[GENERAL] float4 confused as int??

Can someone enlighten me why this error is occurring in which a float
value is apparently being interpreted as an integer? Known
workarounds??

emsdb=> UPDATE contract_activity_type SET duration = 3.5, updater_id
= 1, last_update = now() WHERE id = 72;
] ERROR: pg_atoi: error in "3.5": can't parse ".5"
emsdb=> \d contract_activity_type
Table = contract_activity_type
+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+-------+
| Field | Type
| Length|
+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+-------+
| id | int4 not null default nextval (
| 4 |
| contract_id | int4 not null
| 4 |
| activity_type_id | int4 not null
| 4 |
| travel_required | int4 not null
| 4 |
| billable | int4 not null
| 4 |
| duration | float4 not null
| 4 |

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Ed Loehr