ANYONE WHO HAS TRIED TO CLAIM GRANDFATHER RIGHTS for tax benefits or SO2 allowances knows to be careful not to alter his project or contract that was the basis for grandfather relief. Otherwise, the relief may be lost. Steelcase, a US furniture manufacturer, built a new headquarters building that it said qualified for investment tax credits and ACRS depreciation, even though these benefits were repealed in 1986. The company started building a two-story L-shaped building for $35 million before the deadline. It ended up with a seven-story pyramid that cost approximately $100 million. Nevertheless, a federal appeals court said last month the project remained grandfathered. Steelcase claimed that since the building was “self constructed,” it should be tested under a more lax requirement that merely required that it start construction by a certain date even if it ended up with a different project. The judge wasn’t moved by the government’s complaints about cost overruns. “If there is one party which we might be tempted to say ought not to be able to make this argument with a straight face, it is the federal government.”