By: J. Kent Holland
ConstructionRisk, LLC
Where an appeal from an adverse contracting officer’s final decision was filed with the United States Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (CBCA) directly by the affected subcontractor instead of by the prime contractor that held the contract with the federal government, the Board denied the government’s motion to dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.
Reasons given by the Board for allowing the appeal to stand included, (1) the prime contractor authorized an appeal by the subcontractor; (2) the appeal, although filed by the subcontractor, noted in its text that it was only the subcontractor, and stated the name of the prime contractor in whose name the appeal was then docketed; and (3) an attorney for the prime contractor subsequently filed a notice of appearance as counsel for the prime contractor, thereby affirming the prior authorization by the prime contractor to subcontractor to file the appeal. Cooley Constructors Inc. v. General Services Administration, 15-1 BCA P 36001, 2015 WL 3599168 (2015).
About the author: Article written by J. Kent Holland, Jr., a construction lawyer located in Tysons Corner, Virginia, with a national practice (formerly with Wickwire Gavin, P.C. and now with Construction Risk Counsel, PLLC) representing design professionals, contractors and project owners. He is founder and president of a consulting firm, ConstructionRisk, LLC, providing consulting services to owners, design professionals, contractors and attorneys on construction projects. He is publisher of ConstructionRisk.com Report and may be reached at Kent@ConstructionRisk.com or by calling 703-623-1932. This article is published in ConstructionRisk.com Report, Vol. 18, No. 6 (September 2016).
Copyright 2016, ConstructionRisk, LLC
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