Research


Administrative History

On December 19, 1967, the joint venture of Walsh Construction Company and Corbetta Construction Company (Walsh-Corbetta) entered into a contract with the State of New York to construct the main platform superstructure, health department laboratories, and meeting center portions of the South Mall for the sum of $97,777,000. Following various delays not in the contractor's control, Walsh-Corbetta determined that it was impossible to complete construction within the time specified in the original contract. On January 1, 1971, pursuant to Section 10 of the Public Buildings Law, Walsh-Corbetta and the state entered into a modification of contract, providing for a cost-plus-fixed-fee basis for payment. Under this arrangement, the fixed fee does not vary with actual cost, but may be adjusted as a result of changes in the work to be performed under the contract.

Section 10 of the Public Buildings Law also provided for equitable adjustment of contracts awarded for construction of the South Mall in cases where the Commissioner of General Services "has determined that the performance of all or any part of the work has been suspended, delayed, or interrupted for an extraordinary and unreasonable period of time by an act or omission of the state not expressly or impliedly authorized by the contract". In April of 1971, Walsh-Corbetta was awarded nearly $52 million in compensation for additional costs incurred due to delays caused by the state.