15.7 Right to Finish Early

LibraryVirginia Construction Law Deskbook (Virginia CLE) (2019 Ed.)

15.7 RIGHT TO FINISH EARLY

15.701 Basis of Right in Federal Contract Law. A construction contract calls for the project to be completed by a date certain. Suppose that during the construction period the owner delays the contractor's performance but the contractor nonetheless completes the project by the contract's end date. Is the contractor entitled to delay damages? The Virginia Supreme Court has not issued an opinion on this question, but federal courts addressing federal construction contracts and various state courts outside of

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Virginia have considered the issue and, under the right circumstances, ruled in favor of the claimant contractor.

For example, under federal contract law, the federal courts have long recognized a contractor's right to finish before a contract-specified completion date as long as there is no contract provision to the contrary. Consequently, to the extent that the federal government unreasonably causes its contractor to be delayed past the contractor's planned completion date, the government is liable. In Metropolitan Paving Co. v. United States, 265 the Court of Claims wrote:

While it is true that there is not an "obligation" or " duty" of defendant to aid a contractor to complete prior to completion date, from this it does not follow that defendant may hinder and prevent a contractor's early completion without incur-ring liability. It would seem to make little difference whether or not the parties contemplated an early completion, or even whether or not the contractor contemplated an early completion. Where defendant is guilty of "deliberate harassment and dilatory tactics" and a contractor suffers damages as a result of such action, we think that defendant is liable. 266

While the Virginia Supreme Court has not ruled on the issue of the right to early completion, the Commonwealth's General Conditions of the Construction Contract, at General Condition 19(f), precludes damages to the contractor if the owner, its officers, employees, or agents cause the contractor not to achieve substantial completion earlier than the date required by the contract documents.

15.702 Recovery of Damages for Delayed Early Completion. Various federal boards of contract appeals have also recognized a contractor's right to recover delay damages when the federal government has inexcusably delayed the contractor's early completion. In Owen L. Schwam Construction Co., 267 the Armed Services Board stated that delay costs could be measured...

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