CBCA 8363

DISMISSED FOR LACK OF JURISDICTION: November 3, 2025 CBCA 8363 WILLIAMS BUILDING COMPANY, INC., Appellant, v. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, Respondent. Douglas L. Patin and Erik M. Coon of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, Washington, DC, counsel for Appellant. Neil S. Deol, Office of General Counsel, Department of Veterans Affairs, Decatur, GA, counsel for Respondent. Before Board Judges LESTER, GOODMAN, and SHERIDAN. LESTER, Board Judge. Appellant, Williams Building Company (WBC), has requested that the Board allow it to withdraw this appeal but without prejudice to its ability to raise the challenges that it has identified in the claim underlying this appeal in another case that is currently pending before the Board. WBC seeks specific declaratory relief in this appeal that subsequent circumstances have rendered moot, but it is seeking monetary compensation in the related appeal for the alleged agency breaches of contract upon which this appeal is based. Because it is clear that the Board lacks jurisdiction to entertain this appeal, we dismiss it for lack of jurisdiction, which effectively acts as a dismissal without prejudice. CBCA 8363 2 Background On December 9, 2020, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) awarded a contract to WBC for a construction project at the Togus VA Medical Center in Augusta, Maine. WBC alleges that, soon thereafter, it identified numerous latent defects in the plans for the project for which it sought answers through the submission of requests for information (RFIs). It asserts that the VA refused to cooperate with WBC in resolving those design defects and that, on November 3, 2021, it asked the VA to terminate the contract for convenience. It further alleges that, on January 4, 2022, the VA suspended work on the project; that the VA later insisted that WBC submit replacement drawings for the entirety of the project, which it did under protest; and that, on August 22, 2022, the VA refused to terminate the contract for convenience. Asserting that the price of the project would increase dramatically using the new drawings, WBC in March 2023 requested a substantial increase in the contract price, a request to which WBC says the VA contracting officer never responded. The parties continued to interact and exchange blame for the next several months about problems on the project. In July 2024, WBC submitted a request for an equitable adjustment (REA) seeking payment of more than $7.7 million for what it called the VA’s breach of the contract. On September 26, 2024, it converted that REA into a certified claim in accordance with section 7103 of the Contract Disputes Act (CDA), 41 U.S.C. § 7103 (2018). In October 2024, at the contracting officer’s direction, WBC remobilized on site. WBC alleges that it was later told to perform work in accordance with the original design and not in accord with proposed change orders, which WBC asserted could not be done. The parties continued to conflict about the work to be performed. Then, on November 26, 2024, WBC submitted to the VA contracting officer what it called a “Claim for Declaratory Relief” under the CDA in which it “request[ed] a final decision/contract interpretation by . . . the Contracting Officer, that the VA has materially breached the contract, and that [WBC] has the right to stop work.” On February 26, 2025, WBC filed this appeal, which the Clerk of the Board docketed as CBCA 8363, from the “deemed denial” of its November 26 declaratory relief claim. Soon thereafter, on March 20, 2025, WBC filed with the Board a notice of appeal from the contracting officer’s “deemed denial” of its September 26, 2024, monetary claim, which the Clerk of the Board docketed as CBCA 8390. CBCA 8363 3 On July 24, 2025, the VA contracting officer terminated the contract for default. WBC appealed the termination decision to the Board that same day, which the Clerk of the Board docketed as CBCA 8519. By order dated August 25, 2025, the Board requested that WBC show cause as to whether, in light of the default termination, there was any remaining live dispute in CBCA 8363, given that the request in that appeal was for permission to allow WBC to stop work on the contract.