Zafer Construction Company v. Army Corps of Engineers

It is historically known that unlike private construction agreements, government contracts are unfairly onerous in favor of the Government and contractors must look to the courts for the correct and just application of this specialized and not commonly practiced part of the law. In direct conflict to this Court’s precedent set forth in Hollerbach v. United States, 233 U.S. 165, 34 S. Ct. 553 (U.S. April 6, 1914), the lower court misapplied the law relating to reliance on incorrect drawings and representations of the Government. Misapplying controlling precedent of this Court, the District Court allowed the government to reap the benefit of a mistaken bid arising out of errors in drawings provided by the Government. Does the law allow the government to reap the benefit of a contractor’s mistaken bid when the mistake was caused by incorrect drawings provided by the Government?

There is an inter-circuit split on an issue of serious importance. This is the application of C.F.R 14.407-3. and the Government’s requirement to verify a bid from a contractor and notify the contractor of the potential mistake when the Government is or should have been aware of a mistaken bid. This Court should decide the issue so the law is applied consistently for future parties. The 9 th Circuit case of Sulzer Bingham Pumps, Inc. v. Lockheed Missiles & Space Co. is directly on point to the present facts and is unlike any