The contractor submitted a claim, which the agency denied. A year later, the contractor submitted an identical claim, which the agency also denied. The contractor appealed the denial of the second claim. CBCA said nice try. The second claim was not a new claim. If the contractor wanted to appeal, it should have filed an appeal within 90 days after the first claim was denied. The contractor could not reanimate its appeal rights by submitting a new claim.
BES Design/Build, LLC v. General Services Administration, CBCA 7587
Background
BES Design/Build had a construction contract with GSA. In 2021, BES submitted a claim for unpaid work. GSA denied the claim.
A year later, BES submitted an identical claim. GSA sent BES a letter, stating the claim had already been denied a year ago. Eighty-eight days after receiving that letter, BES appealed the second claim to the CBCA.
Analysis
The board found it lacked jurisdiction over an appeal. A contractor must filed an appeal within 90 days of a final decision. Failure to file an appeal deprives the board of jurisdiction.
Here, BES did not appeal the denial of its 2021 claim. Its 2022 claim was identical to the 2021 claim. It arose of the same contract an alleged the same operative facts, namely, that GSA hadn’t paid for work. The 2022 claim was not a new claim. BES could not revive its appeal rights by simply resubmitting a claim.
BES is represented by Jerome E. Speegle of Speegle, Hoffman, Holman & Holifield, LLC. The government is represented by Kelly Y. Burnell and David C Charin of the General Services Administration.
–Case summary by Craig LaChance, Senior Editor
