Opinion ID: 1351655
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Was the Board's October 7 Approval Conditional?

Text: The district court concluded the following language in the Notice to Bidders made the Board's October 7 approval conditional: Failure to execute a contract and file an acceptable bond and certificate of insurance within 15 days of the date of the approval for awarding of the contract, as herein provided, will be just and sufficient cause for the denial of the award and forfeiture of the proposed guaranty. We first note that the district court found that HCI was ready, willing, and able to perform and stood ready to sign the contract as soon as it was prepared and tendered to HCI. The court also found that HCI assured the Board that it was ready to furnish the performance bond and certificate of insurance, but it needed the contract in order to secure these documents. There was undisputed evidence that HCI easily could have obtained the bond and certificate of insurance, a finding the district court expressly made. The evidence is also undisputed that the Board rescinded its acceptance of HCI's bid because of an error in the stated quantity in the proposal form and not because HCI could not secure the bond and certificate of insurance. Therefore, there was no basis to support a finding that the Board rescinded because of any failure on the part of HCI to perform the alleged conditions. The Board's unilateral mistake did not release the County from its obligation under the contract. State ex rel. Palmer v. Unisys Corp., 637 N.W.2d 142, 150 (Iowa 2001). Moreover, the County waived any issue of mistake by failing to raise it before the district court and on appeal. Additionally, when the Board rescinded its acceptance of HCI's bid, it in effect breached the County's agreement with HCI by anticipatory breach. See Glass v. Minnesota Protective Life Ins. Co., 314 N.W.2d 393, 396 (Iowa 1982). Such a breach excuses performance on the part of the non-breaching party, in this case HCI. Berryhill v. Hatt, 428 N.W.2d 647, 655 (Iowa 1988). In these circumstances, the non-breaching party may consider the contract breached and sue immediately, as HCI did in this case. Id. Finally, we conclude that the district court erred in determining that the Blue Book made the bid conditional. The only reference to the Blue Book in the materials the County furnished to HCI and the other bidders restricted the use of the Blue Book to construction work. There was no mention that the provisions of the Blue Book relating to contract formation applied. Such provisions were therefore inapplicable on the issue of contract formation relative to HCI's bid and the Board's approval of the bid.