An owner that furnishes design specifications to a contractor generally warrants the adequacy of the design. This "implied warranty of design"—commonly referred to as a "Spearin warranty," after the seminal decision in United States v. Spearin, 248 U.S. 132, 136, 39 S. Ct. 59, 63 L. Ed. 166 (1918)—has been long recognized by Washington courts. See Weston v. New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, 23 Wn. App. 747, 753, 598 P.2d 411 (1978) (collecting Washington cases).
For another discussion of the Spearin doctrine, see §5.3(2) in Chapter 5 (Owner Responsibilities) of this deskbook.
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(1) Nature of warranty
An owner warrants only that its design is sufficient for the intended purpose. An owner does not impliedly warrant that the design is perfect, and the Spearin warranty does not otherwise impose the equivalent of strict or absolute liability. See Donald B. Murphy Contractors, Inc. v. State, 40 Wn. App. 98, 102, 696 P.2d 1270 (1985) (citing Prier v. Refrig. Eng'g Co., 74 Wn.2d 25, 29, 442 P.2d 621 (1968). As the Court of Appeals noted in Donald B. Murphy, the "owner warrants only that if the design is followed, a satisfactory result will follow." 40 Wn. App. at 102 (citations omitted).
To be considered defective under Spearin, a specification or drawing must be '"so faulty as to prevent or unreasonably delay completion of the contract performance.'" Lake Union Drydock Co. v. United States, No. C05-2146RSL, 2007 WL2984707, at *10 (W.D. Wash. Oct. 10, 2007) (memorandum) (quoting Wunderlich Contracting Co. v. United States, 351 F.2d 956, 964, 173 Ct. Cl. 180 (1965)). The documents must be "substantially deficient or unworkable" to be considered a breach. Id.
(2) Scope of warranty
The implied warranty of design—the Spearin warranty—applies solely to "design" specifications. A design specification is one that...
