Parties wishing to terminate a contract on grounds of default must understand that it is incumbent upon them to prove that the termination is proper. They also need to recognize that under most contracts an improper termination for default will be interpreted by the courts as a termination for convenience, which will give the terminated contractor the right to be paid for its work on a cost-plus-fee basis. A recent case, Appeal of Bison Trucking & Equipment Company, illustrates this point. In August 2000 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hired Bison Trucking Equipment Company to make repairs necessitated by erosion at Buckhorn Lake, at Fort Rucker, Alabama. Bison's scope of work included the preparation and compaction of a new pipe bed. During the work Bison encountered a variety of problems, largely related to wet soil, which delayed the project and created a certain amount of tension among members of the project team.The record shows that Bison and the Corps spent a significant amount of time arguing over which party was to bear the costs of dealing with the water and over the effect the water was having on the bedding work for the pipes.
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