Earlier this week, the Department of Defense (DOD) issued a final rule updating the Rules of the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA).The final rule updates the ASBCA Rules to conform to changes in the Contract Disputes Act (CDA), the statute that permits government contractors to sue federal agencies for breach of contract.The final rule implements the increases in several important dollar thresholds for claims procedures under the CDA.The rule also updates statutory references to reflect the recent reorganization and renumbering of the CDA in the United States Code.Specific changes include the following:
- Statutory references to the CDA reflect the changes made in Public Law 111-350, 124 Stat. 3677 (2011), which recodified the CDA from 41 U.S.C. §§601-613 to 41 U.S.C. §§7101-7109.
- Rule 1 (b) and (c) reflect the increase in threshold for the certification requirement for presenting claims to the Contracting Officer from $50,000 to $100,000.
- Rule 12.1 (a) reflects the increase in the maximum amount for small claims appeal procedures before the ASBCA from $10,000 to $50,000 and implements the alternative maximum amount for small claims procedures of $150,000 for small businesses.
- Rule 12.1 (b) reflects the increase in the maximum amount for the applicability of accelerated procedures at the ASBCA from $50,000 to $100,000.
A proposed rule was published on February 11, 2011, and the DOD received no comments on the proposed rule.For more information about these updates or to learn more about submitting claims to your Contracting Officer or appealing a decision of your Contracting Officer to the ASBCA, contact Jeff Eckland at [nap_phone id=”LOCAL-REGULAR-NUMBER-2″] or [email protected] .