ETS-HOKIN CORPORATION AND BANK OF AMERICA NATIONAL TRUST AND SAVINGS ASSOCIATION, THIRD-PARTY PLAINTIFF v. THE UNITED STATES, 190 Ct. Cl. 668

Summary

Plaintiff entered into a public contract to construct a building for a government agency. The contract required plaintiff to install fire detectors capable of detecting the airborne products of combustion before smoke was formed. Plaintiff had submitted a bid based on providing fire detectors of the same kind installed in other buildings in the agency complex that reacted to changes in heat, as well as additional smoke detectors. After the bid was accepted, defendant told plaintiff that only ionizing fire detectors, which were newly available, would be accepted. Plaintiff installed that type of detectors, but appealed to the Corps of Engineers Board of Contract Appeals for an adjustment in the contract price to cover the extra cost, which was denied. Plaintiff then petitioned for review under the Wunderlich Act, 41 U.S.C.S. § 321, and both parties moved for summary judgment. The court held that because the specification for the fire detectors could apply to the type that plaintiff ...