C. Simcoe

The plaintiff architect brought a construction lien action for unpaid fees against the defendant developer of a high-rise condominium.

The developer counterclaimed for delay and impact damages, alleging the architect failed to coordinate consultant drawings and made design errors.

The court found the architect's coordination duty was limited to cooperating with other consultants, not managing them.

The architect met the professional standard of care and validly suspended services for non-payment.

The court awarded the architect $55,906.54 for agreed base services but dismissed claims for unapproved extras.

The developer's counterclaim was dismissed entirely.

Following dismissal of summary judgment motions brought by certain defendants, the court addressed costs.

Although the plaintiff and a defendant successfully opposed the motions, the court found the issues were close calls and that it had not been unreasonable for the moving defendants to bring the motions.

Substantial or elevated indemnity costs were rejected as no reprehensible misconduct was established.

Applying the reasonableness factors under Rule 57.01(1) of the Rules of Civil Procedure, the court fixed partial indemnity costs for both successful parties and ordered that those costs be payable in the cause.

The moving defendants, including a receiver manager and a bank, brought a motion for summary judgment to dismiss the plaintiff condominium corporation's claims for construction deficiencies, breach of warranty, oppression, and conspiracy, as well as various cross-claims.

Applying the 'full appreciation' test from Combined Air, the court found that the voluminous and conflicting evidentiary record precluded making dispositive findings on a summary judgment motion.

The motion was dismissed with respect to the plaintiff and the cross-claiming architect, and the action was directed to proceed to trial.