United States v. Spearin was a 1918 United States Supreme Court decision that laid the groundwork for responsibility for valid or good information related to construction contract scope. The case was based on a high tide and resulting high volume of water that broke a newly built sewer. The United States argued, before the Supreme Court, that the contractor, Spearin, should have had superior knowledge that the United States' design of the sewer was undersized and therefore defective.
The supreme court decided a few things, two important parts of their decision follow:
A contractor who works under a lump sum and set scope contract is not excused nor does not become entitled to additional compensation if unforeseen difficulties are encountered'
An owner impliedly warrants the plans and specifications are accurate and suitable for their intended use. The owner breaches this first warranty if the site conditions are different than that indicated in the owner provided construction documents.
Related to the Spearin doctrine is the "implied warranty of adequacy", that the government is responsible to provide accurate plans and specifications to its contractors rather than the presumption of superior knowledge.
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