In a recent opinion issued by the United States Court of Federal Claims, Meridian Engineering Company vs. The United States, a case argued by our firm, the Court ruled that a contract modification containing a release did not prevent the contractor from recovering further damages. The dispute involved a contract between Meridian and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a flood-control project in Nogales, AZ. After entering into the contract, the Contracting Officer issued…

My partner Tim Furin and I attended the FY2020 DOD & Federal Agency Program Briefings this week on March 12 in Herndon, Virginia. The Briefings are part of the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) Capital Week. The program provides SAME members a chance to hear about the projected upcoming fiscal year’s engineering, construction, and environmental programs from contracting representatives, and Senior Executive Service leaders from the engineering components of the military services and select…

For federal construction contractors, payment and performance bond obligations in construction contracts with the federal government that exceed $150,000 should, typically, come as no surprise. However, what requirements should contractors expect from a contract that is ambiguous as to whether it is a construction contract, yet calls for construction-related services, but lacks explicit bonding requirement terms? Can bonding requirements be “read-in” to the contract? When should contractors raise such questions? This past November, the Federal…

On December 3, 2018, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued a deviation from the FAR’s self-performance requirements, which applies to subcontracting limitations on contracts set aside for small businesses. Although the changes to subcontracting limitations were mandated by the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (yes, 2013), implementation has been slow and piecemeal. The Small Business Administration (SBA) did not implement the changes until June 2016, and although the FAR Council recently issued a proposed…