Contingencies And Commitments

9 Months Ended

Oct. 01, 2017

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

Asbestos-related product liability claims continue to be filed against two of our subsidiaries: Spence Engineering Company, Inc. (“Spence”), the stock of which we acquired in 1984; and CIRCOR Instrumentation Technologies, Inc. (f/k/a Hoke, Inc.) (“Hoke”), the stock of which we acquired in 1998. Due to the nature of the products supplied by these entities, the markets they serve and our historical experience in resolving these claims, we do not believe that these asbestos-related claims will have a material adverse effect on the financial condition, results of operations or liquidity of the Company.

We are subject to various legal proceedings and claims pertaining to matters such as product liability or contract disputes, including issues arising under certain customer contracts with aerospace and defense customers. We are also subject to other proceedings and governmental inquiries, inspections, audits or investigations pertaining to issues such as tax matters, patents and trademarks, pricing, business practices, governmental regulations, employment and other matters. Although the results of litigation and claims cannot be predicted with certainty, we believe that the ultimate disposition of these matters, to the extent not previously provided for, will not have a material adverse effect, individually or in the aggregate, on our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity.

We are involved in the preliminary stages of an environmental remediation at our China facility. Our estimate of the liability of total environmental remediation costs is $1.7 million, and $0.3 million was recorded as selling, general and administrative expenses during the twelve months ended December 31, 2016, with the remaining $1.4 million recorded as Special and restructuring charges (recoveries), net during the nine months ended October 1, 2017. Due to the complexity of environmental laws and regulations, the varying costs and effectiveness of alternative cleanup methods and technologies, the uncertainty of insurance coverage and the unresolved extent of our responsibility, it is difficult to determine the ultimate outcome of environmental matters. However, we do not expect any additional liability to have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or liquidity.

Standby Letters of Credit

We execute standby letters of credit, which include bid bonds and performance bonds, in the normal course of business to ensure our performance or payments to third parties. The aggregate notional value of these instruments was $40.4 million at October 1, 2017. We believe that the likelihood of demand for a significant payment relating to the outstanding instruments is remote. These instruments generally have expiration dates ranging from less than 1 month to 5 years from October 1, 2017.

The following table contains information related to standby letters of credit instruments outstanding as of October 1, 2017:



Term Remaining	Maximum Potential Future Payments
0–12 months	$	11,709
Greater than 12 months	28,724
Total	$	40,433