CACI VF-4520 Contractor’s Claim for Changed or Extra Work—Owner’s Response That Contract Procedures Not Followed—Contractor’s Claim of Waiver
California Civil Jury Instructions CACI
VF-4520 Contractor’s Claim for Changed or Extra Work—Owner’s Response That Contract Procedures Not Followed—Contractor’s Claim of Waiver
We answer the questions submitted to us as follows:
1.Did [name of plaintiff] perform [changed/ [or] extra] work that was [not included in/ [or] in addition to that required under] the original contract?
Yes No
If your answer to question 1 is yes, then answer question 2. If you answered no, stop here, answer no further questions, and have the presiding juror sign and date this form.
2.Did [name of defendant] direct [name of plaintiff] to perform this [changed/ [or] extra] work?
Yes No
If your answer to question 2 is yes, then answer question 3. If you answered no, stop here, answer no further questions, and have the presiding juror sign and date this form.
3.Was [name of plaintiff] harmed because [name of defendant] required this [changed/ [or] extra] work?
Yes No
If your answer to question 3 is yes, then answer question 4. If you answered no, stop here, answer no further questions, and have the presiding juror sign and date this form.
4.Did [name of plaintiff] follow the change-order requirements included in the parties’ contract?
Yes No
If your answer to question 4 is yes, skip question 5 and answer question 6. If you answered no, then answer question 5.
5.Did [name of defendant] freely and knowingly give up [his/her/nonbinary pronoun/its] right to require [name of plaintiff] to follow the contract’s change-order requirements?
Yes No
If your answer to question 5 is yes, then answer question 6. If you answered no, stop here, answer no further questions, and have the presiding juror sign and date this form.
6.What are [name of plaintiff]’s damages? $
After [this verdict form has/all verdict forms have] been signed, notify the [clerk/bailiff/court attendant] that you are ready to present your verdict in the courtroom.
Directions for Use
This verdict form is based on CACI No. 4520, Contractor’s Claim for Changed or Extra Work, CACI No. 4521, Owner’s Claim That Contract Procedures Regarding Change Orders Were Not Followed, and CACI No. 4522, Waiver of Written Approval or Notice Requirements for Changed or Additional Work. Question 4 addresses the owner’s claim that contract requirements were not followed; question 5 addresses the contractor’s response that the owner waived compliance. Waiver may only be asserted in a private contract case. (See P&D Consultants, Inc. v. City of Carlsbad (2010) 190 Cal.App.4th 1332, 1344 [119 Cal.Rptr.3d 253] [public contract change-order requirements not subject to oral modification or modification by conduct].)
The special verdict forms in this section are intended only as models. They may need to be modified depending on the facts of the case.
If different categories or items of damages are claimed, expand question 6 so that the jury can state a separate amount for each category. (See CACI Nos. 4540–4544, Contractor’s Damages.) In this way, should a reviewing court determine that a particular item of damages is not recoverable, it can reduce the judgment by the amount awarded for that item rather than have to send the case back for a retrial of damages.
If there are multiple causes of action, users may wish to combine the individual forms into one form. If different damages are recoverable on different causes of action, replace the damages tables in all of the verdict forms with CACI No. VF-3920, Damages on Multiple Legal Theories.