Section 6131.44. Contractor failing to complete contract

If a contractor is not performing or completing the work according to the contract or within the time stated in the contract or an extension thereof, the board of county commissioners shall give the contractor and his sureties notice in writing of a hearing on such matters, which notice shall be given personally or by registered mail at least ten days before the date fixed for the hearing.

If the board at the hearing finds, by an order entered on its journal, that the contractor is improperly performing his work, has abandoned the work, or fails or refuses to complete the contract entered into under sections 6131.01 to 6131.64 of the Revised Code within the time mentioned in the contract or within a time as stated in an extension of time granted, the board may notify the contractor in writing of the finding and shall immediately give written notice of the finding to the sureties on any bond of the contractor. If within ten days after the receipt of the notice, the sureties or any one or more of them notify the board in writing of their intention to enter upon and complete the work covered by the contract, the sureties shall be permitted to do so. The board shall allow them twenty days after the receipt of the notice in writing within which to enter upon the work and resume the construction thereof unless the time is extended by the board for good cause shown by an order of the extension entered on its journal.

If, after receiving notice of the finding of the board, the sureties on the contractor's bond do not within ten days give the board written notice, as provided in this section, or if the sureties who enter upon the work do not carry the same forward with reasonable progress, or if they improperly perform the work or abandon or fail or refuse to complete the work covered by the contract, the board shall order the county engineer to complete the same in the manner provided in this section.

The engineer shall first advertise the work to be done, or material to be furnished, for letting in the manner provided in sections 6131.01 to 6131.64 of the Revised Code, and the estimated cost at which the work is advertised shall be the difference between the original contract price thereof and the amount theretofore paid to the original contractor. At the letting[,] the contract for the completion of the work shall not be let at a price in excess of the estimate. If no bids to complete the work for an amount not exceeding the estimate are received, the board shall cause that portion of the work still uncompleted to be re-estimated by the engineer, and the engineer shall readvertise the same at the amended estimate in the manner provided in such sections and relet the work for not more than the estimate. In reletting an uncompleted contract, the contract shall be awarded by the board to the lowest and best bidder. Before entering into a contract for the completion of any such improvement, the board shall require the contractor to give a bond as provided in section 153.54 of the Revised Code. If the cost of completing the work exceeds the amount set aside or apportioned therefor, the remainder of the cost shall be paid in the first instance from the general ditch improvement fund. If the cost of completing any such improvement exceeds the portion of the contract price remaining unpaid to the contractor at the time of his default, the excess shall be computed by the board after the completion of the work, and the board shall certify those facts to the prosecuting attorney who shall proceed to collect the excess from the contractor and the sureties upon any bond of the contractor, and the amount so collected shall be paid into the county treasury to the credit of the fund from which the excess was originally paid.

If the estimated cost of completing a defaulted contract does not exceed four thousand dollars, the board may order the engineer to complete the same by force account or by a contract let without advertisement if in the judgment of the board a saving can be effected thereby.

Effective Date: 04-09-1981