Contractor’s Toolbox – Beware of the invisible contract clause

Description

Abstract: Contracting with federal and state government agencies requires careful planning — especially when a public construction contract is involved. Not only can these documents be lengthy and complex but, in some cases, “invisible” mandatory contract clauses may be treated as part of the contract even if they’re not included. This article references a long-standing court case in which, following a contract termination, a contractor’s lost profits claim was rejected because the court presumed the contractor to be aware of a clause that wasn’t actually written into the contract. G.L. Christian and Associates v. U.S., 312 F.2d 418 (Ct. Cl.1963) General Engineering & Machine Works v. O’Keefe, 991 F.2d 775 (Fed. Cir. 1993)