Plumley v. United States

Citations

• 226 U.S. 545
• 33 S. Ct. 139
• 57 L. Ed. 342
• 1913 U.S. LEXIS 2261

Syllabus

<p>Where a contract for Government work provides that in case of discrepancies between the specifications and the contract, the matter shall be referred to the Secretary of the Department making the contract, and thb-contractor agrees to abide by his decision in the premises, the construction given by the Secretary and his decision is final and conclusive.</p> <p>Where a contract for Government work provides that in every instance changes must be made by a prescribed method and approved by the Secretary, the contractor cannot recover for extras not ordered in the manner prescribed; and this rule’holds even in a hard case where, as in this instance, the work was extra and of value.</p> <p>Where the contractor fails to notify the Secretary of the cause of delay on the part of the Government in the manner prescribed by the contract and thus enable the Secretary to remove the cause of delay, the contractor cannot recover for the delay caused.</p>