Gaston v. Bobby Johnson Equipment Co‪.‬

LUMMUS, Justice. The plaintiffs brought this action of contract to recover the unpaid balance of the contract price for erecting, for a building in Albany, New York, the steel framework furnished by the defendant, the general contractor. When the plaintiffs work on one wing of the building was nearly completed, that wing collapsed, causing injury to the steel and damage to neighboring premises of a third person. The defendant replaced the steel and paid for the damage. By claim of recoupment in the answer and by declaration in set off, it sought to reduce its liability for the balance of the contract price by the amount of its loss.