Opinion ID: 1208304
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The City's Counteroffer

Text: Wadsworth contends that even if the City did not accept its offer at the January 10 meeting, the City made a counteroffer at that meeting which Mr. Wadsworth later accepted by agreeing to reduce the bid $100,000 by eliminating the skylight and the canopy. The City acknowledges that it made a counteroffer but argues that Wadsworth did not accept it because Mr. Wadsworth wanted to formalize the contract in the amount of the original bid and negotiate a reduction afterward pursuant to the change order provision. The City argues that this was unacceptable because it would require [t]rust and reliance by the City on an assurance by Cal Wadsworth that he would reduce the price sufficiently. An offeree's proposal of different terms from those of the offer constitutes a counteroffer, and no contract arises unless the original offeror accepts it unconditionally. Iselin v. United States, 271 U.S. 136, 139, 46 S.Ct. 458, 459, 70 L.Ed. 872, 874 (1926); R.J. Daum Constr. Co., 247 P.2d at 819-20. If the original offeror accepts the counteroffer before it is withdrawn, a binding contract is created. R.J. Daum Constr. Co., 247 P.2d at 819. In this case, the City's conditional acceptance of Wadsworth's bid at the January 10 meeting clearly constituted a counteroffer. However, we agree with the trial court and the court of appeals that Wadsworth did not accept the counteroffer. A trial court's finding about whether a party accepted an offer or a counteroffer is a finding of fact. Kimball v. Campbell, 699 P.2d 714, 716 (Utah 1985). We cannot overturn a trial court's factual findings unless they are clearly erroneous. Utah R.Civ.P. 52(a). A finding is clearly erroneous if it is against the clear weight of evidence, or if the appellate court otherwise reaches a definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been made. State v. Walker, 743 P.2d 191, 193 (Utah 1987). The evidence as to whether Wadsworth accepted the counteroffer is conflicting. Mr. Wadsworth testified that when he met with the project engineer, the architect, and Mr. Bulloch on January 29, 1991, they discussed how the required reduction might be accomplished. Because Mr. Wadsworth needed to refer to his bid worksheets before he could commit to any specific reduction plan, he requested his Salt Lake City office to fax him the worksheets. After reviewing them, he met with Mr. Bulloch the following day. Mr. Wadsworth testified that at that meeting, he agreed to reduce his bid by $100,000 by eliminating a canopy and a skylight. It is undisputed that a reduction of that amount would have brought the project within budget. He further testified, however, that the City also wanted to eliminate a sewer for a further reduction of $77,810. He was unwilling to agree to that reduction for that amount. If I would have agreed to that, we would have had a job, he testified. On the other hand, Mr. Bulloch testified that when he and Mr. Wadsworth met on January 30, Mr. Wadsworth was confident that [a reduction of $100,000] could be accomplished, but only after a contract was signed. In reliance on this testimony, the trial court found that the counteroffer had not been accepted by Wadsworth. We cannot hold that this was clear error. A counteroffer must be unconditionally accepted. Merely expressing confidence that the requested reduction could be made later was insufficient as an acceptance. We therefore hold, albeit for different reasons, that the court of appeals did not err in concluding that a contract did not come into existence between Wadsworth and the City.