Here at SmallGovCon, we often write about nuanced, complex government contracting legal issues.  This isn’t one of them.

The moral of today’s story comes straight from the personal superhero files of Captain Obvious: not reading the performance work statement in your own contract is a pretty bad idea.

The PWS at issue in Sterling Design, Inc., ASBCA No. 61099 (2017) was part of a contract between the Air Force and Sterling Design, Inc.  Under the contract, SDI was to repair a power supply unit for a fixed price of $7,395.  The contract gave SDI 30 days from receipt of the power unit to complete the repairs.  However, SDI did not complete the repairs until several months after the 30-day period had elapsed.

SDI then filed a claim for $5,925, alleging that the government had delayed SDI’s work.  The contracting officer denied the claim, and SDI appealed to the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals.

At the ASBCA, SDI introduced a whopping 893 pages of emails with governmental officials.  The crux of SDI’s argument was that the emails represented SDI’s attempts to obtain necessary contractual information, and that the government delayed the contract either by failing to respond to these emails, or by responding late.

Keep reading this article at: http://smallgovcon.com/uncategorized/not-reading-the-pws-is-a-bad-idea-asbca-confirms/