The government took nearly 9 months to approve the funding after all the bids by constructors were received around April 2022 and given the rate of inflation at the time (and construction inflation was higher than the general rate) no subtrades held their price.
Barring the case where companies reneged on a quote and still earned further business, is it illegal to say “$15million plus inflation of 0.x%/mo” or “$20mil which is $15mil plus adjustment for inflation over typical 9mo review process” ?