These allegations of Cobb Mechanical Contractor’s problems on this job are not limited to a single court suit. Cobb’s supplier, Mountain States Engineering, also filed a separate suit, seeking the $31,911 that Cobb owed them. Mountain States filed suit not only against Cobb, but also against ADP/Marshall and the hapless project owner, Symbios Logic. Mountain States also filed a lien again the project.

Their complaint stated that they provided over $160,000 in labor and materials to Cobb Mechanical Contractors, but were only paid about $128,000. Mountain States Engineering sought money from all these parties. In other words, ADP/Marshall and Symbios Logic were both dragged into court, because of allegations that Cobb Mechanical Contractors wasn’t paying their debts.

The fact that Cobb Mechanical Contractors may not have paid a $31,911 debt may not seem like a huge issue. But on a construction job, failure to pay a supplier or subcontractor can have dire consequences, because those parties can file a lien against the property of the construction customer. In the case of Symbios Logic, that is exactly what happened.

Liens, like court suits, are an unnecessary evil in the construction industry. Many construction customers know how maddening it is to try and obtain bank financing where there is some claim or lien— no matter how frivolous— against your property. That is why it is important for construction customers to be concerned about whether a contractor is likely to file liens against its customers, rather than negotiate a solution. A lien against your property by a contractor is as effective a claim against your equity as a bank’s mortgage, according to the Engineering News Report.

In this case, not only does it appear that Cobb Mechanical Contractors violated a "no-lien" clause in their contract, but Cobb’s unpaid supplier also filed a lien. And then, not only were Cobb’s general contractor and construction customer facing liens, they were also defending themselves in court, not because of their own errors, but over allegations of Cobb’s wrongdoing.

In light of the kinds of problems that Cobb Mechanical Contractors’s debts can cause for construction customers, the following case takes on troubling implications. In this action, Densand, a plumbing equipment supplier, sued Cobb Mechanical Contractors for failing to pay for materials supplied to seven different construction sites— the Shadow Mountain Correctional Facility in Canyon City, Colorado, the Brighton District, the Super K-Marts in Greeley and Greenwood Village, Colorado, the Dalhart and the Amarillo Prisons in Texas and the Lewis Palmer Middle School job in Monument, Colorado. Cobb claims that, "Densand provided Cobb with 10" expansion joints which were defective and failed." Futhermore, Cobb stated that, "Densand provided Cobb with pump seals for the... project" and that "[t]hese seals also failed."

By failing to pay its supplier, Cobb Mechanical Contractors put all of these projects at risk of liens, stop work orders in the case of a public works job and lawsuits.

Healthone’s predecessor hired Cobb Mechanical Contractors and others to build a new medical center, including a parking structure and snow melt system, at 1601 E. 19th Avenue in Denver. Cobb Mechanical Contractors was specifically charged with construction of the snow melt system.

But within two years after the project was completed, leaks were obvious in the parking structure. There was evidence of drainage through various de-icing and pipe penetrations in the walls and ceiling. Cobb Mechanical Contractors and others came back and made repairs, but they refused to reimburse the construction customer for the damages they had to pay to the parking lot customers for the water damage from the leaks.

And six month later, an Engineering Report of the parking structure concluded that the problems there were abnormal and indicated there were construction defects. Cobb Mechanical Contractors came back and made more repairs. But this time, the repairs "critically damaged the piping of the Snow melt system, resulting in large portions of it being rendered unusable ... [and] result[ing] in leakage of propylene glycol onto passenger walkways and such leakage has resulted in an injury to at least one third party..." according to Healthone’s court suit.

Healthone discovered even more deficiencies, including more problems in the snow melt system. "As a result of the defects in the design, construction and improper repair of the snow melt system, at a minimum, removal of the piping system and its replacement are required," Healthone charged. Healthone also charged there were substantial problems with the design and construction of the parking structure, including inadequate sealing of the pipe penetrations, inadequate and defective joints in the snow melt system and inadequate placement of Snow melt system pipes.

St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Company also filed their own civil suit against Cobb Mechanical Contractors and others, claiming that Cobb was negligent and "failed to use reasonable care in the selection of pipes, joints, seals and other materials related to the de-icing structure [of the snow melt system]... fail[ed] to use reasonable care in the installation and construction of runoff collection devices and systems... [and] fail[ed] to properly detect and repair..." the resulting defects.

St. Paul was suing, in part, because they were stuck with the bill for over $18,000 in claims from twenty-eight owners of vehicles that were damaged by the defective snow melt system. The various cracks in the parking structure had allowed storm water, mixed with concrete leachate and de-icing fluids, to drip onto cars and damage their exterior finish.