Tag Archives: contracting officer final decision

CONTRACT DISPUTES ACT AND JURISDICTIONAL REQUIREMENTS

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When dealing with a claim on a federal construction project, there are a couple of key background jurisdictional points. These points were briefly highlighted in the recent appeal, Mega Star Logistics Service Co. v. Department of State, CBCA 8232, 2026 WL 253738 (CBCA 2026).  Here are the two points.

FIRST, when it comes to jurisdiction, for a board of contract appeals “to exercise jurisdiction over a claim, the CDA [Contract Disputes Act] requires the contractor to submit a written claim to the contracting officer for a COFD [contracting officer final decision], with a subsequent appeal of the COFD or deemed denial if the CO [contracting officer] does not issue a COFD.”  Thus, you need to submit a formal claim under the Contract Disputes Act to the contracting officer to get a final decision from the contracting officer (or the contracting officer waiving the final decision by not timely furnishing one). Mega Star Logistics, supra.

SECOND, “[s]hould a contractor choose to appeal to the Board [of Contract Appeals], the CDA requires that the contractor file is appeal no more than ninety days following receipt of the COFD.” Megal Star Logistics, supra.  Thus, once you get the final decision from the contracting officer, if you plan to appeal, you need to do so within 90 days.

Both these jurisdictional points are important.

Remember to (1) formally submit your claim under the Contract Disputes Act, and (2) file your appeal within 90 days from receipt of the contracting officer’s final decision. Even if you don’t get a final decision, treat the untimely response by the contracting officer as a “deemed denial” and timely file your appeal within the 90 days after the deemed denial (the time for the contracting officer to render a final decision has come and gone).

If you blow these points off, then you will face a motion to dismiss which will be granted because there won’t be jurisdiction to properly hear your appealed claim!

Please contact David Adelstein at dadelstein@gmail.com or (954) 361-4720 if you have questions or would like more information regarding this article. You can follow David Adelstein on Twitter @DavidAdelstein1.

DOES YOUR REQUEST FOR EQUITABLE ADJUSTMENT (REA) COMPLY WITH THE CONTRACT DISPUTES ACT?

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Under a federal construction contract, a contractor MUST comply with the Contract Disputes Act and request a final decision from the contracting officer in order for the United States Court of Federal Claims to have jurisdiction over the claim.  This means that in most instances a request for an equitable adjustment (REA) will not meet the requirements of the Contract Disputes Act, meaning the Court of Federal Claims will not have jurisdiction to resolve a disputed REA. This is an important distinction for contractors that work on federal construction projects that submit requests for equitable adjustments and best articulated by the Court of Federal Claims:

  

Under the CDA [Contract Disputes Act], the Court only has subject matter jurisdiction over a contract action against the Government if the action is filed within twelve months after receipt of a contracting officer’s final decision on the claim.  Therefore, both a contractor’s claim and the contracting officer’s final decision on that claim are jurisdictional requirements. Logically, there can be no contracting officer’s final decision on a claim if the contractor has not requested such a decision from the contracting officer. A request for a contracting officer’s final decision need not be explicitly labeled as such. For example, an REA under certain circumstances can be construed as a request for a contracting officer’s final decision.  However, a request for a contracting officer’s final decision must, at minimum, be a written demand that includes (1) adequate notice of the basis and amount of a claim and (2) a request for a final decision.

Zafer Taahut Insaat ve Ticaret, A.S. v. United States, 2016 WL 7176723, *3 (Fed.Cl. 2016) (internal quotations and citations omitted).

 

In Zafer Taahut Insaat ve Ticaret, a contractor submitted an REA for unanticipated costs in incurred on a foreign construction project.  In the REA, the contractor simply asked the government to review and evaluate the REA at the earliest convenience.   The REA was not sent directly to the contracting officer.  The government did not pay the REA and the contractor filed suit in the Court of Federal Claims.  The government moved to dismiss the lawsuit based on the contractor’s failure to comply with the Contract Disputes Act.  The Court granted the motion to dismiss because (1) the REA was not sent directly to the contracting officer and (2) the REA did not request the contracting officer issue a final decision under the Contract Disputes Act.   Hence, the Court did not have jurisdiction to resolve the claim.

Please contact David Adelstein at dadelstein@gmail.com or (954) 361-4720 if you have questions or would like more information regarding this article. You can follow David Adelstein on Twitter @DavidAdelstein1.