# Ago

> Florida Attorney General Reports · May 10, 1995

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/3376790

## Case

- **Full name:** Ms. Pamela K. Akin Clearwater City Attorney
- **Court:** Florida Attorney General Reports
- **Decided:** May 10, 1995
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Opinion of the court
- **Judges:** Robert A. Butterworth Attorney General
- **Cited by:** 0 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/3376790

## Opinion text

Ms. Pamela K. Akin Clearwater City Attorney Post Office Box 4748 Clearwater, Florida 34618-4748
Dear Ms. Akin:
You ask substantially the following question:
Does section 255.05 , Florida Statutes, require a contractor who enters into a contract with the city to install and connect underground natural gas service lines to procure a payment and performance bond when the contract is in excess of $200,000 but the cost of each single service line installation and connection is less than $200,000?
In sum:
Section 255.05 , Florida Statutes, requires a contractor who enters into a contract with the city to install and connect underground natural gas service lines to procure a payment and performance bond when the contract is in excess of $200,000 even though the cost of each service line installation and connection is less than $200,000.
Section 255.05 (1), Florida Statutes, provides in pertinent part:
Any person entering into a formal contract with . . . [a] city . . . for the prosecution and completion of a public work, or for repairs upon a . . . public work shall be required, before commencing the work, to execute, deliver to the public owner, and record in the public records where the improvement is located, a payment and performance bond with a surety insurer authorized to do business in this state as surety. . . . At the discretion of the official or board awarding such contract when such work is done for any county, city, political subdivision, or public authority, any person entering into such a contract which is for $200,000 or less may be exempted from executing the payment and performance bond. . . .
You state that the contract estimates the type and extent of the work anticipated over the course of the year and places a value on the work as a whole. After each installation, the contractor bills the city for its services. You ask whether each installation may be considered a separate contract that is less than $200,000 such that a payment and performance bond would not be required under section 255.05 , Florida Statutes.
Section 255.05 , Florida Statutes, prescribes the bond required of contractors constructing public buildings or public works. The purpose of this section requiring a contractor to obtain a payment and performance bond is to protect subcontractors and suppliers on public construction projects by providing them with an alternative remedy to the mechanics' lien available on private construction projects. 1 The payment bond ensures that subcontractors and materialmen will be paid, while the performance bond guarantees that the contract to perform the public work will be fully performed. 2 As the statute is remedial in nature, it is entitled to liberal construction to effect its intended purpose. 3
The statute requires the contractor to post a payment and performance bond for a contract in excess of $200,000. According to your letter, the city has entered into a single contract with a contractor for an amount in excess of $200,000. The statute would, therefore, appear to require the contractor to post such a payment and performance bond. Nothing in section 255.05 , Florida Statutes, authorizes a contract to be broken down into segments so as to avoid the bond requirements specified therein. Where the Legislature has directed how a thing shall be done, it is, in effect, a prohibition against its being done in any other way. 4
Accordingly, I am of the opinion that section 255.05 , Florida Statutes, requires a contractor who enters into a contract with the city to install and connect underground natural gas service lines to procure a payment and performance bond when the contract is in excess of $200,000 even though the cost of each service line installation and connection is less than $200,000.
Sincerely,
Robert A. Butterworth Attorney General
RAB/tjw
1 See, e.g., Blosam Contractors, Inc. v. Joyce, 451 So.2d 545
(Fla. 2d DCA 1984); Gorman Company of Fort Lauderdale, Inc. v. Frank Maio General Contractor, Inc., 438 So.2d 1018 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983).
2 See, Florida Board of Regents v. Fidelity Deposit Company, 416 So.2d 30 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982); Guin v. Hunt, Inc. v. Hughes Supply, Inc., 335 So.2d 842 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976).
3 See, Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland v. Waldron's, Inc., 608 So.2d 119 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992).
4 Alsop v. Pierce, 19 So.2d 799 , 805-806 (Fla. 1944); Dobbs v. Sea Isle Hotel, 56 So.2d 341 , 342 (Fla. 1952); Thayer v. State, 335 So.2d 815 , 817 (Fla. 1976).

---

Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/3376790. Public record. Not legal advice.