Robinson Contracting Co. v. United States

35 Cont. Cas. Fed. 75,654, 16 Cl. Ct. 676, 1989 U.S. Claims LEXIS 60, 1989 WL 39526
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedApril 25, 1989
DocketNo. 99-86C
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 35 Cont. Cas. Fed. 75,654 (Robinson Contracting Co. 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
Robinson Contracting Co. v. United States, 35 Cont. Cas. Fed. 75,654, 16 Cl. Ct. 676, 1989 U.S. Claims LEXIS 60, 1989 WL 39526 (cc 1989).

Opinion

OPINION

RADER, Judge:

Plaintiff, Robinson Contracting Company, Inc. (RCC), entered into a contract with the Corps of Engineers (Corps) for construction of revetments on a small island in Mobile Harbor, Alabama. Once underway, plaintiff encountered difficulties and fell behind schedule. Therefore, the parties negotiated over a remedy for the delays. These negotiations culminated with a written agreement to drop the remaining work from the contract.

After receiving the final payment under the agreement, plaintiff claimed that the contract should have been terminated for the convenience of the Government. Plaintiff instituted a claim in the United States Claims Court on February 18, 1986. This court received this case by assignment on October 17, 1988 and heard argument on the pending motions on December 9, 1988.

This court must resolve plaintiff’s motion for partial summary judgment and defendant’s cross-motion for summary judgment. On the basis of briefing and oral argument, defendant has proven a valid accord and satisfaction. Therefore, this court grants the motion of the United States and denies plaintiff’s motion.

Facts

In 1982, plaintiff entered into a construction contract with the Corps for test revetments on Theodore Disposal Island in Mobile Harbor, Alabama. The contract required RCC to construct seven test revetments along the “high energy” southeast curve of the island. The project proposed to ascertain the best material for permanent barriers against tide and weather erosion. Thus, each embankment tested a different combination of bedding materials— stone, shells, filter cloths, and rip rap — for suitability as a breakwater.

This revetment project was necessary to preserve the tiny island. The Corps had created the island by depositing its dredging residue in a single location. Erosion threatened to wash the island back into the sea. The Corps sought timely action on the contract to save the island as a protection for the channel into Mobile Bay. The contract, with a fixed price of $274,661.00, required completion within seventy-five [678]*678days after issuance of the notice to proceed. By these terms, the plaintiff would have finished the project on January 1, 1983.

After undertaking work on the island, plaintiff encountered soft ground, inclement weather, and shoreline erosion. The revetment construction lagged far behind schedule. On at least three occasions before the completion date, the Corps’ contract administrator visited the work site to discuss delays.

On January 3, 1983, the Corps held a conference with the contractor to discuss the delays and other alleged deficiencies in performance. This meeting triggered an exchange of letters. On January 6, 1983, Mr. Robinson, President of RCC, explained that plaintiff had suffered a “tremendous amount of work loss due to adverse weather and to unfortunate causes beyond our control____” In a January 28 letter, the Corps notified plaintiff of performance deficiencies: “[W]ork in this area is not acceptable as constructed.” On February 3, plaintiff requested a conference “to discuss perhaps invoking the provisions of paragraph 18 of the general provisions of the contract — ” Paragraph 18 of the contract permits the Government to terminate the contract for its own convenience. The Corps’ February 9 response stated that the Government preferred to “have the construction, as per the contract specifications ... completed.”

The contracting officer, Lt. Col. Ronald Krizman, sent a further letter on March 8 requesting plaintiff to furnish “in writing your comprehensive and detailed plans for accomplishment of the remainder of your contract.” This letter also advised plaintiff that the Corps was “considering issuing ... an interim unsatisfactory ... evaluation report.” Plaintiff’s surety company received a copy of this letter.

These exchanges led to a meeting on March 29, 1983. The contracting officer, Lt. Col. Krizman, and the contract administrator, Mr. Paul Warren, attended for the Corps. Mr. Robinson and Mr. Michael Knight, RCC’s attorney, attended for plaintiff. During that meeting, the parties openly discussed several options, including termination for convenience of the Government, termination for default of the contractor, deletion of the remainder of the contract, and plans to complete the contract.

At the close of that meeting, the Corps requested plaintiff to submit by April 8 a plan for completion of the contract. In response to that request, the plaintiff submitted on April 7 a proposal for completion of the work. In conjunction with that proposal, plaintiff notified the Corps that it had incurred costs of about $229,316.26 to complete 35% of the contract work. The cover letter for the April 7 document included the following language:

I certify to you that this claim and these suggestions are made in good faith____ I also certify that the amounts requested for payment and for the suggested extra work required accurately reflect the contract adjustment for which I believe the Government is liable or for which the Government should be responsible to properly complete the project.

No significant progress on the contract work occurred after the March 29 meeting. Accordingly, on or about April 21,1983, the Corps met with plaintiff and proposed deleting the remaining work from the contract. Plaintiff indicated interest in such a proposal.

On April 29, Mr. Robinson, his attorney (Mr. Knight), and several representatives of the Corps met to discuss the proposal. The Corps suggested modifying the contract to delete the balance of the work. Under this plan, the Corps would compensate plaintiff for the reasonable and legitimate costs of shutting down the job. Plaintiff agreed verbally to the contract modification plan and reiterated his desire to get out from under the contract.1 Upon hearing Mr. Robinson’s assent to the proposal, Mr. Knight “indicated that he did not believe that his services were needed any [679]*679longer and excused himself”2 from the meeting. The parties agreed to meet again to determine the costs of closing the project.

On May 2, 1983, the parties met to negotiate the terms of the change order. The parties reviewed plaintiff’s close-down cost proposal. Due to some minor disputes, the parties agreed to meet again to negotiate the final costs.

The parties reconvened for a final meeting on May 10, 1983. At that time, plaintiff and the Corps executed a “Memorandum to File” which stated:

It is certified below that Mr. Paul J. Warren, Authorized Representative of the Contracting Officer and Mr, C.E. Robinson, Jr., Contractor: Robinson Contracting Co., Inc. have negotiated a change order agreement reducing the scope of the original contract. Final total earnings to the contractor under the change order will be $157,681.68.

On several successive pages, the Memorandum itemized the close-down costs which the Corps agreed to pay to plaintiff. At this time, plaintiff had completed about 600 of the 1750 feet of shoreline, nearly 35% of the contract work.

The May 10 agreement Memorandum also included a page with the heading “Findings of Fact In Support of a Change Order.” Lt. Col. Krizman’s signature block appeared at the bottom of the page. These findings declare that:

This change ...

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Sigma Construction, Inc. v. United States
113 Fed. Cl. 13 (Federal Claims, 2013)
Sperient Corporation, Inc. v. United States
113 Fed. Cl. 13 (Federal Claims, 2013)
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. v. United States
105 Fed. Cl. 657 (Federal Claims, 2012)
National Steel & Shipbuilding Co. v. United States
49 Fed. Cl. 579 (Federal Claims, 2001)
Green Management Corp. v. United States
42 Cont. Cas. Fed. 77,412 (Federal Claims, 1998)
Thomas Creek Lumber & Log Co. v. United States
41 Cont. Cas. Fed. 76,971 (Federal Claims, 1996)
Seville Construction, Inc. v. United States
40 Cont. Cas. Fed. 76,909 (Federal Claims, 1996)
Orbas & Associates v. United States
40 Cont. Cas. Fed. 76,831 (Federal Claims, 1995)
United International Investigative Services v. United States
40 Cont. Cas. Fed. 76,767 (Federal Claims, 1995)
McLain Plumbing & Electrical Service, Inc. v. United States
39 Cont. Cas. Fed. 76,593 (Federal Claims, 1993)
Atlas Corp. v. United States
895 F.2d 745 (Federal Circuit, 1990)
Robinson Contracting Company, Inc. v. The United States
895 F.2d 1420 (Federal Circuit, 1990)
Spirit Leveling Contractors v. United States
36 Cont. Cas. Fed. 75,770 (Court of Claims, 1989)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
35 Cont. Cas. Fed. 75,654, 16 Cl. Ct. 676, 1989 U.S. Claims LEXIS 60, 1989 WL 39526, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robinson-contracting-co-v-united-states-cc-1989.