Court Opinion

ID: 9452211
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 17:33:03.490692+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:33:06.840729
License: Public Domain

DURFEE, Judge
(dissenting);
We respectfully dissent from the majority opinion in favor of plaintiff in this case. As stated in the majority opinion, the ASBCA found that there was confusion in the contract contributing to plaintiff’s error, but concluded that a reasonably competent fabricator should have recognized from the “Expanded View” that the critical dimensions of each of the contract items were those designated for its overall length in a locked position; that with two of such dimensions not being stated in inches but being marked by way of identification, and the figures in inches for such dimensions not being elsewhere given on the drawing, a reasonably competent fabricator would have realized that the table of dimensions supplied this information but, if there was still doubt as to where this information was to be found, proper inquiry of the Government should have been made, which plaintiff never made. The Board further held that plaintiff’s interpretation was not reasonable since, unless the critical dimensions were given in inches somewhere on the drawing, plaintiff would not have had sufficient information on the drawing as to where to position either the locking pin on the lower strap assembly or the toggle pin on the upper strap assembly.
We agree with the majority that this conclusion by the Board regarding the reasonableness of plaintiff’s interpretation of the contract is a decision on a question of law, and is not final against plaintiff nor binding on the court. We disagree that the reasons set out by the majority opinion constitute sufficient basis for rejecting the Board’s decision.
The trial commissioner concluded, and we think correctly, that the plain existence in this case of overall dimensional lines alongside the “Expanded View” on the contract drawing, raises a patent or obvious question as to whether the figures for the intermediate distances “L FOR ASSEM 'A' ” and “L FOR ASSEM ‘B’ ” were those supplied in the “LG. IN INCHES” column of the table of dimensions, or since no figures were otherwise supplied for such intermediate dimensions, whether there had been an omission of such figures from the contract drawing and specifications.
The majority opinion conceded that the contract drawing was confusing, and *983that there was an ambiguity as to whether the overall lengths of the straps to be manufactured by plaintiff were shown in the table of dimensions or in the “Expanded View” of the strap that appeared on the same drawing and that “this is a close case on the facts.” We do not agree, however, with the conclusion reached by the majority that the contract specifications and drawing, when considered together, were fairly susceptible of the construction placed upon them by plaintiff.
Obviously, plaintiff made a mistake in the original manufacture of the straps, due largely to his complete failure to even consider the dimensional line “L FOR ASSEMBLY A” supplied by the “Expanded View” in the drawings. If he had done this, the discrepancy in overall dimensions between the “Expanded View” and the table of dimensions would have been apparent. This failure by plaintiff to even notice the ambiguity is perhaps best explained by his lack of knowledge or expertise in examining the drawing and specifications. Upon notice of rejection of the straps by the Government, he for the first time went to see the Contracting Officer when, as he testified, “Of course, I got a bawling out right then, I didn’t follow the plan right. I don’t know how to read a blueprint.” (Transcript p. 48).
The majority opinion stresses the fact that the field inspector agreed with plaintiff’s interpretation that the table of dimensions specified the overall length of the straps. Apparently, there was some question in plaintiff’s mind, since he testified that he discussed the overall length with the inspector before and after he ordered the straps. His order for the straps was made solely by reference to the table of separate dimensions and “Mr. Condon established that is the length of the strap.” (Transcript p. 134). The plain existence on the contract drawing of the overall dimension lines alongside the “Expanded View” raised a patent or obvious question as to whether the figures for the intermediate distances “L FOR ASSEM ‘A’ ” and “L FOR ASSEM ‘B’” were those supplied in the “LG. IN INCHES” column of the table of dimensions, or whether there had been an omission of the figures for intermediate dimensions from the contract drawing and specification. See Consolidated Engineering Co., etc. v. United States, 98 Ct.Cl. 256, 280 (1943); Ring Construction Corp. v. United States, 162 F.Supp. 190, 192, 142 Ct.Cl. 731, 734 (1958); Jefferson Construction Co. v. United States, 151 Ct.Cl. 75, 89-91 (1960).
All that plaintiff had to say about the “Expanded View” with its dimensional line “L for Assembly A”, etc., was that he did not definitely know what it meant, and no one ever told him what it meant. (Transcript p. 70). There is no evidence that Inspector Condon ever turned his attention to this aspect of the “Expanded View” in the contract drawing. This perhaps explains why plaintiff never understood the drawing. The discrepancy between the overall dimensions required by the “Expanded View” drawing and the table of dimensions was there; it was patent; and it was completely overlooked until the job was done, and the error discovered.
Since plaintiff did not understand the drawing, perhaps because he didn’t know how to read a blueprint, he had a duty to inquire what it meant. This duty was in no way met by a discussion with the inspector in which an essential part of the contract drawing was completely overlooked.
Plaintiff, therefore, was required to contact the Contracting Officer, the administrator of the contract, and seek a clarification. But such a procedure was not followed. The only representative of defendant to whom plaintiff conveyed his understanding (or lack of understanding) of the dimensional requirements during the process of manufacture was the field inspector. No evidence was presented that the field inspector in this instance had any authority to clarify patent ambiguities, or that he even *984attempted such clarification.1 On the contrary, this authority rested solely with the Contracting Officer under the express terms of the contract. Plaintiff’s failure to contact the Contracting Officer for a clarification should relieve defendant of any liability for the correction of plaintiff’s error, and plaintiff should be precluded from recovery in this case.
DAVIS, Judge, joins in the foregoing dissenting opinion.

. Section 5 of the contract is entitled “Inspection.” Subsection (d) thereof provides:
“(d) The inspection and test by the Government of any supplies or lots thereof does not relieve the Contractor from any responsibility regarding defects or other failures to meet the contract requirements which may be discovered prior to acceptance. Except as otherwise provided in this contract, acceptance shall be conclusive except as regards latent defects, fraud, or such gross mistakes as amount to fraud.”