Originally Posted by
tdracer
Image, in the airframer world, we have a couple of terms - BFE and SFE - "Buyer Furnished Equipment" and "Seller Furnished Equipment". The airframer is directly responsible for anything that is SFE, even if they didn't actually manufacture it. BFE is a completely different kettle of fish - unless the buyer specifies that the aircraft must function correctly with various BFE, it's the buyer's problem if it doesn't work.
To put it a little differently, if you buy a car with a fancy entertainment system from the factory - the auto manufacture is responsible for it working correctly. OTOH, if you take your car in and get a fancy aftermarket entertainment system installed - and it doesn't work right or interferes with proper operation of the car - the manufacturer will (rightly) tell you to pound sand - that it's your problem...
It’s strictly speculation on my part, but Boeing probably met the written requirement of being able to securely load the latrine. The Air Force folks who wrote the RFP and evaluated Boeing’s proposal were probably unaware of the latrine’s design details, at least regarding its required orientation.