The City of Savannah appeals the judgment entered in this action arising from the construction of an underground parking garage. The dispute arose out of the discovery of “materially different site conditions,” as defined under the parties’ contract. Raito, Inc., a subcontractor on the project, filed the action against Batson-Cook Company, the firm the city hired to design and build the garage. Batson-Cook then filed a third-party complaint against the city. The city argues that the trial court erred in denying its motion to recuse the trial court judge, contending that, at a minimum, he should have assigned the motion to another judge for resolution. But the city’s factual assertions are legally insufficient to warrant recusal. The city argues that the trial court erred in its ordering of the trial, but the trial court did not abuse his broad discretion in this regard. The city argues that it was entitled to a directed verdict on Batson-Cook’s claim for final payment because Batson-Cook did not fulfill the contract conditions for final payment, but at least some of the conditions with which Batson-Cook did not comply depended on resolution of the issues of this lawsuit. The city argues that the trial court should have granted its motion for directed verdict because Batson-Cook did not give it notice of the alleged materially differing site conditions within the contractual deadline, but there was evidence that the city received timely notice. The city argues that the trial court should have granted its motion for directed verdict on Batson-Cook’s bad faith claim. But there was evidence that the city arbitrarily denied Batson-Cook’s claim for an adjustment in price despite knowing that conditions were very different from what the parties had believed when they entered the contract. The city argues that the trial court erred by charging the jury on quantum meruit and promissory estoppel. We disagree because, contrary to the city’s assertion, not all of the claims for payment arose from the parties’ contractual relationship. The city argues that Raito’s action was barred by its failure to comply with the Nonresident Contractors Act. But Raito’s late registration constituted substantial compliance with the Act. Finding that no enumeration requires the reversal of the judgment, we affirm.
The city hired Batson-Cook Company to design and build an underground parking garage at Ellis Square. The September 1, 2005 contract included a guaranteed maximum price of $29,592,416 and a completion date of August 28, 2007. The contract also included a “materially differing site conditions” clause, which provided that should Batson-Cook encounter site conditions that differed materially from the conditions indicated in the contract documents or from conditions ordinarily found to exist, the price of the contract would be adjusted. The contract required the party observing the materially different condition to notify the other party within 21 days.
