A contract is a contract. It should say what it means and means what it says. A release is construed like a contract. A change order or bilateral modification is construed like a contract. The decision out of the United States Court of Federal Claims, B.L. Harbert International, LLC v. US, 2025 WL 914388 (Fed.Cl. 2025), serves as a case on point.

In this case, the contractor had a claim related to a bilateral modification (i.e., change order #1) on a federal project which included a two-month extension of time to complete the contractor’s work. The modification stated the contractor and the contractor’s subcontractors waived the right to seek compensation for any other delays relating to the work. “When a contractor signs a general release, it is barred from seeking damages for the events connected to and contemplated by the release.” B.L. Harbert International, supra, at *4. Thus, the contractor’s claims related to this modification were waived.