Opinion ID: 195059
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the change orders

Text: 12 Sun Engineering argues that in light of federal regulations which purportedly require all change orders on government projects to be in writing, the evidence was insufficient to support a finding that valid change orders were issued to Cabrera. 13 An appellate court will review a district court's findings of fact in a bench trial for clear error. Dedham Water Co. v. Cumberland Farms Dairy, Inc., 972 F.2d 453, 457 (lst Cir. l992); Fed. R. Civ. P. 52(a). 3 A finding is clearly erroneous when the reviewing court is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed. See Dedham Water, 972 F.2d at 457. Mixed questions of fact and law, which require a court to determine if certain facts possess, or lack, legal significance in a given case, are also reviewed for clear error. Roland M., 910 F.2d at 990. Absent a showing that the court made a mistake of law, we will give effect to the trial's courts findings. Id. at 990-91. 14 The record supports the district court's factual findings that change orders were issued to Cabrera. Mr. Cabrera and Mr. Jimenez testified that after Cabrera submitted the original quotation to Mr. Jimenez detailing the work Cabrera proposed to do, Mr. Jimenez requested that Cabrera make certain changes to the quotation. Mr. Cabrera also offered undisputed testimony that after the parties entered into the original contract, Mr. Jimenez orally requested that Cabrera perform work beyond that encompassed in the contract with respect to floor underlays. Mr. Jimenez and Mr. Elas both testified that Mr. Elas also orally requested Cabrera to do additional work with respect to partitions, that Mr. Jimenez was aware of this request, and that Cabrera made those requested changes. 15 Cabrera claims that even if oral changes were issued to Cabrera, they were of no legal consequence. There is no requirement, however, that change orders to subcontractors on government projects be in writing and approved by the government to be legally binding. Despite Sun Engineering's contention to the contrary, 48 C.F.R. Sec. 43.201 (1992) does not impose such a requirement. 4 Part 43 of the Code of Federal Regulations generally addresses government policies and procedures for preparing and processing contract modifications. 48 C.F.R. Sec. 43.000 et seq. (1992). The regulations are directed to government contracting officers and those parties who contract directly with them. Section 43.20l is specifically directed at the procedures which the government's contracting officer should follow when issuing a change order to its contracting partner. Generally, the relationship covered by the regulation is that between the officer and the prime contractor on a government project. The regulation does not apply to more remote parties, such as subcontractors, who contract solely with the prime contractor. We have been unable to find any other statutory or regulatory requirement which purports to control the prime contractor's relationship with its subcontractors with respect to the logistics of contract modifications, such as change orders. 5 16 The prime contractor/subcontractor relationship is governed by the terms of the contract between the parties. See, e.g., United States for Control Systems, Inc. v. Arundel Corp., 814 F.2d 193, 196-97 (5th Cir.), modified on other grounds, 826 F.2d 298 (5th Cir. 1987). In the present case, the court found that the contractual dealings between Cabrera and Sun Engineering were informal at best. The parties never signed a final written contract. Moreover, there was no oral or written contractual provision which required that any change orders issued to Cabrera had to be in writing, or approved by the contracting officer, in order to be valid. Therefore, the oral change orders at issue were legally binding, and the district court properly found that Cabrera was entitled to be paid for the work performed pursuant to those orders. This finding is in accord with the general purpose of the Miller Act, 40 U.S.C. Sec. 270a-f (1986), a remedial statute, enacted to assure that all workers and subcontractors on government projects received compensation for their efforts. See F.D. Rich Co. v. United States for Use of Indus. Lumber Co., 417 U.S. 116, 124 (l974).