It’s What You Don’t Know! What to Know About FAR 52.236-2: Differing Site Conditions

Perhaps the greatest risk in a federal construction project is the risk of the unknown.  This is especially true in the case of a fixed price project where the majority of the risk is on the contractor who has agreed to do the job for a fixed price, which generally includes all known and unknown risks of performance.  This narrative, however, has some relief in that the parties understand that there will, at times, be truly unforeseeable circumstances that even the most prudent contractor could not have reasonably prepared for.