# Wunderlich Contracting Co. v. United States

> United States Court of Claims · October 15, 1965 · 351 F.2d 956

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/8593350

## Case

- **Full name:** WUNDERLICH CONTRACTING COMPANY, A NEBRASKA CORPORATION CURLETT CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, A CALIFORNIA CORPORATION AND CHAS. H. THOMPKINS COMPANY, A DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CORPORATION v. United States
- **Court:** United States Court of Claims
- **Decided:** October 15, 1965
- **Citations:** 351 F.2d 956; 173 Ct. Cl. 180
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Opinion of the court by Cowen
- **Judges:** Collins, Cowen, Davis, Durfee, Laramore
- **Cited by:** 161 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/8593350

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- holding that “[b]road generalities and inferences to the effect that defendants must have caused some delay and damages because the contract took . . . longer to complete than anticipated are not sufficient”
- stating that a plaintiff asserting a claim for breach of an implied warranty of specifications has the “burden of establishing the fundamental facts of liability, causation, and resultant injury.”
- noting that the “proliferating effects” of the Korean war contributed heavily to the difficulties encountered and that plaintiffs failed to carry their burden in proving that the delays or extra expenses were directly caused by the Government’s actions
- holding that the party seeking damages bears the burden to establish “the fundamental facts of liability, causation, and resultant injury”

## Opinion text

Cowen, Chief Judge,
delivered the opinion of the court:
Plaintiffs, Wunderlich, Curlett & Tompkins, a joint venture, ’bring this action in their own behalf as general contractor, and on behalf of several of their subcontractors, to recover certain sums alleged to have been lost in constructing a hospital project for the Veterans Administration. On March 18, 1950, plaintiffs entered into a contract with defendant to erect a 500-bed neuro-psychiatric-tubercular hospital complex in Salt Lake City, Utah, in accordance with detailed and highly technical plans, specifications, and drawings, for a consideration of $7,898,000. Under the terms of the agreement, plaintiffs were required to complete performance of the project within 540 days after receipt of *184 notice to proceed, and the completion date was originally fixed as October 20, 1951. In fact, though, the work was delayed for various reasons, and performance was not actually finished until September 2, 1952, some 318 days in arrears. Plaintiffs were not assessed liquidated damages by defendant for the delays, as they had been granted extensions of time sufficient to cover the entire period by which the actual performance time exceeded the original contract time.
Plaintiffs’ claims for relief here are predicated upon three major, alternative theories: (1) damages for breach of contract — based upon the allegation that defendant knowingly furnished plaintiffs with defective plans and specifications which were substantially incomplete, ambiguous, and impossible of performance; (2) quantum meruit, to reimburse plaintiffs for their reasonable costs incurred in performing the work — 'based upon the contention that defendant ordered an unreasonable number of changes and modifications in the plans and specifications after the work had begun, the cumulative effect of which resulted in a fundamental alteration of the scope of the contract and the construction of a hospital subtantially different from that originally contemplated by the parties, and (3) equitable adjustment under the Suspension of Work article of the contract, to compensate plaintiffs for the costs of actual delays incurred — based upon the assertion that the plans and specifications were allegedly so inherently ambiguous and inadequate and the changes ordered so extensive, that defendant should in all fairness have stopped the work in order to make corrections and prevent unnecessary delay and expense in the contractor’s performance.
On December 16, 1946, defendant (by and through the Army Corps of Engineers) engaged an experienced Salt Lake City architectural firm to prepare necessary reports, designs, drawings, and specifications incident to the construction of the proposed 14-building hospital complex for the Veterans Administration. Because the anticipated project was to be the largest high-class construction venture ever undertaken in Salt Lake City, and because no prototype of the proposed facility existed anywhere in the United States, the architectural firm encountered serious difficulties in the *185 performance of the design contract. Months were spent in studying various hospital designs and modern hospital techniques, and a great deal of cooperative effort was necessitated among the Veterans Administration, the Corps of Engineers, and the architects in order to produce a coordinated set of plans that would satisfactorily fulfill the requirements of the Administration. Work on the drawings was further complicated by the fact that the quality of design in the early post-war years was not as high as is now expected. During World War II, qualified draftsmen and engineers had been absorbed in great numbers into the armed services, and in the post-war years a severe shortage of personnel continued, due to the necessity of having to retrain previously qualified servicemen and to the great competitive demand for skilled technicians by both industry and government.
During the preparation of the pertinent plans and specifications, defendant, through the offices of the District Engineer, Division Engineer, Chief of Engineers, and the Veterans Administration, repeatedly reviewed submissions and resubmissions of the architect, making numerous and detailed comments, criticisms, corrections, and changes in design. Serious conflicts arose at times among the different personnel involved over various aspects and details in the plans, and conferences were arranged with the Chief of Engineers in Washington, D.C., to resolve points of difference.
When the final working drawings, as amended and modified, were eventually submitted, on May 25,1949, the architectural firm realized that a substantial number of discrepancies remained which had not been satisfactorily resolved by corrections on the relevant documents. The Corps of Engineers, too, was cognizant of certain inadequacies and discrepancies in the final drawings, but because of the great need of the Veterans Administration for the hospital, did not require further corrections to be made prior to bidding. It decided rather to leave such outstanding matters for handling as field problems in the subsequent construction of the project.
The hospital project was then advertised for bids on December 16, 1949, and the date for submission and opening of bids scheduled for February 16, 1950. On January 24 *186 and 25, 1950, a pre-bid conference was held in Salt Lake City, with the District Engineer of the Corps of Engineers presiding and two partners of the architectural firm in attendance. Several prospective bidders and material suppliers attended and were invited to make comments and criticisms on the plans. The existence of many errors, omissions, and discrepancies in the plans and drawings for the project would have been obvious to any competent person who examined them, and in the course of the proceedings several mistakes were brought to the attention of defendant and were later corrected by addenda. Although plaintiffs were present at this meeting, they did not comment at the time on any of the apparent deficiencies and errors in the documents.
The trial commissioner to whom this case was referred has found that performance of the project within the 540 days specified in the contract could only have been accomplished under ideal conditions. Under Rule 66 of this court the findings of the commissioner are presumptively correct and can be overcome only by a strong affirmative showing by plaintiffs to the contrary. Dodge Street Building Corp. v. United States, 169 Ct. Cl. 496 , 341 F. 2d 641, 644-5 (1965); Wilson v. United States, 151 Ct. Cl. 271 (1960); Davis v. United States, 164 Ct. Cl. 612 (1964). Upon a review of the record in the case we are satisfied that the commissioner’s finding is amply supported by the evidence. The local manager of the Associated General Contractors, acting upon information received from interested contractors, strongly urged defendant to increase the contract performance time from 540 to 800 days. Plaintiffs themselves, moreover, had requested defendant prior to bidding to fix the contract time at 730 days, based on their own estimates of performance requirements. Because of the size and technical nature of the project, the existence of certain unresolved discrepancies in the plans and drawings, and the pressing need of the Veterans Administration for the facility, a provision was inserted in the invitation for bids permitting individual contractors to submit bids based upon a performance time in excess of 540 days, by adding to their bid a certain fixed sum per excess day. In fact, of the nine bids that were eventually submitted and *187 opened at the appointed time, six were computed on the basis of a performance time of more than 540 days. Plaintiffs, however, elected to risk completing performance within the 540-day period, and submitted an offer of $7,898,000, which, being the lowest of those received, was accepted by defendant. 2
In March of 1950, after the award had been made and the contract signed, plaintiffs commenced performance on the project, subcontracting approximately 80 percent of the work to some 57 different firms, seven of which have claims presented in this case. Plaintiffs were all experienced and qualified construction contractors, although they had never worked together before as a joint venture, nor individually, in the Salt Lake City area. The various subcontractors were also experienced and qualified in their respective fields, though most of them were California firms without previous experience in Salt Lake City.
Luring the course of performance, plaintiffs encountered difficulties of various sorts which seriously hindered and delayed their progress. Some of these problems were attributable to inadequacies and ambiguities in the plans and drawings, and others to factors beyond the control of either plaintiffs or defendant. As is conceded by defendant, the plans furnished to plaintiffs contained numerous errors, omissions, and discrepancies. Although the majority of these defects were discovered through advance review and in the preparation of shop drawings, many of the errors were not uncovered until work on the pertinent phases of the project was actually in progress. Through close and continuous cooperation between plaintiffs’ project manager and engineer and defendant’s resident engineer and inspectors, most of the remaining specifications problems were solved on the site. Design and architectural problems were submitted to the architects who *188 prepared the plans, and changes in basic criteria were referred to the District Engineer for decision.
Because most of the errors had to be corrected before the relevant work could begin or continue, defendant was compelled to order a large number of changes and alterations as performance progressed. Plaintiffs from the outset kept records of the extra costs they incurred in having to make the alterations and corrections ordered, and prepared a series of 470 estimates for submission to defendant, each of which was based on the direct costs of labor, materials, and equipment. Most of these estimates were approved by defendant as reflective of actual additional costs, and during the course of performance 35 change orders were issued granting plaintiffs a monetary adjustment in the contract price, including a percentage allowance for overhead and profit, of $298,563.27. Defendant from the start refused to entertain any estimate unless verified by records and based purely on the direct cost of labor and materials as applied to the particular types of work involved. Contested claims and all claims for extra costs allegedly resulting from confusion and delays in ordering and executing changes were deferred by agreement of the parties for presentation at the completion of the work.
In addition to those delays and expenses which resulted from changes in the plans and drawings, plaintiffs’ performance was substantially affected by the Korean War, which commenced shortly after work had begun and continued through the duration of the project. The war caused a significant increase in the price of construction materials and equipment and in the wages of workmen. Having based their cost estimates and bid on pre-war prices and wage scales in stabilized market conditions, plaintiffs were seriously hurt by substantial increases in costs brought about by wartime conditions. Moreover, the Salt Lake City area had a relatively small and restricted labor market for skilled workers, and plaintiffs were confronted with severe shortages of brickmasons, due to competing war projects in general and to an emergency military construction project in the immediate vicinity in particular. Carpenters, plumbers, and other craftsmen were also in declining supply and, in *189 order to alleviate these labor difficulties, plaintiffs were forced to advertise in newspapers throughout the country to attract skilled workers to the site. Because of the effect of the labor scarcity on their performance, plaintiffs specifically requested the contracting officer to extend the performance time 120 days. The relief desired was not granted, however, as the officer refused to recognize labor shortages as a valid justification for extensions under the contract.
Apparently believing that they would be entitled to reimbursement by the government for the additional costs being incurred due to wartime conditions, plaintiffs wrote several letters to defendant’s District Engineer, detailing their plight and advising him of their intention to file formal claims to recover their extra expenses on the purchases of materials, tools, and equipment, and the costs of increased wages, overtime premiums, special bonuses, and advertising expenses incurred to maintain a sufficient labor force on the job. In conducting research on the proposed claims, however, plaintiffs came to the conclusion that the government would not be responsible for these additional expenditures under the provisions of the contract and, in fact, never formally filed the claims. Performance was also impeded because the plastering subcontractor refused to work in more than one building at a time, thereby delaying the scheduled performance of succeeding trades. The precise effect of this conflict among the subcontractors upon the overall progress of the work, however, has not been established by the evidence.
To mitigate the difficulties they were facing as a result of these various and sundry factors, plaintiffs filed several requests for extensions of time in the total amount of 1,075.75 days. The contracting officer denied most of the requests as unjustified, but did extend the completion date through the change orders to cover the full 318 days by which performance was in fact delayed. Of the 318 days thus allowed, 30 were specified as for labor strikes, and 8 for unusually severe weather. In addition, 45 days were allowed for the extra work of constructing a four-car garage, 53 days for the providing of additional laboratory facilities, 10 days for revision of roads, sidewalks, landscaping, *190 and outside utilities, 2 days for changing footing elevations, and 153 days for miscellaneous changes.
Despite all the above-described impediments, some of which were due to errors and discrepancies in the plans and specifications or to the ordering of modifications and alterations in the work and some to extraneous factors beyond defendant’s control, plaintiffs’ performance under the contract proceeded with reasonable expedition.
After completion of the work, plaintiffs filed claims with the Corps of Engineers Claims and Appeals Board to cover those disputed items on which the contracting officer had earlier denied liability and refused payment, including claims for delay damages. The Board found that the number and scope of the errors in the plans and the consequent number and scope of changes ordered by defendant were quite reasonable and normal for a project of such size and complexity, and decided that “any delays caused by errors in [the] plans were concurrent with and comprehended within the greater delays occurring over the same period caused by the impact of the Korean War.” Certain of plaintiffs’ specific claims for additional direct costs, however, were sustained by the Board, and after its decision, a 36th change order was issued to encompass those items allowed. Plaintiffs were thus paid an additional $137,232.37, which brought their total compensation, including contract price and monetary adjustments, to $8,333,795.64. The commissioner has found that plaintiffs’ total costs on the project, including all sums paid to the various subcontractors, amounted to $9,454,301.13.
The first major claim presented is grounded in breach of contract. Plaintiffs maintain that they submitted their bid in complete reliance upon the accuracy and thoroughness of the specifications, fully believing that the project could profitably be completed within the 540 days specified. Plowever, they allege that defendant knowingly furnished prospective bidders with critically defective plans and specifications, and thereafter compelled plaintiffs, to their financial detriment, to perform in strict accordance with the same. Plaintiffs claim that this action of providing fundamentally unworkable plans demonstrated a lack of good faith on the part of the government and constituted a material misrepre *191 sentation and breach, of defendant’s implied warranty that the plans were complete and adequate to the required task. Plaintiffs seek to recover as damages for this breach of warranty their entire loss on the project, measured by the difference between the total cost of performance (plus profit allowance) and the income received through payment of the contract price, as increased by the change orders. No attempt is made to distinguish between expenses arising out of deficiencies in the plans and expenses attributable to purely extraneous factors. Plaintiffs simply ask for a blanket recovery of all unrecouped costs on the contract, regardless of source.
Precedent indicates that the government implicitly warrants in a construction contract that if the contractor complies with the specifications furnished he will be able to complete the project within the contemplated period; and if the specifications are so faulty as to prevent or unreasonably delay completion of the contract performance, the contractor may recover his actual damages for breach of the implied warranty. United States v. Spearin, 248 U.S. 132 (1918); Warren Bros. Roads Co. v. United States, 123 Ct. Cl. 48 , 105 F. Supp. 826 (1952); Laburnum Construction Corp. v. United States, 163 Ct. Cl. 339 , 325 F. 2d 451 (1963). But, in the case at bar, the evidence does not support plaintiffs’ contention that the government-supplied documents were so substantially deficient or unworkable as to constitute a breach of the contract. Defendant engaged an experienced and qualified architectural firm to prepare the necessary designs and subsequently invited prospective bidders to offer their comments, with a view toward eliminating as many discrepancies as possible. Although the plans and specifications, as modified and refined, did in fact contain a large number of errors which eventually had to be corrected, it cannot be said that the cumulative effect or extent of these errors was either unreasonable or abnormal for a project of such encompassing scope and complexity. Plaintiffs have not carried their burden of proving that the commissioner’s findings to this effect are unsupported by the evidence.
Moreover, plaintiffs necessarily had knowledge of the actual state of the plans and were cognizant of the fact that *192 performance could only have been completed within 540 days under ideal conditions. Yet, they did not exercise the option offered to all prospective bidders of submitting their bids upon the basis of a longer performance time. They elected instead to enhance their competitive position by saving the required penalty sum and thereby willingly assumed the substantial risk of completing the project within the tight schedule of 540 days. Under the circumstances of the case, plaintiffs have hot established by a preponderance of the evidence that defendant breached its implied warranty of reasonable accuracy or that plaintiffs were misled into assuming greater risks and responsibilities than they had anticipated. See Anthony M. Meyerstein, Inc. v. United States, 133 Ct. Cl. 694 , 137 F. Supp. 427 (1956); Flippin Materials Co. v. United States, 160 Ct. Cl. 357 , 312 F. 2d 408 (1963); Archie & Allan Spiers, Inc. v. United States, 155 Ct. Cl. 614 , 296 F. 2d 757 (1961).
Assuming arguendo that a cause of action in breach of warranty could have been established, plaintiffs have failed, in any event, to prove their damages. They have offered evidence to show that the actual cost of completing the project greatly exceeded pre-bid estimates and resulted in a significant net loss on the contract. They have not, however, established the approximate extent to which any of this loss can be said to have been attributable to disruptions in operations caused by defects in the plans and specifications or to tardiness in ordering changes. The record is in fact replete with express admissions that the Korean War was a major factor in contributing to the delays in performance and the increases in the cost of labor and materials. The Claims and Appeals Board, in passing on plaintiffs’ appeal in this case, denied most of the relief requested and noted that the relevant claims were originally conceived and filed as a hardship case resulting from the serious and continuing consequences of the Korean War. The trial commissioner, in deciding the facts after a trial de novo, 3 arrived at essentially the same conclusion — that the proliferat *193 ing effects of the Korean hostilities contributed heavily to the difficulties encountered, and that plaintiffs had failed to carry their burden of proving that the delays or extra expenses were directly caused by the actions of defendant. See Archie & Allan Spiers v. United States, supra. We have adopted this finding.
The “total cost plus profit” theory of computing damages advanced here by plaintiffs is appropriate only in “extreme cases,” where no more satisfactory method is available. F. H. McGraw & Co. v. United States, 131 Ct. Cl. 501, 511 , 130 F. Supp. 394 (1955). It assumes, inter alia, that defendant is in fact liable for all the injuries sustained, that plaintiffs’ bid was accurately computed, and that the costs incurred were reasonable. F. H. McGraw & Co. v. United States, supra; River Construction Corp. v. United States, 159 Ct. Cl. 254 (1962); Laburnum Construction Corp. v. United States, supra. The case at hand is ill-suited to application of this method of computation. There is no reliable evidence in the record to serve as a basis for approximating the extent to which defendant, and not the Korean War or other factors beyond the control of defendant, was responsible for any of the loss sustained by plaintiffs on the contract. See Commerce International Co. v. United States, 167 Ct. Cl. 529 , 338 F. 2d 81 (1964); J. D. Hedin Construction Co., Inc. v. United States, 171 Ct. Cl. 70, 86-7 , 347 F. 2d 235, 246-47 (1965).
Plaintiffs’ second claim for relief, designated as under the theory of quantum meruit, is also essentially based on a breach of contract argument. It is alleged that defendant ordered such an unreasonable number of changes in the specifications that the contractor was compelled to construct a project substantially different in character from that contemplated at the time the contract was executed. Plaintiffs thus argue that the scope of the contract was fundamentally altered and seek to recover as damages for breach all reasonable costs incurred in constructing the facility for defendant.
Article 3 of the contract explicitly reserved to defendant the right to make changes in the specifications “within the general scope thereof,” and provided for an equitable adjustment in the contract price to compensate plaintiffs for the cost of effecting such modifications. Defendant cannot be *194 held liable for the exercise of this contractual privilege unless it exceeded the permissible limits of its discretion under the Changes article and ordered changes which were cardinal in nature. Aragona Construction Co., Inc. v. United States, 165 Ct. Cl. 382 (1964); F. H. McGraw & Co. v. United States, supra; J. D. Hedin Construction Co., Inc. v. United States, supra, 171 Ct. Cl. at 105-6 , 347 F. 2d at 257-58 ; General Contracting Co. v. United States, 84 Ct. Cl. 570 (1937).
In the instant case defendant issued some 35 change orders covering various corrections in the specifications and alterations in the work, including changes in footing walls and columns, water table recomputations, furring of walls and ceilings and lowering of ceilings, finish and color changes, convector changes, door and door frame modifications, dimensional adjustments, and structural corrections. Although the changes ordered by defendant were extensive, we do not find that they were so extensive as to constitute a cardinal change.
There is no exact formula for determining the point at which a single change or a series of changes must be considered to be beyond the scope of the contract and necessarily in breach of it. Each case must be analyzed on its own facts and in light of its own circumstances, giving just consideration to the magnitude and quality of the changes ordered and their cumulative effect upon the project as a whole. Saddler v. United States, 152 Ct. Cl. 557, 561 , 287 F. 2d 411 (1961). The contractor cannot claim a 'breach of the contract if the project it ultimately constructed is essentially the same as the one it agreed in the contract to erect. Aragona Construction Co., Inc. v. United States, supra, p. 391.
The trial commissioner has found that the completed project was not substantially different from that contemplated in the original contract plans. The record supports the finding. Plaintiffs point to the fact that their total cost of performance, exclusive of profit allowance, exceeded the bid price by more than $1,500,000, or about 20 percent. This figure, however, does not truly reflect the effect of the changes ordered on the contract, since plaintiffs have failed to allocate between costs of performing extra work in accordance with the changes and costs unavoidably incurred as a result *195 of alien factors. The total additional payments authorized by defendant under the Changes article as reasonable compensation for the verified costs of executing the alterations ordered in the work amounted to $435,795.64, or less than 6 percent of the contract price. Plaintiffs have not shown that this figure is incorrect or unreasonable. Instead, they stand on the basic unproved assertion that defendant was responsible for all losses on the contract.
Manifestly, plaintiffs’ performance has been lengthier and costlier than anticipated at the time the bid was submitted, but in the long run they constructed essentially the same project as that described in the contract. This court’s language in Aragona Construction Co., Inc. v. United States, supra, p. 391, in dealing with a somewhat similar situation, is particularly in point:
In this case, the changes did not materially alter the nature of the bargain into which plaintiffs had entered or cause it to perform a different contract. Plaintiff contracted to build a reinforced concrete hospital building on a certain site at Fort Howard, Maryland, and that is exactly what it built. The hospital, when it was completed, was in the same location, looked the same, had the same number of rooms and floors and the same facilities as the one shown on the original plans and specifications. Apart from the substitution of materials, it differed not at all from the building that had been contemplated when the contract was awarded.
Upon a review of the evidence as a whole, we conclude that such changes as were ordered by the contracting officer here were not' cardinal in nature. Although extensive in number, they were entirely within the scops of defendant’s discretion to make under the Changes article of the contract. Plaintiffs have been compensated by price adjustments for the verified costs of carrying out these alterations, and have not shown by a preponderance of the evidence that they are entitled to any additional sum.
In addition to the effect of the change orders, plaintiffs assert that defendant interfered with performance of the work by letting other construction projects in the immediate vicinity of the hospital, particularly an emergency military facility at nearby Hill Field. It is argued that in expeditiously pushing these ventures to completion defend *196 ant greatly reduced the supply of skilled workers in an already restricted labor market. This action is alleged to have impeded progress on the hospital project by diverting badly needed craftsmen and to have forced plaintiffs to expend substantial sums of money in order to maintain an adequate work force on the job.
Actions of a general and public character, implementing programs in the national interest, are considered to be acts of the sovereign for which defendant cannot be held liable in damages. Horowitz v. United States, 267 U.S. 458 (1926) ; Jones v. United States, 1 Ct. Cl. 383 (1865); Wah Chang Corp. v. United States, 151 Ct. Cl. 41 , 282 F. 2d 728 (1960); Anthony P. Miller, Inc. v. United States, 161 Ct. Cl. 455 (1963), cert. denied, 375 U.S. 879 . Even though a contractor may be directly or indirectly injured by the detrimental effect of other government projects on the relative labor market, he has no legal cause to complain if it is the sovereign that renders his performance more difficult to complete. See Bateson-Stolte, Inc. v. United States, 158 Ct. Cl. 455 , 305 F. 2d 386 (1962); Standard Accident Ins. Co. v. United States, 103 Ct. Cl. 607 , 59 F. Supp. 407 (1945); Air Terminal Services, Inc. v. United States, 165 Ct. Cl. 525 , 330 F. 2d 974 (1964), cert. denied, 379 U.S. 829 . The action of the United States in ordering the construction of other public facilities in the Salt Lake City area was an act of the sovereign, and plaintiffs here are precluded from any recovery upon the allegation that defendant violated an implied duty under the contract not to interfere with the performance or to make it more costly than necessary.
Plaintiffs’ third major claim is for an equitable adjustment in the contract price under Article GC-11 of the contract — the Suspension of Work article. 4 This alternative *197 theory of recovery rests upon the same basic factual contentions as do the breach of contract claims, except that here plaintiffs pray for relief within the framework of that document. Plaintiffs again maintain that the plans and specifications were fundamentally inadequate, that defendant ordered an unreasonable number of major changes, and that each change so ordered delayed performance and resulted in increased costs to the joint venture and its subcontractors. They contend that in light of the serious difficulties encountered because of defects and ambiguities in the plans, defendant should in all equity have suspended the work for its own convenience in order to work out a corrective set of plans. See T. C. Bateson Construction Co. v. United States, 162 Ct. Cl. 145, 187 , 319 F. 2d 135, 160 (1963); Ozark Dam Constructors v. United States, 153 Ct. Cl. 120 , 288 F. 2d 913 (1961). Failure to have done so is alleged to'have caused unnecessary delay and uncertainty in plaintiffs’ performance and to have resulted in substantial additional expense and hardship. It is the actual costs of this delay that plaintiffs now seek to recover through equitable adjustment.
To be compensable under the contract, however, delay must be for an unreasonable length of time. River Construction Corp. v. United States, supra, p. 270; F. H. McGraw & Co. v. United States, supra, pp. 506-7. Further, that delay must be shown to have been proximately caused by defendant’s actions. River Construction Corp. v. United States, supra, p. 270; Laburnum Construction Corp. v. United States, supra, p. 349; J. A. Ross & Co. v. United States, 126 Ct. Cl. 323, 331-4 , 115 F. Supp. 187 (1953). Plaintiffs’ performance here required 318 days, or approximately 60 percent longer to complete than had been anticipated; but this figure is not of itself decisive, especially in a case where plaintiffs’ bid was submitted on the basis of a very tight work schedule that could only have been fulfilled under ideal conditions and where much of the delay experienced resulted from a variety of largely unavoidable circumstances.
The plans furnished contained a substantial number of discrepancies, as any competent person who examined them at the time the bids were being prepared could readily have *198 discerned. The fact that certain changes and corrections would have to be made was obvious. Apparent, too, was the implication that when such changes were effected certain delays in the prosecution of the work would likely result. Griffiths v. United States, 74 Ct. Cl. 245, 255 (1932); J. A. Rosse Co. v. United States, supra, pp. 331-2; Laburnum Construction Corp. v. United States, supra, p. 349; Anthony P. Miller, Inc. v. United States, 111 Ct. Cl. 252 , 77 F. Supp. 209 (1948).
We have adopted the trial commissioner’s finding that such errors as were periodically discovered during performance of the contract were acted upon by defendant with reasonable promptness. Through close and continuous cooperation with plaintiffs’ personnel on the job, the government sought to minimize the effect of these errors by ordering necessary corrections and changes as soon as possible under the circumstances. All in all, the project required some 858 days to complete, instead of the 540 days bid upon, the 730 days originally expected by plaintiffs, or the 800 days requested by the Associated General Contractors as a reasonable performance period. The contract could only have been completed within the specified period under ideal conditions, but the conditions actually encountered were in fact far from ideal, for the Korean War significantly distorted the contractor’s time and cost estimates. Considerin g the fact that a certain amount of delay was inevitable and expected in order to make necessary corrections in the plans, that defendant acted expeditiously to order these corrections, that the contractor assumed the significant risk of completing a unique, extensive, and complex project within an ideal performance period, and that the ramifications of the Korean War produced unforeseen disruptions in operations, it cannot be concluded that the delays actually experienced by plaintiffs on this contract were either unreasonable in duration under the circumstances or principally attributable to defendant’s actions.
Plaintiffs have been granted extensions of time sufficient to cover the entire 318 days of actual delay without being assessed liquidated damages. They have also been compensated by defendant for the costs of such changes as they were *199 ordered to make. In the absence of a showing that unreasonable delays were experienced in making necessary adjustments, plaintiffs are not entitled to an equitable adjustment under the Suspension of Work article of the contract.
A claimant need not prove his damages with absolute certainty or mathematical exactitude. Dale Construction Co. v. United States, 168 Ct. Cl. 692 (1964); Houston Ready-Cut Home Co. v. United States, 119 Ct. Cl. 120 , 96 F. Supp. 629 (1951). It is sufficient if he furnishes the court with a reasonable basis for computation, even though the result is only approximate. F. H. McGraw & Co. v. United States, supra; Locke v. United States, 151 Ct. Cl. 262 , 283 F. 2d 521 (1960). Yet this leniency as to the actual mechanics of computation does not relieve the contractor of his essential burden of establishing the fundamental facts of liability, causation, and resultant injury. River Construction Corp. v. United States, supra; Addison Miller, Inc. v. United States, 108 Ct. Cl. 513 , 70 F. Supp. 893 (1947), cert. denied, 332 U.S. 836 ; J. D. Hedin Construction Co., Inc. v. United States, supra, 171 Ct. Cl. at 86-7 , 347 F. 2d at 246-47 . It was plaintiffs’ obligation in the case at bar to prove with reasonable certainty the extent of unreasonable delay which resulted from defendant’s actions and to provide a basis for making a reasonably correct approximation of the damages which arose therefrom. Aragona Construction Co., Inc. v. United States, supra; Laburnum Construction Corp. v. United States, supra. Broad generalities and inferences to the effect that defendant must have caused some delay and damage because the contract took 318 days longer to complete than anticipated are not sufficient. Commerce International Co., Inc. v. United States, supra.
Although we do not doubt that plaintiffs and their subcontractors encountered delays and difficulties in proceeding with the plans provided by defendant, all that plaintiffs have attempted to prove with respect to any of the major claims is the total amount of costs and the total delay experienced on the project. No satisfactory evidence has been presented to differentiate between reasonable and unreasonable government delays, or between delays attributable to *200 defendant and delays unavoidably caused by extraneous circumstances. It is incumbent upon plaintiffs to show the nature and extent of the various delays for which damages are claimed and to connect them to some act of commission or omission on defendant’s part. See Laburnum Construction Corp. v. United States, supra. This is especially true where there has been an affirmative showing that other causes, for which defendant was not responsible, contributed materially to the delays in construction. Commerce International Co., In c. v. United States, supra. The trial commissioner has found that “the evidence does not establish the extent, if any, to which there were delays in the performance of the contract * * * [or] * * * the extent, if any, to which the costs of plaintiffs and each of the * * * subcontractors were increased as a result of the revisions and corrections of the contract plans, specifications, and drawings, necessitated by errors, omissions, and discrepancies therein, nor does the evidence establish any basis for a reasonable approximation of such increased costs.” We have adopted these findings and are compelled to conclude that there has been a critical lack of proof of causation.
As plaintiffs have pointed out in their brief, the claims of their subcontractors, which are designated as Claim 1, are grounded upon the same rules of law and arguments as plaintiffs’ Claim 1. Since there are no significant factual differences in any subcontractor’s claim which would entitle it to recover on grounds other than those asserted in behalf of plaintiffs’ main claim, the subcontractors’ claims in this category fall for the same reasons as plaintiffs’ Claim 1.
Since we have concluded that plaintiffs are not entitled to recover for themselves or in behalf of their subcontractors on Claim 1, we shall now consider the remaining six claims. Two of these are separate from Claim 1, whereas the remainder are in the alternative to Claim 1 and involve claims for extra costs that were included within the items covered by Claim 1 (finding 75).
CLAIM OP LAUREN BURT, INC.
Lauren Burt, Inc., plaintiffs’ subcontractor for the installation of asphalt tile flooring in most of the rooms and cor *201 ridors of the project, was paid by change orders for all the direct costs it incurred on account of finish, color, and dimensional alterations. In this claim, recovery is sought, as a separate and distinct item, for the costs of reviewing certain documents in connection with the performance of its subcontract. From time to time, as the contracting officer ordered changes in the plans and specifications, plaintiffs issued a series of change-of-plan authorizations to the various subcontractors setting forth the items of work to be altered. Lauren Burt maintains that it was required to review, study, and analyze each of these authorizations in order to determine whether any of its own work would be involved and to ascertain the extent to which any of its plans would have to be modified accordingly. The subcontractor claims entitlement to the sum of $250 as the reasonable cost of such reviews, based upon a figure of $1 per page of authorization and $2 per item of change.
The tile flooring subcontractor also made studies at the request of defendant’s resident engineer of 479 additional items of color and finish changes and claims the sum of $958 for such reviews and reports. In addition, the subcontractor’s claim includes an item of $100 for the alleged submission of an estimate to plaintiffs for the repair of storage and temporary office space.
No record was kept of any of the costs claimed by Lauren Burt. All of the work was performed by its president who testified that the amounts sought to be recovered are reasonable charges for the work.
Lauren Burt, Inc., was paid for its extra direct costs on account of finish, color and dimensional changes through approved change orders. None of the items included within the present claim was ever presented to the defendant’s contracting officer or to the Corps of Engineers Claims and Appeals Board. Since plaintiffs failed to exhaust their administrative remedy on this claim, recovery is precluded. United States v. Holpuch Co., 328 U.S. 234 (1946).
CLAIM: 18-A OP WASATCH CACHE ELECTRIC COMPANY
The separate claim of Wasatch Cache Electric Company, plaintiffs’ subcontractor for installation of the electrical sys- *202 tern and fixtures throughout the project, involves the direct additional costs of installing supports in recessed electrical fixtures. The drawings and specifications did not specifically indicate the type of support necessary to sustain recessed fixtures installed in project ceilings having metal pan acoustical tile, as they merely provided that such outlets were to be installed “in a rigid and satisfactory manner”. The National Electrical Code, however, which was incorporated by reference into the specifications, listed a number of ways in which such fittings should be secured. Wasatch requested defendant’s District Engineer to provide specific designs for such supports but that officer declined to furnish the plans, stating that plaintiffs had the obligation of doing whatever was necessary to accomplish a complete and satisfactory job. Thereupon, the subcontractor provided supports for the fixtures in a reasonable and economical manner consonant with the Code. The method used was approved by defendant’s resident engineer.
The Corps of Engineers Claims and Appeals Board decided that the specifications were sufficiently complete and that defendant had no duty to provide a design for the supports, as the National Electrical Code provided the contractor with a choice of reasonable and economical methods to achieve the desired objective. Plaintiffs assail the findings of the Board as erroneous and gratuitous on the grounds that they essentially involved a question of law. The commissioner determined that the Board’s findings were reasonable and were supported by substantial evidence. From a reading of the contract and specifications and a review of the relevant evidence, we conclude that defendant’s interpretation of the contract was correct and that no duty of design was imposed upon defendant. Therefore, plaintiffs are not entitled to recover on this claim.
CLAIM 3-AD OK RISK-SUTTON COMPANY
Claim 3-AD of Risk-Sutton Company, plaintiffs’ painting subcontractor, involves the allowability of certain costs allegedly incurred as a result of the substitution of two types of surfacing materials used on the project. One of these *203 changes concerned the substitution of primer sealer for erroneously specified paint, and the other the substitution of a washable enamel paint for the water-base paint originally specified for interior surfaces of the boilerhouse. Disputes arose on both items as to the amount of extra costs incurred as a result of making the changes, and to establish support for its contentions, Bisk-Sutton engaged the services of two research laboratories, at a cost of $625, to determine the relative costs of application. On two or three occasions, however, defendant’s representatives rejected the subcontractor’s estimates of extra costs. Instead, the government had time and material studies made at its own expense in Pittsburgh, and the results of these tests were used as the basis for the ultimate settlement of the extra costs due to the primer sealer change. We have found that neither of the Bisk-Sutton laboratory reports contributed to the resolution of the dispute. The subcontractor is not entitled to recover the costs of the laboratory tests made for the purpose of preparing and presenting its claims to defendant’s representatives.
Bisk-Sutton also seeks to recover the travel expenses of one of its partners for several round trips from the firm’s headquarters in Los Angeles to the job site in Salt Lake City, and two round trips to San Francisco in connection with the above-mentioned laboratory tests, at a total cost of $1,160.45. Although the trips are alleged to have been made as a direct result of the disputes over the primer sealer and boilerhouse paint and because of other paint substitution problems, the evidence does not support the contention. The trips were not made solely in connection with the relevant disputes over changes in paint types. The record shows that they were made as part of the partner’s frequent and prolonged attendance on the job site in his regular supervision of the subcontract performance. Plaintiffs have not shown entitlement to any recovery on this claim in behalf of the subcontractor.
CLAIM 15-D OF RISK-SUTTON COMPANY
This claim was presented in behalf of Bisk-Sutton Company, the painting subcontractor, to recover extra costs al *204 leged to have been incurred in repainting spaces due to the repair of plaster cracks in numerous rooms on the project. The issue involved is whether the plaster cracks occurred as a result of a defect in defendant’s design. After hearing the expert testimony adduced by both parties on the question, the trial commissioner found that the spalling and cracking of plaster was not caused by faulty design features of the project buildings. He also found that there was no substantial evidence to show the extent to which the painting subcontractor incurred extra costs in repainting surfaces where the allegedly faulty design cracks were repaired. After reviewing the record, we are satisfied that these findings are supported by the evidence and. have adopted them. Consequently, the claim is disallowed.
CLAIM 15-A OK PLAINTIFFS
This claim is for the reasonable costs expended by plaintiffs in providing temporary heat during the period from November 1951 through the following winter months.
The specifications required the contractor to provide at his own expense temporary heat to prevent injury to work or material through dampness or cold. In July 1951, plaintiffs’ project manager requested permission to use the main boiler plant and permanent heating facilities in all the buildings to supply temporary heat when needed during the following fall and winter months. The contracting officer granted plaintiffs’ request on the basis of their agreement to assume all expenses connected with such temporary heat.
We have found that plaintiffs did not incur the claimed expense as a result of unreasonable delays on the part of defendant and that plaintiffs agreed to pay for all costs in connection with the temporary heat used. Therefore, plaintiffs are not entitled to recover on this claim.
ITEMS 5 AND 8 OF CLAIM 6-AB, HICKMAN BROS., INC.
These two claims are parts of Claim 6-AB, which was presented to the Corps of Engineers Claims and Appeals Board.
The specifications provided for the installation of clay *205 tile partitions in certain areas bnt authorized the contractor to use cinder block in lieu of tile. Plaintiffs elected to use cinder blocks in such areas. The specifications also provided that the plumbing fixtures were to be secured and fastened to the structural'walls by brass toggle or through bolts. When Hickman Bros., Inc., the plumbing and heating subcontractor, began running pipes to fixtures in areas where cinder blocks had been installed, the mortar between the blocks would not hold the bolts for hanging the plumbing fixtures. To meet this problem, plaintiffs installed a steel plate across the mortared areas and attached the plumbing fixtures to the plate. The trial commissioner found that the Corps of Engineers Claims and Appeals Board had denied the claim on the basis of a determination, supported by substantial evidence, that the extra costs were the direct consequence of the exercise by plaintiffs of their option to use cinder block instead of tile for the partition walls.
Item 8 of Claim 6-AB is a claim by the heating and plumbing subcontractor for extra labor and materials used in rerouting and relocating interior utility lines. The Corps of Engineers Claims and Appeals Board found that considerations of economy led Hickman Bros., Inc., to request approval of the rearrangement and relocation of the utility lines and that the subcontractors saved money thereby. Our trial commissioner has found that the Board’s determination on this matter is supported by substantial evidence.
Plaintiffs have not excepted to the commissioner’s findings regarding these claims and have not mentioned them in their brief. We have therefore adopted the commissioner’s findings, and it follows that the plaintiffs are not entitled to recover on these claims.
defendant’s counterclaim:
At a pretrial conference the parties stipulated that defendant’s counterclaim was abandoned and no proof in support thereof was presented. Accordingly, defendant’s counterclaim is dismissed.
*206 The court having considered the evidence, the report of Trial Commissioner Eoald A. Hogenson, and the briefs and arguments of counsel, makes findings of fact as follows:
1. Plaintiffs Wunderlich Contracting Company, Curlett Construction Company, and Chas. H. Tompkins Company are and were respectively, Nebraska, California, and District of Columbia corporations, with their principal places of business respectively at Omaha, Nebraska; Long Beach, California; and Washington, D.C.
2. Under date of March 13, 1950, plaintiffs (as joint contractors and co-adventurers) and defendant (by and through its District Engineer, San Francisco District, Corps of Engineers, United States Army) executed Contract No. DA-04-203 ENG-187, by the terms of which plaintiffs agreed for the consideration of $7,898,000 to furnish all plant, labor, materials, and equipment (except some Government furnished materials and equipment not relevant to the issues in this case) and perform all work (except furnishing and installing elevators and dumbwaiters) for the construction of the Veterans Administration 500-bed neuro-psychiatric-tubercular hospital at Salt Lake City, Utah, in strict accordance with the pertinent specifications, plans, and drawings.
3. The contract required that plaintiffs commence within 30 days and complete the contract performance within 540 days after the date of receipt by plaintiffs of notice to proceed. Receipt by plaintiffs of such notice on April 28, 1950, fixed the original contract completion date as October 20, 1951.
Plaintiffs completed the contract performance on September 2, 1952, and were not assessed liquidated damages for delays, as they were granted extensions of time for the entire 318 days by which the actual performance time exceeded the original contract time, as hereinafter related.
4. Articles 2, 3, and 5 of the contract and Specification GC-11 provided as follows:
article 2. Specifications and drawings. — The contractor shall keep on the work a copy of the drawings and specifications and shall at all times give the contracting officer access thereto. Anything mentioned in the specifications and not shown on the drawings, or shown on the *207 drawings and not mentioned in the specifications, shall be of like effect as if shown or mentioned in both. In case of difference between drawings and specifications, the specifications shall govern. In any case of discrepancy in the figures, drawings, or specifications, the matter shall be immediately submitted to the contracting officer, without whose decision said discrepancy shall not be adjusted by the contractor, save only at his own risk and expense. The contracting officer shall furnish from time to time such detail drawings and other information as he may consider necessary, unless otherwise provided.
article 3. Changes. — The contracting officer may at any time, by a written order, and without notice to the sureties, make changes in the drawings and/or specifications of this contract within the general scope thereof. If such changes cause an increase or decrease in the amount due under this contract, or in the time required for its performance, an equitable adjustment shall be made and the contract shall be modified in writing accordingly. Any claim for adjustment under this article must be asserted within 10 days from the date the change is ordered: Provided, however, That the contracting officer, if he determines that the facts justify such action, may receive and consider, and with the approval of the Secretary of the Army or his duly authorized representative, adjust any such claim asserted at any time prior to the date of final settlement of the contract. If the parties fail to agree upon the adjustment to be made the dispute shall be determined as provided in Article 15 hereof. But nothing provided in this article shall excuse the contractor from proceeding with the prosecution of the work so changed.
article 5. Extras. — Except as otherwise herein provided, no charge for any extra work or material will be allowed unless the same has been ordered in writing by the contracting officer and the price stated in such order.
gc-,11 suspension OF work: The Contracting Officer may order the Contractor to suspend all or any part of the work for such period oí time as may be determined by him to be necessary or desirable for the convenience of the Government. Unless such suspension unreasonably delays the progress of the work and causes additional expense or loss to the Contractor, no increase in contract price will be allowed. In the case of suspension of all or any part of the work for an unreasonable length of time causing additional expense or loss, not due to the fault or negligence of the Contractor, the Contracting Officer shall make an equitable adjustment in the contract price and modify the contract accordingly.
*208 5. Article 15 of the contract provided as follows:
ARTICLE 15. Disputes. Except as otherwise specifically-provided in this contract, all disputes concerning questions of fact arising under this contract shall be decided by the Contracting Officer subject to written appeal, by the Contractor within 30 days to the Head of the Department concerned or his duly authorized representative whose decision shall be final and conclusive upon the parties hereto. In the meantime the Contractor shall diligently proceed with the work as directed.
The term “his duly authorized representative” used in Article 15 was defined in Article 28 to mean “Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army, or an individual or Board designated by him.”
6. The hospital project, as designed and constructed, consisted of 14 buildings covering an area of 28 acres.
Building No. 1, designated as the Main Building, is one of many complex parts, and comprised about 35 to 40 percent of the overall contract work. It included the staff and administrative offices, chapel, out-patient department, clinical laboratories, research rooms, library, admission rooms, operating rooms, diagnostic rooms, physiotherapy rooms, hydrotherapy suites, occupational therapy units, X-ray and other diagnostic facilities, pharmacy, special diet kitchen, nursing units for disturbed patients, nursing units for medical and surgical care, nursing units for continued psychiatric treatment after observation, rooms for suicidal patients, morgue, storage areas, and mechanical equipment rooms.
Building No. 2, designated as the T.B.-N.P. Building, was a specialized building designed and constructed for the separate housing and treatment of patients with both tuberculosis and neuro-psychiatric disorders. This building required specialized rooms and equipment for maximum septic control and for the greater care required for patients with poor health tolerances.
Building No. 3 was specially designed and constructed for patients with violent and suicidal tendencies; Building No. 4 as the infirmary for mental patients with physical disabilities; Building No. 5 as the hospital kitchen; Building No. 6 as the boilerhouse and shop; Building No. 7 as the laundry; Building No. 8 as the recreation building; and Building No. 9 as a theatre. The balance of the 14 buildings were resident buildings for the staff.
*209 PREPARATION OF PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS
7. On December 16, 1946, the Corps of Engineers entered into a contract with the architectural firm of Ashton, Evans, Ware and McClenahan, for the preparation of the necessary reports, designs, drawings, specifications, and other documents for the pertinent hospital project. During the progress of the work, the firm's name was changed to Ashton, Evans, Brazier and McClenahan.
8. The design contract required that approval of studies, designs, plans, specifications, and estimates be obtained by defendant’s contracting officer through the office of Chief of Engineers when each of the following phases was reached.
Phase A provided for the site plan and small-scale single-line sketches showing the proposed -functional layout and arrangement of the buildings.
Phase B included the description of the type and quality of construction, materials, and equipment, and preparation of finish schedules.
Phase C involved the preparation of double-line drawings showing developed floor plans, floor and roof framing, typical wall section, and proposed floor-to-floor heights, site development plans, exterior utility layouts, and preliminary cost estimates.
Phase D involved the preparation of the final working drawings and specifications.
9. This hospital project was the largest high class construction venture ever undertaken in Salt Lake City, and the architect firm encountered serious problems in the performance of the design contract. There was no prototype of the proposed hospital in the United States, and no other neuro-psychiatric hospital in Salt Lake City. The architect partner assigned to supervise the design spent months studying hospital designs and modern hospital techniques before the start of the detailed drawing work. There were some 89 Veterans Administration hospital projects in some stage of design, and the new ideas of architects on these projects were passed on by Veterans Administration to the Corps of Engineers for dissemination among the various architects and engineers engaged in the overall program.
*210 During World War II qualified draftsmen and engineers were absorbed into the armed services, and schools and colleges for lack of students could not supply replacements. During the post-war years, the severe shortage of qualified personnel was aggravated by the required retraining of previously qualified servicemen and the great demand for engineers and draftsmen in industry generally, as well as in the crash programs of the Veterans Administration.
As a result of these and other factors, the quality of design work in the early post-war years was not what is now to be expected in architectural, structural, mechanical, and other designs.
10. During the performance of the design contract, the design staff of the architect firm ranged from 4 to 70 men, and the Phase D or final drawings, over 500 in number, represented 40 man-years of work.
On the Phase D drawings, the architect firm employed a team of draftsmen and engineers for each of the main buildings, and a single team for a group of the smaller buildings, each headed by a job captain.
The mechanical and electrical plans were prepared respectively by qualified mechanical and electrical engineers, with the landscaping designed by a professor of landscape architecture at Utah State University, the roads and gutters designed by an experienced firm, and the color and finish schedules prepared by a qualified colorist.
11. During the preparation of the plans and specifications, the defendant by and through the offices of the District Engineer, Division Engineer, Chief of Engineers, and Veterans Administration, repeatedly reviewed submissions and resubmissions by the architect firm of the proposed contract drawings and specifications. Defendant’s comments, criticisms, corrections, and changes in design were numerous and detailed, sometimes conflicting at the various levels of review, and continuous to the extent that the architect firm was at times in doubt as to what defendant wanted, and it was necessary to arrange conferences with the Chief of Engineers at Washington, D.C., to obtain decision on points of difference.
12. The architect firm made final submission of Phase D or final working drawings by May 25, 1949.
*211 The original submission of these drawings occurred between December 8 and 27, 1948, and thereafter the architect firm was allowed the tight period of 5 months to make the final submission. Between January 30 and February 6, 1949, a conference between various representatives of the architect firm and the defendant was held at Washington, D.C., to review the Phase D drawings. Shortly prior thereto, on January 18, 1949, the District Engineer had submitted his detailed written comments, and in turn the comments of the Division Engineer were prepared, with the review comments of the Chief of Engineers, issued on February 7, 1949. On March 18, 1949, the architect firm responded to these comments and pointed out the conflicts between the various levels of review in the Corps of Engineers.
At the time of the final submission of the Phase D drawings, the architect firm knew there were a substantial number of comments and criticisms which had not been resolved by corrections on the drawings, but proceeded with the submission in the time allowed.
Defendant, by and through the various offices of the Corps of Engineers, knew of the inadequacies and discrepancies in the Phase D drawings, neither made nor required corrections prior to bidding, but left such matters for handling as field problems in the construction of the project.
13. The Phase D drawings were variously grouped in the usual categories of architectural and landscaping, structural, mechanical (plumbing, heating and special piping) and electrical plans or designs. Coordination between these different categories of drawings is necessary to avoid as much as possible conflicts and interferences in the placing of materials and equipment in the construction work. In drawings for an ordinary house, 5 or 6 errors in plans could reasonably be expected, but in the pertinent complex hospital project, 2,000 errors would not be unreasonable. The probability of discrepancies in the pertinent drawings was increased due to the fact that the defendant was constantly requesting changes throughout the preparation of the plans and specifications, and the substantial efforts of the architect firm to coordinate the drawings were adversely affected.
*212 INVITATION FOR BIDS
14. The hospital project was advertised for bids on December 16, 1949, and date for submission and opening of bids was February 16, 1950. On January 24 and 25, 1950, a pre-bid conference was held, as provided in the invitation for bids, at Salt Lake City, with the District Engineer presiding, and with various members of his staff, and two partners of the architect firm in attendance. Prospective bidders and material and equipment suppliers pointed out numerous discrepancies in the drawings, which were later corrected by addenda. Plaintiffs, though present, did not report any discrepancy. The local manager of the Associated General Contractors made a vigorous plea that the contract performance time not be limited to 540 days, and suggested that from the information received from contractors at his office, 800 days should be allowed.
15. Due to the need of the Veterans Administration for the facility, the invitation for bids specified the addition of a certain sum per excess calendar day to any bid which proposed a contract performance time in excess of 540 calendar days, and thus provided an advantage to any bidder who would propose performance in the basic time stated, or who minimized the excess days in his bid.
Plaintiffs’ bid was for performance in 540 days although they had requested defendant, prior to bidding, to fix the contract time for 730 days.
16. Nine bids were submitted and opened at the appointed time, with the prices ranging from plaintiffs’. low bid of $7,898,000 to the high bid of somewhat more than 9 million dollars, and with the performance time estimates ranging from 540 to 760 days. Five of the nine bidders proposed 600 days or more for the contract performance.
Performance in the contract time of 540 days could only have been accomplished under ideal conditions.
The average of the nine bid prices was the sum of $8,467,900. The defendant’s pre-bid estimate of reasonable costs of performance, without profit, was $8,417,500.
*213 PERFORMANCE OF THE CONTRACT
17. Plaintiffs as a joint venture subcontracted about 80 percent of the contract work to some 57 subcontractors, of which 7 have claims presented in this case. The great bulk of the subcontract work was performed by California firms, most of which had not previously had experience in the Salt Lake City area.
Plaintiffs were all experienced and qualified construction contractors, although never having worked together before as a joint venture nor in the Salt Lake City area, and the subcontractors were experienced and qualified in their various types of subcontract work.
18. Plaintiffs commenced the contract performance about March 13, 1950, and completed on September 2, 1952, or 318 days in excess of the original contract time.
During the course of the contract performance, plaintiffs made numerous requests for extensions of time in the total amount of 1,075.75 days, and were granted the 318 days of experienced delays.
Of the 318 days allowed through 35 change orders, 8 days were for unusually severe weather, 30 days were for labor strikes, 45 days were f-or the extra work of construction of a four-car garage, 53 days for the extra work of providing additional laboratory facilities, 2 days for changing footing elevations in Buildings Nos. 4, 5 and 8, 17 days for substitution of primer sealer for paint otherwise specified in various areas, 10 days for revision of roads, sidewalks, landscaping, and outside utilities, and 153 days for miscellaneous changes.
19. The original contract price of $7,898,000 was increased by monetary allowances provided in most of the 35 change orders in the total sum of $298,563.27. By Change Order 36, issued after completion of the work and as a result of the allowance of various claims by the Corps of Engineers Claims and Appeals Board, plaintiffs were paid an additional $137,-232.37, which made the total additional payments amount to $435,795.64.
20. Plaintiffs’ performance of the contract was substantially affected by the Korean War which commenced in June 1950 and *214 continued throughout the performance time, resulting in substantially increased costs due to rises in prices of materials and equipment and in wages of workmen, with plaintiffs’ bid having been based upon pre-war prices and wage scales in stabilized market conditions.
21. The Salt Lake City area had a relatively small and restricted labor market for skilled workers.
In the fall of 1950, and continuing through the spring of 1951, plaintiffs experienced severe shortages of brick masons, due generally to war projects and conditions and specifically to an emergency military construction project at nearby Hill Field. During this period, there were also serious shortages of carpenters, plumbers and terrazzo workers. Plaintiffs employed an expediter to find brick masons and other skilled labor, and advertised in newspapers throughout the country for such employees.
Plaintiffs requested extensions of the contract performance time in the total amount of 120 days on account of the delays caused by shortages of brick masons, plumbers, and carpenters. This request was not granted, as defendant’s contracting officer refused to recognize labor shortages as a valid justification for extensions under the contract provisions.
22. Plaintiffs repeatedly wrote letters to defendant’s contracting officer that they were experiencing increased costs and delays due to increased prices and wages and shortages of skilled workmen, all resulting from the Korean War, and advised that plaintiffs would present their claims against defendant for such increased costs when they could be determined.
Plaintiffs employed Colonel E. G. Thomas, retired Corps of Engineers contracting officer, to expedite procurement of materials, and to collect data for the purpose of establishing the effect of the Korean War upon plaintiffs’ costs. These claims were never filed by plaintiffs who concluded that there was no legal basis for allowance of them. These contemplated war claims, reflecting the best information plaintiffs had available as to such increased costs, totaled about $650,000.
28. Plaintiffs experienced difficulties in that its plastering subcontractor refused to work in several of the principal buildings at one time, as scheduled by plaintiffs, but insisted in *215 the main upon working in one building at a time, which resulted in complaints by other subcontractors that the plastering subcontractor was delaying the scheduled performance of the work of succeeding trades. The effect of this conflict between subcontractors upon the overall progress of the work is not established by the evidence.
24. Despite the above-described difficulties, as well as the problems hereinafter mentioned, plaintiffs’ performance proceeded with reasonable expedition. The contract work was substantially complete by the end of May 1952, and thereafter plaintiffs and their subcontractors were occupied until September 2, 1952, with correction of punch list items, removal of temporary construction offices, general cleanup of the project, and maintenance of landscaping.
ERRORS, OMISSIONS, AND DISCREPANCIES IN PLANS AND DRAWINGS
25. As was or should have been anticipated by plaintiffs and defendant, there were many errors, omissions, and discrepancies in the plans and drawings. As demonstrated at the pre-bid conference, this condition was apparent to any competent person who examined them. The Corps of Engineers well knew of these circumstances, but decided that corrections would be made as a field condition because of the great need for the hospital facilities. Most of the errors, omissions, and discrepancies were discovered through advance review by both the joint venture and defendant's engineers and through preparation by plaintiffs of necessary shop drawings, but a substantial number thereof were discovered as the pertinent work was in progress. Most of the problems were solved on the site by defendant’s resident engineer. Design and architectural problems were submitted to the architect firm which had a liaison representative at the project site, with the assigned partner of the firm available at his Salt Lake City office to be called to the site by telephone. When the circumstances involved changes in criteria, such matters were referred to the District Engineer for decision. There was close and continuous cooperation between plaintiffs’ project manager and project engineer and defendant’s resident engineer and his staff of inspectors for structural work, mechani *216 cal work, electrical work, painting, outside utilities and other types of work.
26. As conceded by defendant, there is no dispute in this case as to the existence of many errors, omissions, and discrepancies in the plans and drawings. Puring the course of the contract performance, defendant issued some 467 memo-randa covering corrections of about 5,467 errors, omissions, and discrepancies, described as “changes” by plaintiffs in their petition and in the testimony of their witnesses. For example, plaintiffs describe as 18 changes, one direction of the defendant to change 18 doors from wood to metal. Plaintiffs counted in the total of 5,467, every correction or modification, no matter how often repeated.
27. Of the 5,467 corrections or modifications, 16 were items of deletion; 19 were substitutions proposed by plaintiffs and approved by defendant; 106 were matters covered by addenda issued prior to bidding; 98 were repeated items; 1,069 were items on which no costs were ever claimed by plaintiffs by submission of estimates or otherwise; 1,150 were items for which payments were made in the first 35 change orders issued by original aetion of defendant’s contracting officer; 2,251 were items included in claims allowed by the Corps of Engineers Claims and Appeals Board, payments for which were thereafter included in Change Order 36; and 758 were items in claims denied by the Board.
28. Plaintiffs from the outset kept records of the direct costs (extra labor, materials, and equipment) allegedly incurred on the 5,467 modifications, and as a matter of course prepared a series of 470 estimates for submission to defendant, each of which was based on the actual direct cost as applied to the pertinent unit price breakdown provided in the contract for the particular type of work involved.
Of plaintiffs’ 470 estimates, 30 were never submitted to defendant for one reason or another; 30 were submitted but canceled or withdrawn by plaintiffs; 37 were for additional work under consideration but not undertaken; 10 concerned items not claimed to be chargeable to defendant; 7 concerned items of deletions; 334 covered items included in the change orders, in which in most instances plaintiffs’ estimated prices *217 were those paid; and 22 were ultimately denied in the administrative consideration of plaintiffs’ claims.
The change orders made a percentage allowance for overhead and profit, based on the direct costs. Neither plaintiffs’ estimates nor defendant’s change orders included any monetary allowances for alleged disruption of the work or alleged delays in performance ascribed to any or all of the 5,467 modifications.
Early in the contract performance, defendant’s resident engineer refused to entertain any estimate unless based only on direct costs of actual labor and materials, and defendant’s contracting officer acceded to plaintiffs’ proposal that claims for extra costs allegedly caused by confusion and delays resulting from numerous changes and corrections should be eliminated from the estimates and deferred for presentation and consideration at the conclusion of the construction.
29. Of the 5,467 corrections and modifications, the major categories were 416 changes in footing elevations for foundation walls and columns, 87 water table reeomputations, 1,658 items of furring of walls and ceilings and lowering of ceilings, 107 dimensional adjustments, 201 structural corrections, 209 changes or clarifications to duct work, 1,567 finish and color changes, 65 convector changes, and 338 door and door frame changes.
ROOTING ELEVATIONS
30. References on the contract drawings established the overall design requirement that the footing elevations for the foundation walls and columns be placed on a two-to-one stepping of the general slope of repose. This is a usual structural standard followed to prevent the overloading of a lower footing due to earth pressure generated from the load on a higher footing. These step footings (2 feet horizontally for each foot vertically) were necessary on the project buildings because of the slope of the terrain and the resulting general slope of the footings. Through the contract drawings there were some steps shown for foundation footings, but there were many omissions and also errors.
It was necessary for plaintiffs to design and place on the drawings omitted step footings for the foundations and correct *218 erroneous ones, as well as to correct various column footings to conform to the established principle of design.
31. By counting each step in a footing as a change or modification, there were 416 footing changes, on 839 of which plaintiffs kept no record of extra costs and submitted no estimates therefor, and on the remaining 77 of which plaintiffs claimed and were paid extra direct costs (plus percentage allowance for overhead and profit) by various change orders.
82. The step footing problems occurred mainly on Buildings Nos. 1, and 3 through 5, but also to a lesser extent on Buildings Nos. 2, and 6 through 9.
In most instances, plaintiffs anticipated such problems in advance of actual excavation and proposed the corrections which were promptly approved by the defendant’s resident engineer. However, there were instances when the errors or omissions on step footings were discovered during or after excavation, and it was necessary for plaintiffs to transfer the pertinent crew to other available excavation and footing work, thereafter to be returned to correct the work where the error or omission had been discovered.
WATER TABLE ELEVATIONS
88. The water table on a foundation wall is the shelf-like indentation or angle on the exterior face at the top of the wall which permits the placing of the exterior face brick to commence on the foundation at a lower level than the inside masonry wall.
Due to the fact that brick sizes vary from one job to another, contractors make it a general practice to check the elevations and dimensions of water tables prior to the pouring of the foundation walls, in order that necessary adjustments can be made for the particular exterior brick to be used.
At the outset of the pouring of foundation walls, plaintiffs made no check of water table elevations and proceeded to pour about 500 lineal feet of the foundation for Building No. 1. Thereafter the brick mason subcontractor discovered that the water table elevation was too high for the face brick being supplied by the manufacturer, and it was necessary for plaintiffs by jackhammer to chip away some concrete and repair *219 the water table. For this work, plaintiffs supplied an estimate and were paid by change order in the usual manner. After this experience, plaintiffs checked all elevations and dimensions of water tables prior to the pouring of concrete, and proposed corrections which were promptly approved by defendant’s resident engineer.
84. Adjustments of the water table elevations were made throughout the project.
Counting each step or different elevation of any water table as a change, there were 87 of such corrections, no extra costs being claimed by plaintiffs or paid by defendant on 86 of them.
The evidence does not establish that the overall contract performance was delayed by these corrections.
FURRING AND CEILING CHANGES
85. The contract drawings showed that generally throughout the project buildings the story height from finished floor to finished floor was 11 feet 6 inches, and that the vertical distance from finished floor to ceiling within a room was 9 feet 6 inches, thus allowing only 2 feet between the ceiling of a given room and the top of the finished floor of the room above.
Within this 2-foot vertical space, the designed structure was as follows: Proceeding down from the finished floor, there were 1.75 inches of floor finish and topping materials, 2.5 inches of concrete structural floor slab, 14 inches of space occupied by concrete floor joists, then an open space (except for vertical suspension wires) of 2% inches, with the remainder of the 2-foot space (or 2% inches) occupied by the necessary carrying channels and plastering materials comprising the ceiling of the room below. The overall structural design was such that the horizontal space between the concrete floor joists could not be utilized to place the various mechanical lines.
Thus, there was only the impossible space of 2% inches within which to place the necessary piping, heat ducts, and electrical conduits if such mechanical items were to be included (though not required) within the 2-foot space between the finished floor above and the ceiling below, with the alternatives being that such items would have to be suspended below the ceiling and enclosed in furring or false beams, or that the ceiling would have to be lowered, or both procedures employed.
*220 80. The interior horizontal dimensions within each of the project .buildings were in the main extensively set forth on the architectural drawings, and any competent architect or construction engineer upon reviewing both the mechanical and architectural drawings could readily compute that the thicknesses of partitions between rooms and adjacent areas were such that complete enclosure of heat ducts and large piping within partitions would in most cases be impossible, and that in the construction work such mechanical items would either be left exposed, or have to be furred.
37. The architect firm in the preparation of the plans and drawings recognized the extensive ceiling furring problems arising from the criteria concerning story heights and ceiling heights, as outlined in finding 35, and requested the Office of the Corps of Engineers to consider lowering the ceilings or increasing the story heights, but was advised by that office that the ceiling furring matters should be left as field construction problems.
38. One of the architectural drawings showed typical details of project construction and contained detailed drawings both as to ceiling furring and wall furring showing enclosure of ducts, pipes, and other mechanical equipment in a false ceiling beam or false wall column or pilaster. This same drawing contained the following:
Note: Fur as necessary around all air conditioning and ventilating duct work, plumbing, steamfitting and miscellaneous services, piping, et cetera. No such utilities are to be left exposed.
With relatively few exceptions, the details with respect to location and sizes of furring beams and columns to enclose mechanical equipment in the various rooms of the project buildings were not set forth on the architectural or other contract drawings.
89. Early in the overall project work, shop drawings concerning placing of ventilating ducts were submitted to plaintiffs by a subcontractor, which showed that ducts coming out of a mechanical equipment room would have to cross each other, and this alerted plaintiffs’ project engineer to the problem of the extensive need for furring generally, and for the lowering of ceilings. He then organized what he called an *221 interference committee comprised of the field superintendents of various subcontractors, such as those concerned with lathing, plumbing, electrical installation, heating, ventilating, masonry for partitions, and acoustical tile for ceilings. This committee met regularly and made up an extensive list of rooms in which conflicts between the various trades could be foreseen. Recommendations were then prepared and submitted to defendant’s resident engineer who with reasonable diligence approved or revised the corrections or clarifications to the contract drawings concerning false furred beams and lowering of ceilings.
Before the completion of the concrete pouring for the first floor of any building, plaintiffs discussed with defendant’s resident engineer the two problems of furring and lowering of ceilings and furring of partitions to enclose mechanical equipment.
Concerning vertical pipes and ducts, defendant’s resident engineer advised that they all had to be enclosed either by the widening of partitions or by furred pilasters. In general the mechanical workers installed their vertical piping and ducts, and thereafter, the masons (by widening some partitions) and lathers (by furring concurrently with lathing of the area) proceeded to enclose the mechanical lines with few interruptions in sequence of operations.
Plaintiffs objected to the interpretation by defendant’s resident engineer that it was a contract requirement that the mechanical service lines along the ceiling be furred. At a conference between plaintiffs’ project officers and defendant’s resident engineer and representatives from the Corps of Engineers District Office, plaintiffs were again advised that ceiling furring was a contract requirement, and that plaintiffs should proceed to lower ceilings, in each case the least possible, and install ceiling furring on the basis of their field decisions without any formal action, but plaintiffs declined to assume such responsibility. It was therefore agreed that plaintiffs would submit their recommendations to the defendant’s resident engineer through their interference committee. Decisions were promptly made by defendant’s resident engineer, mainly as approvals but with some revisions directed. The lowered ceilings and furred ceiling beams were in most instances installed in the regular construction operations, with relatively few disruptions to the overall sequence of operations.
*222 In the bowling alley of the recreation building, there was a long concrete beam or girder running lengthwise in the center of the ceiling, as provided in the structural drawing but not shown on the architectural drawing. The walls and ceiling were finished with acoustical tile. During the course of construction and without interruption in sequence of operations, the necessary furring channels and acoustical tile were applied to the walls and ceiling including the materials applied to the sides and bottom of the girder, with the extra work on the finishing of the girder having been orally directed by the defendant's resident engineer.
The architectural drawings showed that furring was to be installed in the ceilings of patients’ shower rooms, but failed to specify how the side of the furred beams would be finished. The pertinent drawings were amended by adding a note to the effect that the vertical face of the furred-down ceiling would be finished the same as the adjacent wall.
40. Throughout Buildings Nos. 1 through 10, there were about 200 rooms in which ceilings were lowered, about 310 rooms in which ceiling furring was installed, and about 475 rooms in which wall furring was done.
There were 1,658 separate items of furred ceiling beams, furred wall pilasters, and lowering of ceilings. Various claims were made by plaintiffs for extra direct costs incurred for the lowering of ceilings and the furring generally. The Corps of Engineers Claims and Appeals Board sustained those claims (covering 932 items) concerning changes in ceiling elevations, thickening of partition walls to include piping and ducts, and also those items of furring not considered related to the contract drawing and furring note above-mentioned in finding 38. Thereafter, plaintiffs were on such sustained claims paid their direct costs, with percentage allowances for overhead and profit, by Change Order 36, but have pending before this court their claim for the remaining 726 furring items, as hereinafter related.
DIMENSIONAL CORRECTIONS
41. During the course of construction, plaintiffs discovered that certain dimensions on the architectural and structural drawings were incorrect, and upon plaintiffs’ submission of estimates or proposals for clarification, defendant’s resident *223 engineer with reasonable diligence issued clarifying memo-randa. Of the total of 107 such items, most of which occurred in Building No. 1, but otherwise were scattered throughout the project, 103 concerned correction of dimensional data on the drawings, and 4 dimensional changes involved extra work for which plaintiffs claimed and were paid their direct costs by change orders.
Most of the dimensional errors were discovered and corrected in advance of the particular construction work involved, but in some few instances, crews had to be transferred to other work pending correction of such an error.
42. Most of the dimensional errors existed because the specified overall dimension of a building did not conform with the corresponding total of the successive interior distances, that is, from the outer face of the building to the first column center line, to each succeeding column center line, and to the outer face of the other end of the building. As required by the pertinent detailed drawing, the distances from column center line to column center line had to be changed to conform with the overall architectural dimension of the building. Thus, plaintiffs were required to check all structural drawings, and discovered the need for and proposed corrections of a substantial number of column center line to column center line distances.
43. Throughout the project buildings, plaintiffs encountered problems with respect to location of partitions between rooms in that in most instances the drawings did not provide the distance between a partition and some structural member, and it was necessary that partitions be located by plaintiffs by reference only to the specified room dimensions.
structural problems
44. There were about 201 errors, omissions, or discrepancies with respect to structural members such as columns or beams, most of which existed in Building No. 1 but were otherwise scattered throughout the project.
Most of these items were discovered by plaintiffs in the course of the layout of work to be done, and plaintiffs’ requested corrections were promptly approved by defendant’s resident engineer after consultation with the liaison representative or partner of the architect firm. In some few instances, *224 errors in beams were discovered during construction work, and the crew had to be transferred to another area until the correction was requested and approved.
Of the 201 structural items, plaintiffs claimed no extra costs on 79 because they related only to the supplying or correction of information. There were 122 items on which plaintiffs requested and were paid their direct costs for extra work by change orders, and this extra work in the main was comprised of changes in the sizes of columns and addition of necessary beams missing on the contract drawings.
45. An illustration of a structural problem arising from lack of coordination between architectural and structural drawings was that there was shown architecturally that there was a difference of 1 foot between the floor elevation of the nave and the remaining part of the chapel, whereas the structural beam design made no allowance for this difference. In the layout of this work, plaintiffs discovered this discrepancy, and requested and obtained approval of the necessary modification of beams to provide the 1-foot step in floor elevation.
Also, certain beams and bents in the chapel were shown structurally to be larger in size and shape than permitted by architectural dimensions, and the necessary modifications were requested and approved.
Another example of a structural problem is that on the first floor framing plan for Building No. 8, there was no structural design shown to support the floor where it crossed the tunnel, there being several tunnels on the project to connect major buildings, with this problem repeated in several buildings. Plaintiffs were required to design for submission and approval the necessary beam details to provide support for the floor over the tunnel.
At one place on the outside brick face of Building No. 1, the architectural drawings showed a slight recess in the brick facing, but the corresponding structural drawing showed no such recess in the foundation wall, and it was necessary for plaintiffs to propose and obtain approval from defendant’s resident engineer of the reduction of the thickness of the foundation wall from 12 to 7 inches along the recess area, the purpose being to coordinate the foundation with the recessed brick facing and still maintain the specified interior dimensions.
*225 The contract drawings failed to show any specific method of supporting the outside cast stone facing of bay windows, an architectural feature of most of the large buildings of the project. This structural support had to be designed and added to the drawings. Discrepancies between structural and architectural drawings also required redesign of the radius of beams in one tier of bay windows for five floors in order to accomplish the architectural plan.
At one location on the first floor structural plan where flat-slab construction was erroneously specified, apparently because a concrete wall was incorrectly considered to be structural, the Corps of Engineers substituted the pan-joist construction which was the typical type of floor construction on the project.
Corrections of the contract drawings were also required to clarify the discrepancy between structural and architectural drawings as to the location of a circular stairway, to provide in one stairwell windows shown architecturally but missing on structural drawings, and to correlate conflicting information on the architectural and structural drawings concerning elevator shafts and stairwells throughout the project.
duct opening corrections
46. Because of lack of coordination between the mechanical drawings and the structural drawings, there were about 209 instances in which the opening or hole through the structural floor slab was not large enough (as specified on the pertinent structural drawing) to accommodate the insertion of the specified size of heating duct. These openings had to be provided by sleeving of the concrete, and such sleeves were placed by the mechanical subcontractor prior to the pouring of concrete for the particular floor slab.
In laying out the work of framing for the pouring of the first floor slab on the project, the subcontractor on the heating and ventilating work discovered some of these errors as to the size of openings, and it was necessary for plaintiffs and their subcontractor to review all of the mechanical and structural drawings and propose the corrections which were approved by defendant’s resident engineer with reasonable diligence by memoranda on August 19,1950, with oral revisions having been *226 given prior to that date in instances where the work was in progress. Nearly all of these corrections were accomplished prior to the time for placing of the sleeving for the required duct openings. These errors on the structural drawings were scattered throughout all buildings. In some instances where concrete had already been poured on the first floor slabs of Buildings Nos. 1 and 4, plaintiffs had to enlarge some openings by use of a jackhammer, and then repair the concrete opening, for which they were paid their extra direct costs.
CONVECTOR CHANGES
47. Of the 65 convector changes, some involved relocation of convectors, such as several instances where the specified location was behind a piece of laboratory equipment, others concerned substitutions of smaller sized convectors where the large type specified would not fit into the space designated on the plans, and still others concerned necessary changes in the type of ceramic tile constituting the window stool, or inside sill in some rooms, in order that the exhaust grill of the convector could function by releasing heat through the stool into the room.
Plaintiffs were paid their extra direct costs, with percentage allowances for overhead and profit, on all of the foregoing convector changes, and these corrections were in the main either made promptly by field decision while the work in the pertinent area was in progress or anticipated in advance and corrected before the pertinent work commenced.
48. There were some instances in which the window above the required convector was located close to or adjacent to structural concrete, such as a concrete column, and there was insufficient space or clearance for the placing of the subframe to which the convector front was installed. In some cases this difficulty was not discovered until the inside masonry work in the area had been completed, and it was necessary to have brick masons return and modify masonry in order that the convector could be installed.
49. The contract drawings made no provision for an ending strip for plaster along the vertical edges of the removable convector fronts. The standard practice in such a situation is to install a bead or metal strip to provide a firm ending for *227 plaster. After lathers had proceeded with their work through a portion of the project, this omission was discovered, and it was necessary to obtain a revision of the contract to add a vertical bead on each side of the convector front, after which the lathers returned to the areas of their completed work to make such installations.
DOOR AND DOOR FRAME MODIFICATIONS
50. Of the 338 door and door frame modifications, 18 were changes of that many doors from wood to metal. Plaintiffs had submitted at defendant’s request estimates of extra costs to change 78 wooden doors to metal, being both the exterior and interior doors in stairwells. The final decision by the Corps of Engineers was to change only the 18 interior doors, with the exterior ones to remain wood. Pending this decision, the masonry work was in progress on the first floor of Building No. 1, and at the locations of 14 exterior doors, it was necessary to leave masonry work incomplete for the later installation of the wider door frames required if metal doors were ordered. Thereafter the masons had to return to brick in the door frames at these 14 locations. Plaintiffs requested and were paid their costs for the return of the masons to these entrances and also their direct costs plus percentage allowances for overhead and profit on substitution of the 18 interior metal doors.
51. Most of the other door and door frame modifications concerned changes either in the sizes and types of doors, or changes in types of door frames in order that each door frame would be as wide in its jamb direction as the finished partition in which it was located. The corrections of door frames were made necessary by the lack of coordination to the extent of the required changes in the contract drawings between the specified type of door frame (having a particular jamb width) with the thickness of the involved partition. The partitions varied in thickness because of the variations in their finishes, such as plaster, glazed tile, terrazzo bases, glazed wainscoting. To some extent, widening of partitions to enclose vertical mechanical lines, wall furring, relocation of mechanical equipment, and corrections of errors and discrepancies as to wall finishes required changes in size or location of door frames.
*228 52. Most of the door and door frame changes were requested and approved prior to commencement of the pertinent work, with oral revisions being usually directed by defendant’s resident engineer when required corrections were discovered during work progress, but in some instances there were disruptions of the related operations and necessary reassignment of crews to other available work.
Plaintiffs were paid their direct costs, with percentage allowances for overhead and profit, on the door and door frame changes.
FINISH AND COLOR SCHEDULES
58. The types of finish and.color combinations for each of the 2,000 rooms and other spaces, such as corridors, lobbies, etc., on the project were provided by complex finish schedule on two sheets of architectural drawings, and by a complex color schedule on one architectural drawing.
On each of such schedules, key numbers as to various color and finish combinations were listed under column headings for the various surfaces of a room, such as floor, wall base, wainscot, wall, ceiling, doors, windows, etc., by type, grade, and color of the finish materials or paint so specified.
In turn, each architectural drawing of floor areas of rooms contained for each room key numbers for colors and finishes in a block, which numbers were found under the various column headings of the color and finish schedules.
54. In his written comments, dated January 18,1949, on the first submission by the architect firm of the final contract drawings, the District Engineer suggested that a master list of rooms, with numbers and identification, be prepared, to add considerably to the clarity of the plans, but no such list was presented in the final submission in May 1949, or thereafter.
On March 21, 1950, the District Engineer by letter advised the defendant’s resident engineer that review of the contract color and finish schedules showed there were still many discrepancies, stated that there were instances in which both glazed tile and painting were specified for the same space, requested consultation with the contractor and complete review of such schedules, and suggested that the architect firm would undoubtedly want to review such schedules and make the necessary corrections.
*229 55. By written memoranda dated June 23, July 10 and 20, August 14, September 8 and 25, 1950, well in advance of the stage of construction requiring installation of interior finish or paint in any of the buildings, the defendant’s resident engineer ordered the necessary changes, additions or corrections to the finish and color schedules, with most changes made by the memorandum dated June 23, 1950.
There were about 206 rooms affected in greater or lesser degrees by these memoranda.
On February 21, 1951, a tabulation of all changes, corrections, additions or deletions directed by preceding memoranda, as well as the pre-bid addenda to the invitation, was issued in a comprehensive memorandum purporting to gather together and collate all finish and color information. However, further explanatory, corrective or clarifying memoranda on finish and color were issued March 10 and 13, 1951, with some minor revisions to painting on July 6, 1951. In many, if not most cases, color and finish corrections were orally given to plaintiffs by defendant’s resident engineer and later confirmed by the memoranda.
56. There were 1,537 corrections, clarifications, deletions and changes to the finish and color schedules.
The finish and color schedules concerned the performance by subcontractors on such work as asphalt tile flooring, lathing and plastering, ceramic wall tile, acoustical ceiling tile, and painting.
While the use of the complex finish and color schedules, rather than a room-by-room listing of such matters, and the coordination of the 1,537 changes, seriously burdened supervisory personnel in the layout of the work of the various trades, the evidence does not establish that there were substantial disruptions to the actual work involved, nor that such changes caused any overall delay in the contract performance.
Disruption of the finish work in the main lobby of Building No. 1 occurred when the lathing subcontractor during lathing operations in that area discovered a discrepancy concerning location of an inside canopy with respect to the lowered ceiling level, and it was necessary for the lathers to stop such work and be transferred to another area pending approval of the canopy adjustment. Relocation of the light fixtures in this *230 lobby was required because of insufficient space between the ceiling and structural framing.
Redesign of the installation of the wood flooring of the gymnasium was required to provide an expansion joint around the perimeter of the wood flooring where the adjacent floor materials were glazed masonry on concrete. This was accomplished prior to construction of the masonry walls.
MISCELLANEOUS CHANGES
57. In addition to the foregoing general categories, there were a substantial number of miscellaneous changes, corrections, and clarifications, most of which are hereinafter described in findings 58 through 74.
58. At the outset of plaintiffs’ activities on the site, prior to notice to proceed, plaintiffs’ survey crew, in attempting to establish excavation elevations, discovered that the bench mark elevation on the contract drawings was erroneous. This survey work was delayed for 2 or 3 days until the architect firm and its surveying engineer determined that the erroneous bench mark elevation had been based on a previously disturbed marker, and a corrected elevation was provided.
59. There were a substantial number of corrections of errors and omissions as to grade elevations of trenches for outside utility lines, as hereinafter related in findings concerning the claim of subcontractor E. C. Losch Company.
60. There were clarifications and corrections due to errors and omissions on the contract drawings regarding road locations and grades, with resulting corrections to sidewalks and raising and lowering of the elevations of fire hydrants as required by changes in road grades. An access road was relocated when plaintiffs’ road construction crew discovered in excavating that a municipal pipeline crossing such road would be at a higher elevation than the specified finish grade of the road. The contract drawing showed the existence of such line but not its elevation.
61. A 12-inch water supply line was constructed 10 feet to the east of its specified location, this revision being required because of omission of information from the contract plan.
62. Revisions of two catch basins leading to underground *231 storm sewers were made upon defendant’s request for change in type.
68. Clarification of tunnel plans at various locations where tunnels passed under project roads was required due to discrepancies between contract drawings as to the' reinforcing structure of the tunnels at the road locations. Also, the cross-section drawing of a pipe tunnel showed three pipes, but the piping plans only required two pipes, and defendant’s resident engineer directed deletion of the third pipe as not required. In this same pipe tunnel, revision of plans was made to increase the head room by adding concrete curbs to raise the pipe-carrying section.
64. Discrepancies between large detailed drawings and floor plans concerning small toilet rooms required a considerable number of clarifications of plans.
65. When plaintiffs’ survey crew was laying out the northeast wing of Building No. 1, discovery of a manhole revealed the presence of an old sewer line in conflict with the specified foundations and footings in that area, and it was necessary to defer excavation for that part of the building until defendant’s resident engineer issued a revised drawing showing relocation of the sewer line.
66. The plumbing specifications erroneously required a concealed type of thermostatic valve, but the architectural drawings showed an exposed type installed in control cabinets. When the clarification was issued for use of the exposed type, masonry had already been constructed in some areas for the concealed type, and it was necessary to return masons to cut out masonry work for the installation of the control cabinets.
67. The plans for Building No. 1 provided expansion joints between the different wings and portions, with such joints filled with a mastic material. Plaintiffs installed in the joints a black mastic material proposed by them and approved by defendant’s resident engineer, after which the heat of the sun caused the mastic material to ooze out from behind the cover plates of each expansion joint and flow down the outside brick walls for the full height of the building. Plaintiffs thereafter had to remove all of the cover plates, steam out the mastic filler from the joints, and clean the black stains from the exterior brick facing by steam jetting and sand blasting.
*232 68. The specified pan-joist construction resulted in each of the floor slabs and its reinforced joists being poured as a monolithic whole; This situation caused a dispute to arise between plaintiffs and defendant’s contracting officer concerning the meaning of a contract specification which stated that corridor and pipe space walls were to be built “from the floor to the underside of floor construction above.” Plaintiffs contended that they were required to construct such walls only as high as the plane running beneath the bottoms of the floor joists, whereas defendant’s contracting officer required such walls to be built (in accordance with his interpretation) to make actual contact and closure with the floor slab surfaces between the joists in each of the pertinent pan-joist areas.
Plantiffs’ contention was eventually sustained by the Corps of Engineers Claims and Appeals Board, and they were paid their extra direct costs of labor and materials for the added height of these walls.
The order requiring closure of these walls was made by defendant’s contracting officer on June 12, 1951, at a time when most of such walls had been constructed to floor joist height, and it was necessary that brick masons be returned to complete the partition construction in 2,200 pan-joist areas, mostly along corridors.
69. In one wing of Building No. 1, there were some instances of conflicts between the architectural and structural plans concerning location of floor drains, and it was necessary to modify the framing plan to drop the pan lower and thus thicken the floor slab in some places in order that floor drains could be installed as required between joists rather than through them.
76. Because of discrepancies in the plans and the omission of information concerning type of construction, it was necessary for the penthouse on Building No. 8 to be redesigned to clarify the location of windows, provide for wooden framing with brick veneer exterior and wooden roof structure, a type of construction not previously specified, and not typical to this or the other large buildings of the project.
71. Building No. 9, the theatre building, required numerous revisions to the plans concerning supplying and correcting of *233 elevations for footings and foundations, corrections of structural dimensions, revisions of the proscenium wall and of doors to comply with fire prevention standards, and general clarification of construction details required because of omissions from the plans. The revisions were supplied to plaintiffs by a substantial number of successive memoranda from defendant’s resident engineer. Because plaintiffs’ project officers deemed the redesign of this building confused, plaintiffs dropped this building out of their construction schedule in the fall of 1950 and did not resume work thereon until the spring of 1951, when they were required to expedite operations in order that this building would be ready for the various trades to perform their work in an orderly manner.
72. As required by the heating and plumbing plans, the ventilating ducts had dampers to control air flow, and the plumbing pipes had valves to control water supply, and these dampers and valves were installed above ceilings with access panels required. The architectural plans showed neither the existence nor location of such panels, but in such a large construction project, placing of access panels is dependent upon decisions by mechanical subcontractors as to the location of such dampers and valves. Throughout Buildings Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 13, the plumbing or heating man would tag where a panel should be installed, and thereafter plaintiffs installed a panel at each damper or valve location. Plaintiffs’ direct costs for the access panels were paid for by change order.
73. As proposed by plaintiffs and approved by defendant’s resident engineer, plaintiffs substituted an adjustable anchor bolt in lieu of the fixed anchor bolt specified to hold the required anchor iron to support the face brick adjacent to the spandrel beams. This substitution of bolts, which eliminated the serious difficulties in brick construction which would have been caused by use of fixed bolts, was made on every building at every floor at the head of every window.
74. There were a number of changes in location or types of electrical fixtures, wall cabinet sinks, mirrors, medicine cabinets, bathroom accessories, insect screens and other equipment, on which plaintiffs were paid for any extra direct costs incurred and claimed.
*234 CLAIM 1 AND ALTERNATIVES
75.Claim 1 of plaintiffs’ petition is an overall claim by which plaintiffs as a joint venture seek to recover for themselves and for each of various subcontractors the difference between experienced costs and income on the contract performance, plus percentage allowances on experienced costs for overhead and profit, as'the overall damages of the joint venture and each of such subcontractors, allegedly caused by defendant’s claimed breach of contract, or as the alleged reasonable amounts of recovery of such claimants on a quantum meruit basis on claimed entitlement to reformation of the contract.
Included under Claim 1 are the respective claims of the joint venture and certain of its subcontractors, hereinafter designated individually by appropriate headings.
The claims for extra costs of subcontractors Lauren Burt Company and Wasatch Cache Electric Company (the latter being Claim 18-A) are separate and not in the alternative to Claim 1, as these subcontractors have not asserted any claim on the theory of entitlement to the difference between experienced costs and income.
Claims 3-AD, 15-D, 15-A, and 6-AB (Items 5 and 8) are in the alternative to Claim 1, as they involve alleged extra costs included within those covered by the claimed entitlement of the joint venture and/or a subcontractor under Claim 1 to all costs in excess of income.
The numbering of the claims is the same as that used in the proceedings before the Corps of Engineers Claims and Appeals Board.
plaintiffs’ claim i
76. In addition to the overall supervision and correlation of the performance of the work of their many subcontractors, plaintiffs directly performed the work of general layout of the project, excavation and framing for footings and foundations, pouring of concrete structures of the large buildings, completion of the masonry work abandoned by the mason subcontractor, and among other things, general cleanup of the project.
77. Plaintiffs' total costs, including all amounts paid by them to their various subcontractors as well as their costs *235 otherwise on the contract performance, were in the sum of $9,454,301.13, including reasonable allocation of overhead, on which a reasonable profit allowance would be 5 percent, or $472,715.06, for the total sum of $9,927,016.19. Plaintiffs’ total income on the contract performance included $8,333,795.34 received from the defendant, and $98,149.70 in other income for a total sum of $8,431,945.04. Thus the amount claimed by plaintiffs in behalf of the joint venture on Claim 1 is the sum of $1,495,071.15.
The general testimony of the principal agents of the joint venture, unrebutted by the defendant, is that all of plaintiffs’ total costs were reasonably necessary to accomplish the contract performance under all of the circumstances encountered. There is no evidence of any wasteful or unnecessary expenditure, although it is clear that the costs of performance were greatly increased by the price and wage increases incident to the Korean War.
78. By comparison of plaintiffs’ bid estimates with their recorded costs of performance, the major losses of plaintiffs as a joint venture were incurred on the following items of contract work, with each amount in the table including principally labor and materials, but with some other costs:
The detailed figures supporting the foregoing summary show that the actual costs of labor and materials greatly exceeded the estimated costs, but no attempt was made by plaintiffs to show in evidence the extent to which these or other losses were caused by disruptions in operations, apparently because plaintiffs claim entitlement to all of their excess costs, irrespective of the extent to which they were caused by war conditions.
CLAIM 1 OF HICKMAN BROS., INC.
79. Hickman Bros., Inc., entered into a subcontract with plaintiffs on March 31, 1950, by which this subcontractor agreed to furnish and install all meehancial equipment including plumbing, heating, ventilating and certain other utilities on the project for a total consideration of $1,484,500. This *236 subcontractor had had no previous experience in the Salt Lake City area, but had for many years performed similar work on large construction projects.
Hickman subcontracted the outside utilities and also the interior systems for air conditioning, heating, and refrigeration, but in the main performed the work on the interior systems for water, sewer, and steam.
80. The mechanical drawings, in accordance with the prevailing custom in the building construction industry, were diagrammatic, that is, single-line drawings which did not purport to reflect interferences, obstacles, or detailed routing of the various systems, but showed only the approximate location of piping in a particular area. Thus, the precise locations of pipes and vents were left for determination as job conditions developed, as was customary in the industry.
81. In the performance of the installation in the various project buildings of the sewer and water lines, Hickman encountered structural interferences requiring routing of pipe around structural beams, rerouting of pipes previously installed because some plumbing fixtures were located on the architectural drawings directly in conflict with structural beams, and problems concerning installation of pipes in the limited space provided in connection with furred beams and pilasters and lowered ceilings.
For its extra direct costs incurred in the correction of interferences and discrepancies, this subcontractor was paid by change order.
82. The total costs of Hickman Bros., Inc., in the performance of its subcontract, including amounts paid to its subcontractors as well as its own costs of performance otherwise, were in the sum of $1,841,003.52, on which a reasonable allowance for overhead would be 10 percent, or $184,100.35, and a reasonable allowance for profit would be 5 percent, or $101,-255.19, for the total sum of $2,126,359.06. The total income of Hickman Bros., Inc., was the sum of $1,608,793.49. Thus, this subcontractor’s claim under Claim 1 amounts to the sum of $517,565.57. '
The costs of this subcontractor were also substantially increased by the Korean War price and wage increases.
*237 88. Hickman Bros., Inc., began to experience severe financial difficulties in 1951, and by February 1952, it was necessary for its surety company to take over the completion of the subcontract performance.
In addition to the items set forth in finding 82, the claim of this subcontractor under Claim 1 includes further amounts of so-called “hardship claims” of Hickman subcontractors and also claimed expenses of the surety company, on which there is no substantial evidence to support any finding.
CLAIM 1 OP RISK-SUTTON COMPANY
84. Risk-Sutton Company, a partnership, was plaintiffs’ painting subcontractor on both interior and exterior work on the project.
As previously stated in findings 53 through 58, there were numerous corrections, clarifications, deletions, and changes to the finish and color schedules set forth in the contract drawings. In connection with the issuance by defendant of the various memoranda concerning revision of such schedules, there was a total of 480 painting spaces throughout the entire project, on which there were color revisions. Of these, 177 spaces were affected by the June 23,1950, revision. By September 25,1950, 12 additional spaces were revised, and 241 more spaces were changed in connection with the overall revision by the architect firm of the finish and color schedules on February 21, 1951, these latter changes being made in connection with finish revisions to produce harmonious effects in accordance with the design objective to provide color therapy for mental patients. Up to July 6, 1951, there were minor revisions affecti

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/8593350. Public record. Not legal advice.