While many modern project delivery methods delegate some degree of design responsibility to the contractor, the majority of projects are still built via the traditional design-bid-build approach with an Owner-provided design. The traditional method is intended to provide the Owner with the lowest price, but generally allows the contractor to recover damages when it encounters deficiencies in the Owner-provided design. In 1918, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the implied warranty of adequacy of Owner-provided design plans in its benchmark decision U.S. v. Spearin which the majority of U.S. states have adopted though Texas has long been a notable exception — until now.

I. Lonergan vs. Spearin