Erik M. Coon

Listed in The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch, Construction Law, 2025 Capital Pro Bono Honor Roll, 2022 CJW Contractors, Inc., ASBCA 63228, 23-1 BCA ¶38,272 (Jan. 23, 2023), recon den’d , 23-1 BCA ¶38,402 (July 17, 2023) Successfully represented a prime contractor in a dispute with the Navy arising from the replacement of the heating system in Buildings 3, 4, and 5, at the Naval Support Activity in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. The contractor sought to recover additional costs incurred from furnishing and installing 52 20-foot-long steel I beams in Building 5 as a result of the Navy failing to (1) include a structural steel section or require steel I beams in Building 5’s specifications despite explicitly referencing steel W and S beams, and including structural steel sections in the Buildings 3 and 4 specifications, and (2) provide structural and mechanical design drawings free from latent ambiguities and contradicting design details. The board found the contractor’s interpretation was reasonable, noting that it would be improper to read in the steel I beams as a requirement when the Navy failed to clearly indicate as such in the contract documents and specifications. The board also found that the drawings contained latent ambiguities because there was only one drawing depicting the building’s roof structure, but did not include or refer to any I beams. The sole reference to or depiction of I beams in Building 5 was buried in a tiny detail on a separate drawing. As a result, the board found this was not an ambiguity “sufficiently glaring to trigger” the contractor to inquire before submitting a bid. The Navy then filed, and the board denied, a motion for reconsideration.