Rice v. United States

95 Ct. Cl. 84, 1941 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 16, 1941 WL 4551
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedDecember 1, 1941
DocketNo. 43269
StatusPublished

This text of 95 Ct. Cl. 84 (Rice v. 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
Rice v. United States, 95 Ct. Cl. 84, 1941 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 16, 1941 WL 4551 (cc 1941).

Opinions

Littleton, Judge,-

delivered the opinion of the court:

The D. C. Engineering Co., Inc., herein referred to as plaintiff, seeks to recover $26,044.64, representing its total excess cost of performance of work called for by its contract over the amended contract price of $88,378.82.

Plaintiff takes the position, in substance, that the whole of this excess cost resulted from and was attributable to [98]*98an initial delay of 212 days and a subsequent additional delay of 48 days in defendant’s general construction operations ; that the 126 days’ delay of the initial delay of 212 days was the result of failure of the defendant to have the general construction work ready for plaintiff’s work within a reasonable time after receipt by plaintiff of notice to proceed, and that the 48 days’ delay at the end of the contract, beyond the original fixed period of 250 days as extended to August 14, 1938, was likewise due to failure of defendant to have the construction work sufficiently advanced to enable plaintiff to complete its work that much earlier and at less cost. The building constructed by defendant under a separate contract was completed 260 days late. Plaintiff therefore contends that this delay of the defendant made it impossible for plaintiff to proceed properly and satisfactorily so as to complete its work in the period and under the circumstances contemplated by its contract; that the delay was unreasonable in that it required plaintiff to perform its work under unanticipated conditions and circumstances which rendered the work more expensive than it otherwise would have been had it been performed as contemplated by both parties to the contract, and that the defendant is liable for the total extra cost of performance.

Plaintiff relies chiefly upon the opinion of this court in M. H. McCloskey, Jr., Inc. to the Use of U. S. Fidelity and Guaranty Co. v. United States, 66 C. Cls. 105, but the principle there applied upon the facts disclosed by the record is not altogether applicable here. In that case the facts showed that the Government simply failed to fulfill within a reasonable time its contract obligation to prepare and furnish the McCloskey Company the site upon which it was to perform the work called for by its contract. We do not find that case to be authority for allowance of the full amount of the loss claimed in this case. The amount, if any, recoverable in each case depends upon proof as to the nature and extent of and responsibility for the delay or conditions giving rise to excess performance costs, and the amount of such costs as are attributable to such delay or conditions under which it became necessary for the work to be performed.

[99]*99•Under the facts disclosed by the record in this case, the provisions of plaintiff’s contract, the representations of the contracting officer as to the period during which the general construction work would be performed, and the statements and representations in the specifications and drawings relating to all work upon the entire project, upon all of which plaintiff had a right to rely and did rely in making its bid, we are of opinion that plaintiff is entitled to recover $9,349.95 of the total excess cost of $26,044.64 incurred. United States v. Smith, 94 U. S. 214, 217; Mueller v. United States, 113 U. S. 153, 156; Dermott v. Jones, 23 How. 220, 231, 233; O'Brien v. Miller, 168 U. S. 287, 297; Green County, Ky. v. Quinlan, 211 U. S. 582, 594; American Surety Co. v. Pauly (No. 1), 170 U. S. 133, 144; United States v. Spearin, 248 U. S. 132; Wood v. Fort Wayne, 119 U. S. 312, 321, 322; H. E. Crook Co., Inc., v. United States (B-195), 59 C. Cls. 593.

Time was an essence of plaintiff’s contract with the defendant and nowhere in plaintiff’s contract or specifications or in defendant’s contract and specifications for construction of the building in which plaintiff was to perform its work was the defendant relieved of responsibility for or liability to plaintiff for excess costs by reason of delay for which plaintiff was in no way responsible. Par. 1 of plaintiff’s specifications 1H-1 specifically directed plaintiff’s attention to the specifications and bid form for construction of the building in which the mechanical equipment was to be installed. While it is true that in the invitation for bids and the specifications for plumbing, heating, and electrical work it was stated by defendant that this work would be required to be commenced promptly after date of receipt of notice to proceed and be completed at a date not later than that fixed by the defendant in the contract which was to be made for construction of the hospital building, the representations made were definite enough to fix the rights and liabilities of plaintiff and defendant in the event of a material deviation or change in the represented conditions or the period of performance giving rise to an increase or decrease in cost of performance. The period in which construction of the building would be commenced and completed was definitely [100]*100fixed by the defendant on April 21, 1932, and plaintiff’s contract making that period of 250 days the period within which the plumbing, heating, and electrical work should be completed was executed April 29, 1932. On May 12, 1932, the defendant gave plaintiff written notice to proceed stating that it would be required to complete the work called for by its contract at a date not later than 250 calendar days after May 9, 1932, or by January 14, 1933. Before making its bid for furnishing and installing the plumbing, heating, and electrical equipment in the building to be constructed by defendant, plaintiff was advised by the contracting officer for the defendant, who had charge of all work connected with the entire project, that the work of constructing the building in which this equipment was to be installed would commence in the early spring of 1932 as soon as weather conditions permitted so that the building would be under roof and enclosed before cold weather set in during the following months. Nowhere in the invitation for bids, the specifications, or the standard form of contract, upon all of which, together with the representation of the defendant’s authorized contracting officer, the plaintiff made its bid, is there to be found any provision, express or implied, that the Government was not to be responsible for or liable to plaintiff for excess cost or damage resulting from and attributable to delay in the work to be performed by defendant of constructing the building. For this reason the cases of Wood et al v. United States, 258 U. S. 120; H. E. Crook Co., Inc. v. United States, 270 U. S. 4; G & H Heating Co. v. United States, 63 C. Cls. 164; Gertner v. United States, 76 C. Cls.

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Related

Dermott v. Jones
64 U.S. 220 (Supreme Court, 1860)
United States v. Thomas
82 U.S. 337 (Supreme Court, 1873)
United States v. Smith
94 U.S. 214 (Supreme Court, 1877)
United States v. Mueller
113 U.S. 153 (Supreme Court, 1885)
Wood v. Fort Wayne
119 U.S. 312 (Supreme Court, 1886)
O'BRIEN v. Miller
168 U.S. 287 (Supreme Court, 1897)
American Surety Company v. Pauly
170 U.S. 133 (Supreme Court, 1898)
Globe Refining Co. v. Landa Cotton Oil Co.
190 U.S. 540 (Supreme Court, 1903)
Green County v. Quinlan
211 U.S. 582 (Supreme Court, 1909)
Carnegie Steel Co. v. United States
240 U.S. 156 (Supreme Court, 1916)
Day v. United States
245 U.S. 159 (Supreme Court, 1917)
United States v. Spearin
248 U.S. 132 (Supreme Court, 1918)
Wood v. United States
258 U.S. 120 (Supreme Court, 1922)
H. E. Crook Co. v. United States
270 U.S. 4 (Supreme Court, 1926)
Cotton v. United States
38 Ct. Cl. 536 (Court of Claims, 1903)
Hyde v. United States
38 Ct. Cl. 649 (Court of Claims, 1903)
Maryland Dredging Co. v. United States
47 Ct. Cl. 557 (Court of Claims, 1912)
Miller v. United States
49 Ct. Cl. 276 (Court of Claims, 1914)
Carnegie Steel Co. v. United States
49 Ct. Cl. 403 (Court of Claims, 1914)
H. E. Crook Co. v. United States
59 Ct. Cl. 593 (Court of Claims, 1924)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
95 Ct. Cl. 84, 1941 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 16, 1941 WL 4551, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rice-v-united-states-cc-1941.