Pat Shortreid o/a Dual Renovations v. P.S. Electric, 2014 SKPC 41

IN THE PROVINCIAL COURT OF SASKATCHEWAN CIVIL DIVISION Citation: 2014 SKPC 041 Date: February 26, 2014 File: 01/13 Location: Creighton , Saskatchewan _____________________________________________________________________________ Between: Pat Shortreid o/a Dual Renovations and P.S. Electric - and - Leo Bellcourt and Sharon Bellcourt Self-Represented For the Plaintiff Self-Represented For the Defendants _____________________________________________________________________________ JUDGMENT R.

LANE , J _____________________________________________________________________________ [ 1 ] The plaintiff, Pat Shortreid, claims against the defendants, Leo Bellcourt and Sharon Bellcourt in the sum of $2,480.78 for what he alleges was payment owing for materials and services supplied by him to the defendants at the defendants’ request for which the defendants promised to pay.

The initial claim was for $1,845.90; however, the plaintiff had overlooked including separate invoices that he alleged the defendants owed him for and he applied to amend his claim at trial and that amount was allowed so that the claim was now for $2,480.78.

[ 2 ] Mr. Shortreid operates a business under the trade name of Dual Renovations and P.S. Electric. He testified that he has a red seal, which I understood to mean that he is a journeyman in electrical, plumbing, gas installation, and mechanical. At trial the Court accepted that Mr. Shortreid was an expert in these areas and as such, could provide opinion evidence on matters relating to making this boiler system operational. I should note that the defendant Sharon Bellcourt did not appear at the trial and concluded that Leo Bellcourt was appearing as her agent. [ 3 ] Mr.

Shortreid testified that in August 2011, Mr. Bellcourt contacted him to see if he, Mr. Shortreid would install and make operational a boiler system used as part of a heating system at Denare Beach, Saskatchewan. Mr. Shortreid advised Mr. Bellcourt that he was too busy and that Mr. Bellcourt should try to hire someone else, and proceeded to provide Mr. Bellcourt with the names of two other contractors. Mr. Bellcourt said he would prefer to wait until Mr. Shortreid was available to do the work. [ 4 ] In November of 2011, Mr.

Shortreid attended the job site at Denare Beach, Saskatchewan and dropped off materials and Mr. Bellcourt confirmed that he would do his own trenching of lines from the boiler to the building and would physically get the boiler ready for operation and the application of the expertise that Mr. Shortreid possessed. [ 5 ] The boiler that Mr. Bellcourt had purchased was a used boiler. This is noteworthy because as will be seen later in the judgment, I have concluded that this used boiler was defective and ultimately contributed to its own failure. [ 6 ] Mr.

Shortreid and his helper attended the job site on November 29, 2011, and noted that the used boiler had not been flushed, and as a result, had rust build up within it. Mr. Shortreid testified that the boiler was in poor condition. He prepared a blend of a chemical known as CLR together with antifreeze and poured that into the boiler, and instructed Mr. Bellcourt to run the boiler with that mixture in it for a few days, after which Mr. Shortreid would return to the job site to drain the flush.

I understand CLR stands for calcium, lime and rust and it is a chemical that is designed to remove those materials from fluid systems which can also be used domestically for cleaning calcium, lime and rust off sinks, bathroom fixtures, etc. [ 7 ] Mr. Shortreid said that the reason for the flush was to eliminate the rust from the system which, if not removed, would have great potential to clog the system, ruin the pump, and contaminate hundreds of dollars worth of glycol which is the fluid that ultimately would be placed in the system and would travel through the boiler lines, etc. to heat the building.

Common sense tells me that what Mr. Shortreid describes as the reason for the flush is accurate. Free floating rust at a minimum, has the potential to clog lines, preventing the free flow of liquid which in this case would be glycol. [ 8 ] It should be noted that Mr. Shortreid testified that the type of plastic pipe that he was using on this system is called Pex and that while water boils at 100 degrees Celsius, Pex will not fail until the temperature of the system/fluid exceeds 150 degrees Celsius. On December 5, Mr. Shortreid returned to the job site and was advised by Mr.

Bellcourt that he had drained the blend of CLR and antifreeze the day after Mr. Shortreid had put the blend in the boiler. Mr. Shortreid said that he had told Mr. Bellcourt to keep flushing the system with the blend and that he, Mr. Shortreid would come and drain it in order to ascertain what type of material had come out of the boiler in the flush. He testified he could not tell if the boiler had been flushed clean. Mr. Shortreid testified that if the system was not flushed clean, the rust and other materials would ultimately damage the pump and the heat exchanger. Mr. Shortreid testified he advised Mr.

Bellcourt that they should flush it again using a blend of RV antifreeze and Muriatic Acid. Mr. Shortreid was confident that the pump, which is usually set up in a heated facility, could be set up outdoors next to the boiler if they were using antifreeze. It appears that Mr. Bellcourt did not want to use straight antifreeze, but chose to blend the antifreeze with water. [ 9 ] Mr. Shortreid testified that he had travelled to Saskatoon with a sick animal, in order to see a veterinarian and while he was there, he purchased more parts for Mr. Bellcourt. He spoke with Mr.

Bellcourt by phone who said the job was on hold. Mr. Shortreid testified he saw Mr. Bellcourt some time later in Flin Flon at Canadian Tire and Mr. Bellcourt said the job is back on. Mr. Shortreid never heard again from Mr. Bellcourt and finally in September of 2012, submitted the invoice which in these proceedings is Exhibit P-1. Mr. Shortreid testified that the first complaint he had from Mr. Bellcourt about the quality of the work was after Exhibit P-1 was submitted to him in September of 2012. [ 10 ] Ultimately Mr.

Shortreid held the view that had the boiler been new, no flushing would have been necessary and no leaks would have occurred. Further, his view was that if Mr. Bellcourt had used straight RV antifreeze for the second flush, and had not watered it down, nothing would have frozen and Mr. Bellcourt would not have had to light a fire to prevent damage by freezing.

[ 11 ] Mr. Bellcourt testified that the boiler didn’t leak until Mr. Shortreid put a blend of CLR and antifreeze into it and by inference, blamed the CLR flush for the leaking boiler. Mr. Bellcourt acknowledged that he had no formal training in setting up or operating a boiler system. [ 12 ] Mr. Bellcourt further testified that due to the boiler leak, the Pex, which is the plastic line referred to, overheated, melted and the pump literally fell off the boiler. In support of this, Mr. Bellcourt filed as an exhibit a photograph of the melted 90 degree angle Pex. Ultimately, Mr.

Bellcourt purchased a different boiler because, he testified that new parts for the existing boiler would cost more than a different boiler. [ 13 ] I accept the evidence of Mr. Shortreid. Unfortunately, Mr. Bellcourt had no expert testimony that could even challenge the opinion evidence of Mr. Shortreid much less refute it. [ 14 ] In the absence of such evidence, I accept Mr. Shortreid’s evidence that a new boiler would not have needed flushing, nor would it fail. I further accept Mr. Shortreid’s evidence on how important it was to flush the used boiler that Mr.

Bellcourt presented with a mixture of CLR and antifreeze, as well as his evidence that he had advised Mr.

Bellcourt to use straight antifreeze and muriatic acid when flushing the system the second time, and to not mix the antifreeze with water. [ 15 ] It is not possible to say with certainty how the system overheated, but I think a reasonable inference can be drawn that with metal fatigue on a used boiler, the flushing which I find was necessary to protect other components in the system from rust damage, caused the fluid to leak, resulting in an overheating of the system, and the failure of the plastic pipe known as Pex. I find that Mr.

Shortreid bears no blame or fault in this unfortunate situation. [ 16 ] As such I grant judgment in favour of Mr. Shortreid against both defendants Leo Bellcourt and Sharon Bellcourt in the amount claimed, as amended, which is $2,480.78. I also allow the cost of issuing the summons for $20.00 plus pre-judgment interest from September 6, 2012 to the date of judgment. R. Lane, J