Note: Author of “The Small Business Guide to Government Contracts,” Steven J. Koprince blogged recently about a recent ruling by the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) that the government breached a contract when it waited more than three months to respond to a contractor’s request to amend the contract’s scope of work.  Here is his writing, along with a link to his post:

Here’s a situation my colleagues and I see with some frequency: a contractor, in the course of working on a government contract, submits a request of some sort to the agency.  Then waits for a response.  And waits some more.  Meanwhile, the government’s delay in responding prevents the contractor from moving forward with some aspect of the project, causing the contractor to incur costs.

For contractors faced with this type of government inaction, a recent decision by the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals is welcome news.  In that case, the ASBCA held that the government breached its implied duty of good faith and fair dealing by waiting more than three months to respond to the contractor’s request to amend the Statement of Work – allowing the contractor to “twist in the wind” during that period.

The ASBCA’s decision in Relyant, LLC, ASBCA No. 59809 (2018) involved an Army contract for the acquisition of pre-fabricated relocatable buildings (abbreviated “RLBs” in the decision) for use at two different sites in Afghanistan.

The solicitation’s Statement of Work included certain specifications for the RLBs.  Among those specifications, the SOW required the installation of gypsum interior drywall to the interior of the shipping containers that would cover fiberglass insulation.  But in its proposal, Relyant, LLC proposed a different configuration: the use of a “sandwich panel,” including Styrofoam as the insulator instead of separate insulation and drywall.

Keep reading this article at: http://smallgovcon.com/claims-and-appeals/governments-delayed-response-breached-contract-says-asbca/