Contracting - Claim for price adjustment

Justices: Matningsdal, Matheson, Kallerud, Bergsjø, Ringnes

A contractor engaged by the Public Roads Administration (Statens vegvesen) to build a road section had priced the blasting work based on the documentation provided on area and volume in the tender documentation. It turned out that the blasting area was much larger than stated, which complicated the blasting work and made it more expensive than estimated. The Supreme Court found that the contractor was entitled to a price adjustment. The builder was responsible and carried the risk for the error in the tender documentation. There was however information showing the correct bench heights. Considered against the information on the area, this information only caused confusion, for which the Public Roads Administration, as builder, also had to be blamed. There was nothing to suggest that the contractor had not acted like any sensible service provider when basing his estimates on the information on the area provided by the Public Roads Administration. The court of appeal's judgment in favour of the state was set aside.