Protecting Contractors Subject to Chief Engineer Decision Clauses

Jonathan M. Preziosi and Stephanie L. Jonaitis | Pepper Hamilton LLP | January 2018

Most contractors have encountered a prime contract provision with a governmental agency or public authority owner where the contract states that all claims for extra costs, delay damages or the like must be presented to the owner’s Chief Engineer for a decision, and that the Chief Engineer’s decision shall be conclusive, final and binding on the parties. This is a much different animal than a clause that merely requires presentation of all claims to the Chief Engineer as a prerequisite to filing a lawsuit. Under the first type of clause, the Chief Engineer becomes the sole judge and jury for the claim, and his or her decision can only be modified or reversed by the courts if the decision was based on fraud, bad faith or mistake about a fact over which no rational person could possibly disagree (such as a mathematical calculation). The right to appeal from a Chief Engineer’s decision under one of these clauses is therefore very limited.

The authors have encountered circumstances when contractors have felt that being bound by such a “Chief Engineer decision” clause is not a bad thing. The Chief Engineer for a particular agency or authority may have a well-earned reputation for dealing with contractors and their claims in an open-minded, fair and neutral manner. Other contractors are skeptical about the chances of getting a fair decision from a person who is the head of the very same organization that is being “sued” for a large amount of money, especially when the claim may involve criticism of project personnel who interact with the Chief Engineer at the office every day. This article will briefly explore key points to keep in mind for the contractor who may have doubts about having its claim decided by the Chief Engineer in the unwelcome event that a claim has to be made.

The first point to keep in mind is that the enforceability of Chief Engineer decision clauses varies from state to state. The courts of some states hold that these clauses are enforceable, and that their judges should not interfere with dispute resolution clauses that are voluntarily signed.1 The courts of other states disfavor these clauses as contracts of adhesion, and prohibit them on the assumption that the relationship between a Chief Engineer and his or her agency is just “too close” to ensure an impartial decision on a claim against the agency.2

Sometimes, Chief Engineer decision clauses will appear in contracts with bi-state agencies that are, by nature, congressional “compacts” between the governments of two states. It is quite possible that the courts of one of those states would enforce such clauses, while the courts of the other state would prohibit them. In such a situation, the contractor’s attorney should evaluate which state’s law should govern the contract, an evaluation that takes into account factors such as the location of the project, where the contract was signed, and where the important witnesses are likely to live.

Assuming that the Chief Engineer decision clause in a given contract is enforceable in the state whose law controls the contract, and that the Chief Engineer will therefore have the final, binding and conclusive say over how a claim gets decided, the contractor and its attorney should be proactive in suggesting — or demanding — that appropriate procedures are in place to ensure as fair a hearing as possible. Counsel should work cooperatively with the “claim officer” or other agency representative responsible for the administration of the hearings to ensure that there will be a right to inspect the agency’s project records and possibly take the depositions of key witnesses as a means of discovery before the hearings start. The hearings themselves should give the contractor a full and fair opportunity to cross-examine the owner’s witnesses and present rebuttal testimony after the owner has presented its defenses. Counsel should also request that the claim officer implement appropriate procedures to ensure that the Chief Engineer does not have any “off the record” communications about the claim with the agency employees or consultants involved in defending it.

Ultimately, and as the U.S. Supreme Court made clear in a case decided a half century ago, the hearing procedures must be “conducted in such a way as to require each party to present openly its side of the controversy and afford an opportunity of rebuttal.”3 Hearing procedures that do not meet this minimum standard of fairness and due process may expose the Chief Engineer’s decision to reversal by a reviewing court, even in states where Chief Engineer decision clauses are enforceable. Most agency claim officers are keenly aware of these standards and understand that it would be in the best interests of all parties to have a hearing process that incorporates procedural safeguards like those discussed above. Counsel for the contractor should proactively work with the claims officer to ensure such a process is formally established in writing before any hearings begin.

Endnotes

1 See, e.g.Laquila Constr., Inc. v. New York City Transit Auth., 282 A.D.2d 331, 331 (N.Y. App. Div. 2001) (holding that a dispute resolution provision making the Chief Engineer the decision maker was enforceable).

2 See, e.g.Gauntt Constr. Co. v. Del. River & Bay Auth., 575 A.2d 13 (N.J. App. Div. 1990) (“Relationship between Director and DRBA . . . is obviously too close to assure the dispassionate and impartial resolution of disputes” between the DRBA and its contractors).

3 United States v. Carlo Bianchi & Co., 373 U.S. 709 (1963).

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