Architects & Designers Still Aren’t Off The Hook

According to a recent decision, contractors may not be entirely responsible for bad design or bad specifications. At least when it involves federal construction contracts.

Michael Payne of Payne Hackenbracht & Sullivan provides some intelligent insight into the decision:

“The Court referred to one of the landmark cases in federal government contracting, Spearin v. U.S., where Justice Brandeis wrote the Supreme Court opinion that established the ‘Spearin Doctrine’ (a contractor will not be liable to an owner for loss or damage which results solely from insufficiencies or defects in plans and specifications).”

Reader’s Digest version: The contractor followed the government’s specification to a “T”, but the specs were wrong. The government sued the contractor for building it wrong. The court decided that the contractor was right and shouldn’t have to pay for the designer’s flaws.

Link to Article

1 December 2006 | Construction, Construction Defect, Consulting, Litigation | Comments

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