Barnard-Curtiss Co. v. United States

257 F.2d 565
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedJuly 1, 1958
DocketNo. 5741
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 257 F.2d 565 (Barnard-Curtiss Co. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Barnard-Curtiss Co. v. United States, 257 F.2d 565 (10th Cir. 1958).

Opinion

BREITENSTEIN, Circuit Judge.

This action under the Miller Act1 is here for the second time. In the first appeal 2 a judgment in favor of D. W. Falls Construction Company and Ace Construction Company3 was reversed and the case remanded to the trial court for additional findings of fact. After adopting certain additional findings of fact the trial court again entered judgment for Falls and Ace and dismissed a counterclaim asserted by Barnard-Curtiss Company4 against Falls. Barnard and its surety appeal from that adverse judgment and contend that the additional findings are without support in the record.

On November 27, 1953, Barnard entered into a contract with the United States to do certain construction and repair work on a federal Bureau of Reclamation irrigation system in New Mexico [567]*567known as the Vermejo Project. The contract completion date was June 15, 1955. By agreement, dated January 28, 1954, Barnard subcontracted to Falls certain work on all the major structures of the project.5 This subcontract required completion on December 31, 1954.

On June 7, 1954, Falls entered into two subcontracts with Ace covering a portion but not all of the work subcontracted by Barnard to Falls.6 The Ace subcontracts called for completion on December 12, 1954.

Without going into the maze of arrangements which are difficult to ascertain from a thoroughly unsatisfactory record, it appears that Barnard subcontracted to Falls the general excavation, the concrete work, and the backfilling. Barnard retained for itself two general types of work. The first of these concerned only the Willow Creek Wasteway structure and pertained to the excavation for pipe, the laying of pipe, and the backfilling about pipe. This work had to be done before Falls could do the work which it was required to do in connection with the Willow Creek Wasteway. The second related to the installation on various structures of certain riprap and gravel bedding for riprap. This could be done only after Falls had completed its subcontract. For the performance of this retained work Barnard entered into subcontracts with C. E. Caldwell and with Charles Denton.

Ace and Falls both failed to complete within the time required by their subcontracts. Work was continuing when, on May 17-18, 1955, an unprecedented storm caused a flood which severely damaged the project structures. Barnard requested an extension of time on its contract completion date and it was extended to August 31, 1955.7 Work on the project was completed on October 22, 1955. This was also the date of the corn-pletion of the work under the Falls subcontract.

Falls sued and recovered judgment for $17,053.76 which represented the balance due on its subcontract plus an item of $1,905.54 for rehabilitation work done by Falls on the Curtis Creek Wasteway structure after the flood. As to this item the court found that there Was an agreement between Barnard and Falls whereby Barnard was to pay Falls for this work. The judgment for Falls is sustained by the record.

The claim of Ace was for work done after the flood on the Eagle Tail Headworks and the Willow Creek Waste-way which Ace asserted was within the provisions of its contract relating to “Changed Condition.” Ace sued for $12,455.27.8 The trial court held that there was “an implied or constructive contract” obligating Barnard to pay Ace the reasonable value of its services and materials furnished for such work and, after properly eliminating two overhead items which totalled $4,000, gave judgment for Ace in the sum of $8,455.27. While the record as to the arrangements between Barnard and Ace for this work is unsatisfactory and confused, the finding of the trial court in regard thereto is not questioned on this appeal. Under the circumstances the judgment for Ace may not be set aside.

The counterclaim of Barnard against Falls remains to be considered. The basis for this is that Barnard was al[568]*568legedly subjected to additional expense because of the failure of Falls to complete its subcontract on the agreed date, December 31, 1954. The counterclaim is in the sum of $15,680.92. This is made up of two major items, $14,285.17 shown due from Falls by Barnard’s Exhibit 12 and $1,395.75 which was added thereto without objection at the start of the trial. As to the $1,395.75 item the record is completely devoid of any showing as to what it represents other than the statement of Barnard’s attorney that it “was overlooked on our books.”

Exhibit 12, and the sketchy explanations thereof, disclosed that Barnard asserted a claim for additional costs in connection with the Willow Creek Waste-way, the Eagle Tail Canal and the Curtis Creek Wasteway. The total amount shown due is $29,662.59. Unexplained credits are allowed to bring the amount down to $14,285.17. As the record stands, the items covered by Exhibit 12 may be placed into three general groups, viz.: costs incurred on account of the flood, costs incurred after December 31, 1954, but not on account of the flood,9 and expenses on account of the provision of the prime contract for liquidated damages due to failure to complete on time.

In defense of the counterclaim, Falls asserts that it is not liable for additional expense caused by the flood and is not liable for any additional expense so far as the Willow Creek Wasteway is concerned because the delay there was that of Barnard.

The only basis for the counterclaim is the failure of Falls to complete on time. This failure did not ipso facto terminate the contract but subjected Falls to damages for the delay.10

The May 17-18 flood was an unprecedented and extraordinary occurrence of unusual proportions and could not reasonably have been foreseen by the parties. The trial court properly found that it was an “Act of God.” No recovery may be had from the consequences of the action of natural causes in connection with a breach of contract unless such consequences can be said to have been within the contemplation of the parties at the time of the making of the contract as a probable result of the breach.11 The damages arising from the flood did not arise in the usual course of things from the failure to complete on time and were not in the contemplation of the parties at the time they made their contract. As they were not foreseeable consequences of the breach, no recovery can be had on account of damages caused by the flood.12 There was no provision in either the prime or subcontracts relating to the consequences of an occurrence such as the flood. Accordingly, Barnard cannot recover in its counterclaim for any additional expense to which it was put because of the flood.13

The findings of the trial court in regard to the Barnard counterclaim are not entirely clear but it appears that the court considered the counterclaim to [569]*569be based entirely on additional expense caused by the flood. If such be the intended effect of the findings, they are clearly erroneous in this regard. Barnard’s Exhibit 12 shows on its face that a number of the claimed items of additional expense were incurred before the flood and after the December 31, 1954, completion date of the Barnard-Falls subcontract.

After the remand the court found:

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Barnard-Curtiss Company v. United States
257 F.2d 565 (Tenth Circuit, 1958)

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Bluebook (online)
257 F.2d 565, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barnard-curtiss-co-v-united-states-ca10-1958.