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Fulton County v. Soco Contracting Company, Inc., 2017 Ga. App. LEXIS 568 (Ga. Ct. App., November 15, 2017) 

Fulton County contracted with SOCO Construction Company (“SOCO”) to build a cultural center near the Fulton County Airport.  The contract specified that the contract sum and the contract time could only be changed according to County procedure, which required “a written, bilateral agreement (Modification) between the County … and the contractor.”

Adverse weather conditions, design delays, change order requests, and a federal government shutdown allegedly delayed the project.  Despite the County’s program manager listing more than 30 change orders in the project’s change order evaluation log, the County never issued any written change orders, including any change orders extending the contract time to account for the delays.  The County also withheld payment from SOCO.

SOCO sued the County for breach of contract and bad faith performance of contract, and it sought attorney fees and injunctive relief.Continue Reading Georgia Court of Appeals Holds That Sovereign Immunity Shields County From Contractor’s Claims Based Upon Unwritten Change Orders

RDA Constr. Corp. v. United States, No. 11-555 C, 2017 U.S. Claims LEXIS 875 (Fed. Cl. July 27, 2017)

This case arises out of a public construction project at the Newport Naval Station.  The Naval Facilities Engineering Command (“NAVFAC”) contracted with RDA Construction (“RDA”) for the demolition, removal and reconstruction of a fifty-year-old deteriorating wharf and bulkhead.  The wharf was supported by 248 steel H-pile beams, encased in concrete and driven into the sea floor.  In 2005, NAVFAC commissioned the Appledore Report which found that these structures exhibited advanced deterioration, much of which could only be observed during underwater inspection and could not support any vehicular loads.  A second report, commissioned in 2008, recommended that the structure not be used during its reconstruction.

In May 2009, NAVFAC issued its project solicitation but did not disclose these reports or their findings.  Instead, NAVFAC invited bidders to the site and encouraged them to investigate it carefully.  Hazardous site conditions were marked with sawhorses, barriers and fencing.  After visiting the site, RDA submitted its bid and was identified as the apparent low bidder.  Two days later, NAVFAC notified RDA that its bid was “substantially lower” than NAVFAC’s estimate and requested that it review and confirm its bid and the scope of work.  RDA assured NAVFAC that it had made no mistakes and would honor its bid.  RDA then provided its technical and management plans to NAVFAC, noting that it planned to perform demolition work from the wharf using land-based equipment.  After receipt of these plans, NAVFAC awarded the contract to RDA; RDA signed the contract on October 13, 2009 and received its Notice to Proceed two days later.  In November, at a pre-construction meeting, RDA again explained its plan to use the wharf during construction as a staging area for its excavators and demolition equipment.  NAVFAC personnel were “shocked” by this plan because the wharf was “condemned”  and subsequently provided RDA with the Appledore report.Continue Reading U.S. Court of Claims Denies Contractor’s “Superior Knowledge” Claim Against Owner Despite Owner’s Withholding of Reports That Would Have Revealed to Contractor Extent of Subsurface Deterioration of the Wharf to be Reconstructed

United States ex rel. J.A. Manning Constr. Co. v. Bronze Oak, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6054 (N.D. Okla. Jan. 17, 2017)

 In May 2014 the Cherokee Nation issued a bid notice for bridge and roadway construction in Mayes County, Oklahoma (the “Project”). Funding was authorized pursuant to the Secretary of Transportation and Secretary of the Interior’s Tribal Transportation Program, 23 U.S.C. § 202, by which federal funding is offered to Native American tribal governments to pay the costs of certain transportation projects located on, or providing access to, tribal lands.

Bronze Oak, LLC submitted a bid proposal and was hired as the general contractor for Project, and J.A. Manning Construction Company (“JAMCC”) was hired as a subcontractor to supply labor and materials to the Project. Bronze Oak’s bid proposal provided that any resulting contract would be construed under U.S. and Cherokee Nation laws.  A payment bond was issued for the Project naming Bronze Oak as the principal, Mid-Continental Casualty Company as surety, and the United States as obligee.  The payment bond also stated it was for the protection of persons supplying labor and materials pursuant to the Miller Act.Continue Reading Federal Court in Oklahoma Rules that Bond Issued on a Sovereign Tribal Construction Project is Not a Miller Act Bond Even Though it Stated it was Issued Pursuant to the Act and Named The United States As Obligee