Pioneer Steel Erectors, Inc. v. Commonwealth

Pioneer Steel Erectors, Inc. (Pioneer), an unpaid subcontractor on a highway project, petitioned under G. L. c. 258, §§ 1 and 2, to establish a claim against the Commonwealth under G. L. c. 30, § 39F.1 It also petitioned for a writ of mandamus to require the Commissioners of Public Works to pay it out of sums payable to the principal contractor. A demurrer of the Commonwealth was sustained. The petition for mandamus was dismissed after hearing. At issue is the construction of the provision in G. L. c. 30, § 39F, which directs that if within ten days after the sixty-fifth day after a…