CBCA 7344

DENIED: April 6, 2022 CBCA 7344 CONSTRUCTION SERVICES GROUP, INC., Petitioner, v. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, Respondent. Andy Moody, Vice President of Construction Services Group, Inc., Charleston, SC, appearing for Petitioner. Neil S. Deol, Office of General Counsel, Department of Veterans Affairs, Decatur, GA, counsel for Respondent. LESTER, Board Judge.1 Construction Services Group, Inc. (CSG) has filed a petition with the Board pursuant to section 7103(f)(4) of the Contract Disputes Act (CDA), 41 U.S.C. § 7103(f)(4) (2018), requesting that the Board direct a contracting officer with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to issue a decision on CSG’s certified claim, dated August 31, 2021, by a date certain. The purpose of that statutory provision is to allow the contractor, if a decision of the contracting officer is not forthcoming, to accelerate the date by which it can appeal a “deemed denial” of its claim. Here, CSG’s claim is already “deemed denied” because the 1 Pursuant to Board Rule 1(d) (48 CFR 6101.1(d) (2020)), “[t]he presiding judge may without participation by other panel members decide . . . any petition.” Because resolution of this petition does not raise novel issues, it is being decided by a single judge. CBCA 7344 2 contracting officer neither issued a decision within sixty days after receiving CSG’s claim nor timely extended the deadline for issuing that decision. For the same reasons that the Board discussed in CTA I, LLC v. Department of Veterans Affairs, CBCA 5800, 17-1 BCA ¶ 36,829, we must deny the petition because the petitioner has already obtained the only relief that we could effectively provide. Background On or about September 30, 2019, the VA awarded task order no. 36C24719N0948 under contract no. 36C24718D0140 to CSG for the renovation of Building 10 at the W.J.B. Dorn VA Medical Center campus in Columbia, South Carolina. The original contract completion date of January 13, 2021, was eventually extended through various contract modifications to August 15, 2021. On July 28, 2021, the VA contracting officer issued unilateral modification P00006, increasing the contract price by $460,000 for a change involving porch repairs. Even though the modification provided CSG with a price increase, the contracting officer requested that CSG provide a cost proposal for the work referenced in the modification. In the modification, the contracting officer indicated that, if CSG did not submit a cost proposal, “consideration will be given to issuing a settlement by determination based on the government’s estimate of equitable cost and time.” Instead of submitting a cost proposal, CSG on August 31, 2021, submitted a document titled “Request for Equitable Adjustment VA Renovations of Building 10” to the VA contracting officer. In that document, CSG sought $415,339.74 in home office overhead costs calculated under the Eichleay formula and an additional $204,385 as the “[d]elta between MOD P00006 Proposal and Amount Added.” CSG indicated that it was entitled to 394 calendar days of compensable excusable delay (a number that it used to calculate the amount of its home office overhead) and a total contract time extension of 180 calendar days. As part of the submission, CSG signed a certification using the language set forth in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 33.207 and requested “a decision to be issued within 60 days of submission.” See 48 CFR 33.207 (2020) (FAR 33.207). On September 14, 2021, CSG submitted what it titled “Revision 1 – Originally Submitted 8/31/2021” to its “Request for Equitable Adjustment VA Renovations of Building 10.” In this document, CSG addressed only its home office overhead request, slightly reducing the amount and number of compensable excusable delay days requested from what it had submitted on August 31, 2021.