Defective Specifications & Construction Defect Contract Claims

When arguing or negotiating construction defect claims for defective specifications in federal government contract claims, companies must show that such defective specifications are not suitable for producing the required result. These are very fact specific situations that must be first introduced at the Agency level. Contractors often make the costly mistake of introducing new… Read more »

Termination for Default Government Contracts & Reprocurement Costs

When the federal government awards a contract, the Termination for Default Clause acts to the agency’s advantage in the end.When contractors attempt the appeal the agency’s contract termination for cause action, there are specific rules you must be aware of. One of them is paying damages to the government for… Read more »

(CAS) Cost Accounting Standards Exemptions and the Importance

Many government contracts are subject to cost accounting standards (“ CAS ”).  The nineteen CAS standards “govern the allocation of costs among the various contracts being performed by a government contractor.”  While many contracts are subject to CAS exemptions, many are not. The importance of cost accounting standards and the… Read more »

Federal Construction Scope of Work Changes

In government construction contracting, a general contractor often litigates contract disputes about construction scope of work changes but often finds out after thousands in litigation costs, that it has either failed to follow FAR procedure or took a substandard technical approach to get paid.  For large federal projects, the risk of… Read more »

Equitable Subrogation and Miller Act Claims

When filing claims against the government, under the theory of equitable subrogation, there are some tricky rules of law in place. For example, in a recent Court of Federal Claims case, Fidelity and Guaranty Insurance Underwriters, et al. v. United States, No. 14-84 C (Nov. 19, 2014), the court ruled that under… Read more »

Advantages of a Partnership

When you consider the advantages of a partnership, a business can actually gain a stronger footing in overall business operations. Although the decision to form a business partnership has its pros and cons, the result can be a great benefit. The common fear for all start-up businesses is whether the… Read more »

Strategic Alliance Small Business Joint Ventures

Small businesses continue to use joint ventures as a strategic alliance to get larger government contracts.  There are various advantages and disadvantages of forming venture relationships. There are also specific rules that govern these alliances. Yet  small businesses continue to lose larger contracts due to increasing amounts of small business size… Read more »

Filing a Government Contract Claim Appeal

After filing a contract claim against the government, you finally receive the bad news from the Agency – a denial of claims.  17% of government contract claims will be denied. In addition, 33.2 % of appeals to the Board shall be dismissed or denied either for lack of jurisdiction or hearing… Read more »

Prompt Payment Act – Government Construction Contracts

Being subject to the Federal Prompt Payment Act, 31 USC 3901-3905 (the “PPA” or “Act”) for government construction projects puts business owners in a financial strain when the government does not pay invoices on time.  The Act was enacted to facilitate early payment to contractors when work is timely performed… Read more »