Opinion ID: 1939265
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Whether the materials specified in the contract were in fact commercially unavailable.

Text: Although we are satisfied that Crough has shown that the District triggered the warranty of commercial availability in this instance by designating a sole-source supplier for the roofing materials specified in its contract for the school, Crough cannot prevail without also showing a breach of that warranty. Specifically, Crough must show that the roofing materials specified in the contract, including a five-year manufacturer's guarantee, were, in fact, commercially unavailable. However, Crough fails to do this for the simple reason that Teniseal was willing to provide the materials with a five-year guarantee, once its concerns regarding the roof design were met by the District's decision to alter that design in BCD 19. Unlike the situation in Aerodex, in which the supplier refused to sell the required component to the contractor, Teniseal was quite willing to sell the specified materials, with the required five-year guarantee, to Crough. The only obstacle to such sale was that Teniseal judged the roof design to be such that it could offer the five-year guarantee. The District obviously agreed with Teniseal's assessment and promptly met with its architect-engineer to change the roof design. Once the design change was complete, Teniseal agreed to provide the five-year guarantee. Thus, it cannot be said that the materials were commercially unavailable, within the meaning of Aerodex. At most there was a temporary refusal on the part of the supplier to provide part of the specified material, the five-year guarantee. That this partial refusal was justified is clear from the District's decision to revise its roof design in response to it. Moreover, once the design was changed, the partial refusal was withdrawn and the materials as specified were commercially available to Crough. [9]