CBCA 7451

DENIED: April 4, 2025 CBCA 7451 QUALITY TRUST, INC., Appellant, v. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Respondent. Lawrence M. Ruiz, President of Quality Trust, Inc., Junction City, KS, appearing for Appellant. Rachel Grabenstein, Office of the Solicitor, Department of the Interior, Albuquerque, NM, counsel for Respondent. Before Board Judges RUSSELL, SULLIVAN, and CHADWICK. SULLIVAN, Board Judge. Quality Trust, Inc. (QTI) appealed the decision of a contracting officer for the Department of the Interior (DOI or respondent) denying QTI’s claim for lack of support. In a decision issued in March 2024 on DOI’s motion to dismiss in part for lack of jurisdiction, we found that QTI claimed damages of more than $481,000 for a period of standby. DOI subsequently filed a motion for summary judgment, asserting that QTI has not provided any support for its claim and cannot meet the required elements of the Eichleay formula (as set forth in Eichleay Corp., ASBCA 5183, 60-2 BCA ¶ 2688, aff’d on reconsideration, 61-1 BCA ¶ 2894). We find that QTI cannot receive an equitable adjustment for a suspension of work and has not proven entitlement to damages calculated with the Eichleay formula. CBCA 7451 2 Statement of Undisputed Facts I. Claim to the Contracting Officer In September 2020, DOI entered into a contract with QTI for bridge and road repair. Appeal File, Exhibit 7 at 2-4.1 The period of performance was September 23, 2020, to February 26, 2021. Id. at 4. The contract incorporated Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clause 52.242-14, Suspension of Work (APR 1984) (48 CFR 52.242-14 (2020)). Exhibit 7 at 81. That clause stipulates that a contractor shall receive an economic adjustment for any increase in contract performance costs “necessarily caused by the unreasonable suspension, delay, or interruption” of work by the contracting officer. To ensure that nesting birds were not disturbed, the contract prohibited QTI from performing masonry work on the bridge to be repaired between March 15 and September 1. Exhibit 7 at 75. There are two suspensions of work documented in the appeal file. On December 28, 2020, the contracting officer issued a unilateral modification, partially suspending work to address QTI’s mistake in price. Exhibit 33 at 2 (modification 1); see also Exhibits 25, 28 at 2. DOI lifted the suspension on January 21, 2021. Exhibit 42 at 2. On February 4, 2021, the contracting officer issued another suspension and a cure notice, directing QTI to address several failures and deficiencies in its performance. Exhibit 53 (modification 3). After receiving several additional cure notices, QTI made the necessary adjustments, and the contracting officer lifted this second suspension on March 30, 2021. Exhibit 70 at 3 (modification 4). In the modification lifting the second suspension, the contracting officer extended the completion date to September 30, 2021. Id. In April 2021, the parties executed a bilateral modification to address “a mutual mistake in the contract price after award,” adding approximately $52,000 to the contract price. Exhibit 76 at 2 (modification 5). On January 4, 2022, the contracting officer issued two unilateral modifications. The first extended the contract completion dated to January 31, 2022. Exhibit 121 at 2 (modification 8). The second partially terminated work for convenience, listing five areas of terminated contract work. Id. at 4-11 (modification 9). By letter dated January 10, 2022, QTI submitted a “time and cost modification request,” seeking payment of $2000 per day for the period from March through November 2021, during which QTI alleged it was on standby due to “latent conditions and changes” in a project that was “not classified correctly.” Exhibit 129 at 3. 1 All exhibits are found in the appeal file unless otherwise indicated. CBCA 7451 3 In April 2022, QTI submitted a claim to the contracting officer pursuant to the contract’s Disputes clause, FAR 52.233-1, seeking payment of $481,109.75. Exhibit 146 at 3-8. QTI did not explain how it arrived at its claim amount or identify what “[l]ost [a]djustment expenses” remained to be incurred. See id. at 3.