

Grinnell Fire Protection Systems Company, : Inc. et al.

NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the Rhode Island Reporter. Readers are requested to notify the Opinion Analyst, Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 250 Benefit Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02903, at Tel. 222-3258 of any typographical or other formal errors in order that corrections may be made before the opinion is published.

Supreme Court No. 2011-140-Appeal. (PB 10-6246)

GSM Industrial, Inc. v.

: :

Grinnell Fire Protection Systems Company, : Inc., et al.

Present: Suttell, C.J., Goldberg, Flaherty, Robinson, and Indeglia, JJ. OPINION Justice Flaherty, for the Court. This case requires us to don our miner's helmets and once again descend into the subterranean labyrinth that is the Rhode Island mechanic's-lien statute. The statute attempts to strike a delicate balance between the rights of contractors, craftsmen, artisans, and furnishers of materials on the one hand and often innocent landowners on the other when a general contractor, hired by the landowner, fails to pay its subcontractors. These circumstances result in a lien created in favor of the subcontractor that is imposed on the landowner's property without a hearing and with minimal due process. Here, the plaintiff, GSM Industrial, Inc., was a subcontractor that entered into an agreement with AirPol, Inc., a general contractor, to install an air-pollution-control mechanism on property owned by the defendant, Grinnell Fire Protection Systems Company, Inc. When AirPol failed to pay GSM the balance of its fee, GSM filed a complaint to enforce a mechanic's lien against Grinnell. The particular issue before us is whether a notarial acknowledgment in a subcontractor's notice of intention satisfies

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the statutory requirement that such a statement be "under oath." A justice of the Superior Court ruled that a Pennsylvania notary public's "acknowledgement" was insufficient to satisfy the oath requirement, and, as a result, the notice was fatally defective. We agree, and for the reasons set forth in this opinion, we affirm the judgment of the Superior Court. I Facts & Travel The facts of this case are clear and undisputed; in point of fact, they are a textbook example of a mechanic's-lien dispute. In 2009, Tyco Fire Products, LP., contracted with AirPol to build an air-pollution-control system on property owned by Grinnell in Cranston. 1 In

connection with this project, AirPol hired GSM to build a wet electrostatic precipitator and provide additional component parts. 2 On August 24, 2009, AirPol paid GSM a deposit of $23,199. The precipitator and the other parts were delivered and installed on Grinnell's property in April 2010. Lamentably, GSM contends that despite repeated demands for payment, AirPol has failed to pay the balance due on its agreement, which amounts to $64,525.44. It is

undisputed that Grinnell paid AirPol in full for its services, and that Grinnell had no direct

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Grinnell is a subsidiary of Tyco. An electrostatic precipitator is: "A device which separates particles from a gas stream by passing the carrier gas between pairs of electrodes across which a unidirectional, high-voltage potential is placed. The particles are charged before passing through the field and migrate to an oppositely charged electrode. These devices are very efficient collectors of small particles, and their use in removing particles from power plant plumes and in other industrial applications is widespread." International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Glossary of Atmospheric Chemistry Terms 2186 (1990). -2-

contact or contractual relationship with GSM.

Nevertheless, GSM sought to vindicate its

statutory rights, as it is freely entitled to do, under the Rhode Island mechanic's-lien statute. The crux of this matter is whether GSM complied with the statutory requirements for executing a notice of intention to enforce a mechanic's lien. General Laws 1956

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