GSM Industrial, Inc. v. Grinnell Fire Protection Systems Co.

OPINION

Justice FLAHERTY,

for the Court.

This case requires us to don our miner’s helmets and once again descend into the subterranean labyrinth that is the Rhode Island mechanic’s-lien statute. The statute attempts to strike a delicate balance between the rights of contractors, craftsmen, artisans, and furnishers of materials on the one hand and often innocent landowners on the other when a general contractor, hired by the landowner, fails to pay its subcontractors. These circumstances result in a lien created in favor of the subcontractor that is imposed on the landowner’s property without a…