Advin Electric, Inc. v. Reliance Surety Co.

WILNER, Chief Judge.

Advin Electric, Inc., a subcontractor on a building project, filed suit in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County against Reliance Surety Company, the surety on a payment bond posted by the general contractor, seeking money owing under its subcontract.

Reliance moved to dismiss the action on the ground that the job, and thus the claim, was subject to the Miller Act, 40 U.S.C. §§ 270a et seq. (1994), because the building project was a “public work of the United States.” Enforcement actions under the Miller Act, it urged, were within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal…