Brinkman Construction, AMI file dueling lawsuits seeking damages

FORT COLLINS and THORNTON — A Fort Collins general contractor and a Thornton-based mechanical contractor have filed suit against each other in separate district courts over failure to perform under contracts or failure to make payments for services rendered on two different projects in the metropolitan area.

Both lawsuits were filed on April 27.

In one, Brinkman Construction Inc. alleges that AMI Mechanical Inc. failed to perform on the construction of a medical office building known as St. Anthony North in Westminster. As a result of the nonperformance, Brinkman alleged, the general contractor was forced to step in and complete the work to maintain the timetable for the project. After subtracting what it would have otherwise paid AMI from its costs incurred, Brinkman said that AMI owes $535,305. It asks the court to order payment of that amount, plus court costs and attorney fees.

In the other case, AMI alleges it completed work on a project known as the Grant Street project, located at Grant Street and Eighth Avenue in Denver. AMI said in the lawsuit that Brinkman as the general contractor was paid by the project owner but failed to pay subcontractors as required under the contract. AMI said it is owed $1.5 million. It also alleged that Brinkman violated the state Trust Fund Statute, which the company said required Brinkman to hold money it received from the project owner in trust. Violation of that statute could result in treble damages, the lawsuit said.

Whether the dueling lawsuits are related is uncertain. Calls to both Brinkman and AMI were not returned prior to publication of this report.

The cases are Brinkman Construction Inc. v. AMI Mechanical Inc. filed in Adams County District Court as 2022cv30504, and AMI Mechanical Inc. v. Brinkman Construction Inc. filed ion Denver County District Court as 2022cv31167. 

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