White v. Berenda Mesa Water District

White (plaintiff) submitted the lowest bid, backed by an Aetna (plaintiff) surety bond, for a Berenda Mesa Water District (defendant) excavation project, estimating the soil would contain little costly hard rock based on his son's review of soil reports confirmed with the project's engineers; in fact the excavation was about 50 percent hard rock, an error traced to his failure to cross-check the soil data against the plans. Before the District awarded the contract, White discovered the mistake and sought to withdraw his bid and reclaim the bond; the District refused, awarded him the contract anyway, and after he rescinded, awarded it to the next bidder and sued on the bond. The trial court ruled for the District, finding White's error a mistake of judgment rather than fact, barring relief.

Whether a bidder may withdraw a submitted bid without liability, before contract award, upon discovering a calculation error caused by ordinary negligence.