184 A. 659 | Pa. | 1936
Argued March 30, 1936. The specifications upon which appellees relied in submitting their bid for the erection of a school building, stated that test holes made for determining the nature of the soil in the excavation showed loamy earth from the surface to approximately four and one-half feet; small stone and boulders from four and one-half feet to ten feet; and hard bed rock from ten feet to twenty feet. These borings, though made outside the building line, were within the area of the excavation work, and conveyed the idea that the strata of earth as described were continuous throughout the entire area to be excavated. Appellant admitted at argument that these representations were inaccurate; instead of hard rock being confined to ten or twenty feet below the surface, it was encountered from one to two feet below the surface and necessitated the removal of over five thousand cubic yards of rock more than originally contemplated. This *437 extra work delayed completion of the building beyond the date specified and forced appellees to continue the work far into the winter under adverse labor conditions, causing considerable additional expense which otherwise would have been avoided.
The contract contained a clause providing that there should be an "equitable adjustment" in the event the quantities were so changed from the specifications that the agreed unit price for such quantity would entail a hardship. Appellees instituted this action for a breach of warranty implied from the false representation as to the character of the subsoil, claiming damages as a consequence thereof in the sum of $51,536.48, with interest from December 15, 1930, or an equitable adjustment of its loss. The jury returned a verdict of $20,000, upon which a judgment was entered. This appeal follows.
The specifications stating generally subsurface conditions were representations upon which appellees were entitled to rely without further investigation as to their truth or falsity:Hollerbach v. U.S.,
Judgment affirmed.