Email evidence supports time extension, defeats general contractor’s delay claim

Don’t delete a good email. In United States ex rel. Engineered Services v. T.H.R. Enterprises, a subcontractor defeated a general contractor’s delay claim and won its entire contract balance using email evidence to establish an extended completion date.  The Eastern District of Virginia federal court held that the subcontract completion date was extended to the same date as the prime contract where (i) a change order stated that the date was “TBD” and (ii) the general contractor later sent an email identifying the subcontract completion date as the same as the prime contract date. The court also held that the prime contract completion date “flowed down” as a result of language in the subcontract.