ASBCA 60515

ARMED SERVICES BOARD OF CONTRACT APPEALS Appeal of -- ) ) American Boys Construction Company ) ASBCA No. 60515 ) Under Contract No. W56SGK-16-C-0013 ) APPEARANCE FOR THE APPELLANT: Mr. Nadeem Alamyar President APPEARANCES FOR THE GOVERNMENT: Raymond M. Saunders, Esq. Army Chief Trial Attorney MAJ Bruce L. Mayeaux, JA Trial Attorney OPINION BY ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE PROUTY This appeal is about the compensation due to appellant, American Boys Construction Company (ABC), for the government's terminating the above-captioned contract (the contract) for convenience. ABC alleges 1 that in the nine days between contract award and a government stop-work order, it incurred $67,793 in compensable costs under the contract- primarily for supplies that it obtained in preparation for contract performance, but also for stand-by labor costs (app. hr. at 2; app. reply br.; see also R4, tab 10 at 4). 2 Because we find that ABC's purchase of the materials for which it now seeks compensation was unreasonably premature and that the amounts sought for stand-by labor costs have not been substantiated, we deny this appeal, although we would have been open to some stand-by labor costs if only ABC had presented evidence of such costs. 1 After initially requesting that this appeal proceed via a hearing, appellant ultimately elected to proceed under the auspices of Board Rule 11, in which the appeal is decided exclusively upon the written record. 2 ABC's briefs do not specify the amount of money sought in this appeal, nor does its complaint or any other filing made with the Board, except that its reply brief stated that it was seeking the amount requested by the termination settlement proposal it submitted to the contracting officer (app. reply hr. at 4). That amount was $67,793 (R4, tab 10 at 4).  FINDINGS OF FACT On 14 February 2016, the government's Regional Contracting Center- Capital in Kabul, Afghanistan (RCC), awarded the contract at issue in this appeal to ABC (R4, tab 1 at 1-2). This firm-fixed-price contract in the amount of$120,801 ($113,301 for the actual performance; $7,500 (estimated) for Defense Base Act Insurance) was for the installation of a "sniper screen" at a base in Kabul (id. at 3). The contract's 60-day period of performance was set to begin on 28 February 2016 and conclude on 29 April 2016. ABC was required to commence work within 5 days of receiving the notice to proceed from the government. (Id. at 6) On 17 February 2016, ABC's project manager, Mr. Walusimbi John, emailed Sergeant First Class (SFC) Brandon Cooper, the contracting specialist assigned to provide administrative support on the contract (app. supp. R4, tab 1 at 2)3 • Mr. John said that he had "attached [a] list of suppliers for the project." SFC Cooper responded by informing Mr. John that he was looking forward to working with him again, but that the email included no attachment (id. at 3). The record does not indicate whether ABC responded with a re-sent attachment, and, given the email sent by ABC to SFC Cooper three days later (discussed below), we think it unlikely that it did. On 18 February 2016, four days after contract award, the government held a preconstruction conference as provided for by the contract (see R4, tab 1 at 15 (contractual provision incorporating Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.236-26, PRECONSTRUCTION CONFERENCE (FEB 1995) into the contract), tab 2 (signed memorandum detailing conference)). According to a memorandum describing the conference that was signed by both government and ABC representatives, among other matters discussed, ABC was informed of the contractual requirement to tender material submittals to the government on a specified form, the Air Force Form 3000 (R4, tab 2 at 2-3). Government representatives who attended this meeting included Major (MAJ) Joseph Cederstrom (the contracting officer (CO)), SFC Cooper, and First Lieutenant (lLT) David Morin (the CO's technical representative) (R4, tabs 14-16). SFC Cooper provided written testimony that, although he did not specifically recall the discussion held during this meeting, the standard practice at all such meetings he attended in Afghanistan was to follow the agenda set forth in the 3 ABC submitted to the Board, on 14 February 2017, a number of documents to act as its supplement to the Rule 4 file.