When a contractor brings an appeal of a claim to a Board of Contract Appeals (“Board”), it is the contractor’s responsibility of the Appellant to establish Board jurisdiction.  Board jurisdiction derives from 41 U.S.C. § 7105(e)(1)(A) which confers jurisdiction to decide an appeal from a decision of a contracting officer relative to a contract made by that department or agency.  Peace Ambition Const. Co., ASBCA Nos. 63938, 64024, July 10, 2025.  Peace Construction provides a

Appellant Chizoma Onyems is the sole owner of a limited liability company, CB Portable Toilet Rental and Service.  He is not a licensed attorney.  His company contracted with the government to provide services at Camp Lejeune.  After the contract was terminated for convenience, CB Portable (the company) submitted a certified claim, and then appealed it to the Board, where Mr. Onyems represented the company. The Board granted $16,000 in damages (plus interest) to CB Portable. 

GE Renewables US, LLC (“GE”) sought in its appeal a declaration that it had the right to pursue a price adjustment in a contract that contained an economic price adjustment (“EPA”) clause.  GE Renewables US, LLC,  ASBCA No. 63842, June 24, 2025.  The only significant consequence of such a declaration would be a price adjustment (not a change in contract performance or the avoidance of costs) and the Board deemed the claim a “monetary claim” which required a statement of a “su

In a bid protest issued in July 2025, a Court of Federal Claims Judge issued a scathing criticism of a Navy evaluation of offers for a mixed procurement to provide Egypt with a Nationwide Maritime Surveillance system via a foreign military sale.  Advanced Tech. Sys. Co. v. United States, (Fed. Cl. No. 25-515), July 16, 2025.  Judge Somers said that the Navy used “vague and conflicting past performance criteria [and failed] to provide any explanation for the award decision it

The Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) released its annual bid protest report to the Congress for fiscal year on December 12, 2025 (B-158766). The GAO actually received 1803 protests in fiscal year (“FY”) 2025 but dismissed or immediately denied a substantial number of them, while actually considering and issuing decisions on 380 protests, known as “merit decisions.”  The GAO sustain rate increased slightly from 16 percent in FY 2025 to 14 percent in FY 2024. (Note: The

This blog has repeatedly explained that the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) will not sustain a bid protest even if the agency has violated a Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) requirement, unless there is competitive prejudice.  This means that a protester must demonstrate there was a significant error in the procurement process and prove that, without that error, they had a substantial chance of receiving the award. But what does this mean in the case where an a

When a contracting officer (“CO”) asks an existing contractor for a proposal for additional work and then withdraws that request, the request for proposal (“RFP”) is not a constructive change on the contract.  Walsh Turner Joint Venture II, ASBCA No. 63665, May 8, 2025.  The Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals dismissed Walsh Turner’s claim because it failed to state a claim. Walsh Turner was awarded a firm-fixed-price contract by the Corps of Engineers for construction

When the government supplies a contractor (such as in a solicitation) with a defective design specification, the government is deemed to have breached an implied warranty that satisfactory contract performance will result from adhering to the specification.  This is known as the “Spearin Doctrine” and arose in the case of United States v. Spearin,  248 U.S. 132 (1918).   If the product or service produced by the contractor is not satisfactory, the government is in breach of t