Hol-Gar Manufacturing Corporation v. The United States

360 F.2d 634, 175 Ct. Cl. 518, 1966 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 223
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedMay 13, 1966
Docket203-64
StatusPublished
Cited by62 cases

This text of 360 F.2d 634 (Hol-Gar Manufacturing Corporation v. The United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hol-Gar Manufacturing Corporation v. The United States, 360 F.2d 634, 175 Ct. Cl. 518, 1966 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 223 (cc 1966).

Opinions

WHITAKER, Senior Judge.

This case is before the court on defendant’s motion and plaintiff’s cross-motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff seeks reimbursement for additional costs incurred in trying to perform its contract with defendant under specifications which, prior to amendment, it contends were defective, in that the desired performance could not be attained by following them. After the Contracting Officer had denied its claim, plaintiff took an appeal to the head of the Department, as required by the “Disputes” clause of the contract. The Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, acting for the head of the Department, also denied plaintiff’s claim. For reasons hereinafter set out, we hold that the Board was in error and that the plaintiff is entitled to recover for costs which it incurred in trying to perform under defective specifications.

On December 13, 1956, the Air Materiel Command of the Department of the Air Force issued a Request for Proposals for the manufacture and delivery of 107 electric generator sets, in accordance with Exhibit RADC-2491, which was an elaborate set of specifications drafted by the Air Force Air Research and Development Command. The specifications provided specific size and weight limitations for the generator unit and set out various environmental conditions under which the unit was to be operable. It also provided that the unit be capable of operating 23 hours a day [636]*636for six months (4,000 hours), with only normal maintenance.

With regard to the diesel engine, which is of particular concern in this case, RADC-2491 called for an air-cooled,. multi-cylinder, full stroke type which “shall have demonstrated, through prior test by independent or government laboratory, sufficient durability of the basic engine to meet the requirements of this specification.” It then went on to provide for the amount of cubic inch displacement; the direction of rotation and operating speed of the engine; the type of fuel to be used; the components of the fuel system, including the type of fuel tank, fuel transfer pump, fuel replenishment system and fuel piping; the type of air induction, exhaust and cooling systems; the type of lubrication system, including the kind of oil filters and lubricating oils to be used; the type of pistons, valves, crankshaft, main bearings, camshaft, flywheel, cylinder block, cylinder head, crankcase and connecting rods; the components of the starting system, including the type of cranking motor, battery charging system and storage battery assembly; and the type of engine speed governing system.

The Technical Proposal, among other things, was to give detailed analysis of the proposed method or methods of compliance with each portion of the governing specifications; to outline basic difficulties or problems, if any, in meeting the specifications; and to provide a complete and detailed statement clearly defining the bidder’s recommended solution of any problems outlined.

On January 31, 1957, after a bidders’ conference at which contractual details were discussed and technical details of the specifications were reviewed, plaintiff submitted its Technical Proposal. In accordance with the Request for Proposals, this Technical Proposal set forth the components and materials which plaintiff proposed to use and the methods it proposed to employ in complying with the specifications. With regard to the diesel engine, plaintiff submitted that the general requirements of the specifications limited consideration to three models of engines — the American MARC Hallet AC2, the Onan DPR, and the International Fermont FA98. It then explained why it thought the latter two models would not meet, in several important details, the more specific requirements of the specifications.1 It then outlined the American MARC Hal-let AC2 engine (hereinafter MARC) which, with only slight modification, it thought would meet the design requirements and would probably also meet the performance requirements of the specifications, since it had successfully passed tests by the Marine Corps. Plaintiff accordingly proposed the use of a slightly modified MARC engine, as one of the components of the generator set.

On the basis of this Technical Proposal, plaintiff and defendant on March 25, 1957, entered into a negotiated fixed-price supply type contract for the manufacture and delivery of the 107 generator sets for a total contract price of $467,-717.60.

The first item in the contract schedule called for the delivery of design data within 70 days after receipt of the contract, showing specifically and in detail how plaintiff meant to comply with the specifications, Exhibit RADC-2491, supra. The second item in the schedule called for the manufacture of three pre-production samples, designated in the contract as First Articles. One of these was to be delivered within 50 days after approval of the design data, for testing and approval by defendant. The other two were to be subjected to tests by plaintiff to determine whether they complied with the specifications. The results of these latter tests were to be submitted to the defendant within 170 days after approval of the design data. The remainder of the generator sets were to be manufactured and delivered at monthly [637]*637intervals after approval of the test results.

In a provision of the contract entitled “Approval of Design, First Article Testing and Approval,” it was provided:

(f) In the event testing of the First Articles [preproduction samples] * * reveals deficiencies in the First Articles the Contractor shall, without additional cost to the Government, promptly make such corrections in the First Articles to conform to the contract specifications and repeat any testing necessary to demonstrate compliance with the contract specifications.
* if -X- * -X* if
(h) If, as a result of testing of the First Articles, changes in the contract specifications are required, such changes shall be processed in accordance with Clause 2, “Changes” of the Contract General Provisions.

Plaintiff submitted the design data and received approval thereof on September 26, 1957. Thereafter it fabricated and commenced testing the preproduction samples to ascertain if they complied with the specifications. One of the provisions of the specifications required that the generator sets be “capable of operating 23 hours per day for a period of 6 months (4,000 operating hours) with only normal maintenance and without major overhaul.” To ascertain compliance with the requirement, the specifications provided that the preproduction samples were to be tested in an endurance run of 2,000 hours with no more than normal maintenance. The test results were then to be projected to ascertain if the engine could run the required 4,000 hours.

After approximately 37 hours of the endurance run, the engine began to leak oil through the oil filler tube. The test was stopped and an examination made to determine the cause of the failure. Some changes were made and a second endurance test was started. After about 700 hours of operation, it was noted that temperatures of certain components of the engine were exceeding limits set forth in the specifications. This test was then stopped.

Meetings were held between representatives of plaintiff and defendant in an attempt to resolve the difficulties.

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Bluebook (online)
360 F.2d 634, 175 Ct. Cl. 518, 1966 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 223, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hol-gar-manufacturing-corporation-v-the-united-states-cc-1966.