{"id":899812,"date":"2022-04-12T15:05:16","date_gmt":"2022-04-12T21:05:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=899812"},"modified":"2022-04-12T16:38:16","modified_gmt":"2022-04-12T22:38:16","slug":"severin-doctrine-why-is-it-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/severin-doctrine-why-is-it-important\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is the Severin Doctrine, and Why Is it Important?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Mason Rollins | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bradley.com\/insights\/publications\/2022\/03\/what-is-the-severin-doctrine-and-why-is-it-important\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Bradley Arant Boult Cummings<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Generally, the government has immunity from being sued with some exceptions grounded in statute or case law.&nbsp; Having a contract with the federal government is one such exception, and an interrelated exception falls under the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/subcontractor-pass-claims-vulnerable-severin-doctrine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Severin<\/em>&nbsp;doctrine<\/a>.&nbsp; The&nbsp;<em>Severin<\/em>&nbsp;doctrine (based on a case which announced the rule in federal procurement) allows a prime contractor, who has contractual privity with the government, to sue the government for damages incurred by one of its subcontractors due to the fault of the government.&nbsp; A prerequisite to this doctrine is that the prime contractor has already paid the subcontractor its damages or remains liable for such reimbursement in the future.&nbsp; If either prerequisite is met, the prime contractor can attempt to pass through the claims of the subcontractor to the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An example of the application of the Severin doctrine is found in&nbsp;<em>JAAAT Technical Services, LLC<\/em><em>,&nbsp;<\/em>before the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (\u201cASBCA\u201d).&nbsp; There, the prime contractor had a $15,315,185contract with the government for the design and construction of a facility addition at Fort Gordon, Georgia.&nbsp; A dispute arose, and the prime contractor submitted an equitable adjustment claim in the amount of $3,215,346, which included a pass-through claim of the prime contractor\u2019s subcontractor.&nbsp; This claim was denied by the contracting-officer and the prime contractor appealed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On appeal, the government moved to dismiss, or in the alternative, for summary disposition before trial, on the grounds that the subcontractor\u2019s pass-through claim violated the&nbsp;<em>Severin&nbsp;<\/em>doctrine.&nbsp; The ASBCA denied the government\u2019s motion for summary judgment holding that the equitable adjustment pass-through claim was not barred under the&nbsp;<em>Severin<\/em>&nbsp;doctrine because the changes clause in the prime contract provided a remedy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As this case demonstrates, the\u00a0<em>Severin<\/em>\u00a0doctrine is an avenue around the government\u2019s general immunity allowing the subcontractor\u2019s pass-through claims brought by the prime contractor to be paid by the government.\u00a0 It is critical for prime contractors and subcontractors to define, address and preserve subcontractor pass-through claims related to the\u00a0<em>Severin<\/em>\u00a0doctrine in their contracts or settlement agreements when the government is the owner.\u00a0 Without doing so, the government may avoid paying legitimate claims that, in turn, prime contractors may be on the hook for, or it may leave subcontractors with a remedy only against the prime\u2019s surety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When one of your cases is in need of a construction expert, estimates, insurance appraisal or umpire services in defect or insurance disputes &#8211; please call Advise &amp; Consult, Inc. at 888.684.8305, or email <a href=\"mailto:experts@adviseandconsult.net\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">experts@adviseandconsult.net<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mason Rollins | Bradley Arant Boult Cummings Generally, the government has immunity from being sued with some exceptions grounded in statute or case law.&nbsp; Having a contract with the federal government is one such exception, and an interrelated exception falls under the&nbsp;Severin&nbsp;doctrine.&nbsp; The&nbsp;Severin&nbsp;doctrine (based on a case which announced the rule in federal procurement) allows&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/severin-doctrine-why-is-it-important\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">What Is the Severin Doctrine, and Why Is it Important?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[172],"tags":[9895,10344],"class_list":["post-899812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-law-2","tag-advise-consult","tag-severin-doctrine","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What Is the Severin Doctrine, and Why Is it Important? - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Severin doctrine allows a prime contractor, to sue the government for damages incurred by subs due to the fault of the government\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/severin-doctrine-why-is-it-important\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Is the Severin Doctrine, and Why Is it Important? - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Severin doctrine allows a prime contractor, to sue the government for damages incurred by subs due to the fault of the government\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/severin-doctrine-why-is-it-important\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-04-12T21:05:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-12T22:38:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/severin-doctrine-why-is-it-important\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/severin-doctrine-why-is-it-important\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\"},\"headline\":\"What Is the Severin Doctrine, and Why Is it Important?\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-12T21:05:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-12T22:38:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/severin-doctrine-why-is-it-important\/\"},\"wordCount\":452,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Advise &amp; Consult\",\"Severin Doctrine\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Construction Law\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/severin-doctrine-why-is-it-important\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/severin-doctrine-why-is-it-important\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/severin-doctrine-why-is-it-important\/\",\"name\":\"What Is the Severin Doctrine, and Why Is it Important? - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-12T21:05:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-12T22:38:16+00:00\",\"description\":\"The Severin doctrine allows a prime contractor, to sue the government for damages incurred by subs due to the fault of the government\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/severin-doctrine-why-is-it-important\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"description\":\"Construction Expert Witnesses\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Advise & Consult\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"width\":162,\"height\":75,\"caption\":\"Advise & Consult\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What Is the Severin Doctrine, and Why Is it Important? - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","description":"The Severin doctrine allows a prime contractor, to sue the government for damages incurred by subs due to the fault of the government","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/severin-doctrine-why-is-it-important\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What Is the Severin Doctrine, and Why Is it Important? - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","og_description":"The Severin doctrine allows a prime contractor, to sue the government for damages incurred by subs due to the fault of the government","og_url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/severin-doctrine-why-is-it-important\/","og_site_name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","article_published_time":"2022-04-12T21:05:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-04-12T22:38:16+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@adviseconsult","twitter_site":"@adviseconsult","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/severin-doctrine-why-is-it-important\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/severin-doctrine-why-is-it-important\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7"},"headline":"What Is the Severin Doctrine, and Why Is it Important?","datePublished":"2022-04-12T21:05:16+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-12T22:38:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/severin-doctrine-why-is-it-important\/"},"wordCount":452,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Advise &amp; Consult","Severin Doctrine"],"articleSection":["Construction Law"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/severin-doctrine-why-is-it-important\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/severin-doctrine-why-is-it-important\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/severin-doctrine-why-is-it-important\/","name":"What Is the Severin Doctrine, and Why Is it Important? - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-04-12T21:05:16+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-12T22:38:16+00:00","description":"The Severin doctrine allows a prime contractor, to sue the government for damages incurred by subs due to the fault of the government","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/severin-doctrine-why-is-it-important\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","description":"Construction Expert Witnesses","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Advise & Consult","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","width":162,"height":75,"caption":"Advise & Consult"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com"]}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2ztG6-3M56","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=899812"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":899823,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899812\/revisions\/899823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=899812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=899812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=899812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}