Contract Disputes Act Statute of Limitations — Paid Consultation on a Federal Contract Claim
A paid consultation with Sherrod Seward, Esq. on a claim under the Contract Disputes Act, 41 U.S.C. chapter 71 — the certification, the final decision, and the dates.
There is no single Contract Disputes Act deadline, and that is the problem with the question. A claim has to reach the contracting officer within six years of when it accrued, and accrual is a question about what you knew and when, not a date printed anywhere. Once a final decision arrives, two different clocks start together: ninety days to appeal to an agency board, twelve months to sue at the Court of Federal Claims. Both run from the date you received the decision, not the date typed on it. You will leave the call knowing which period governs your claim, what starts it, and whether the document you are holding is a final decision at all.
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Request the consultation
Six fields. About a minute.
Bring the call one of these
- A contracting officer's final decision has arrived and you are not sure what the date on it means.
- You submitted a request for equitable adjustment months ago and nothing has come back.
- Your claim is over $100,000 and you need to know who is allowed to sign the certification.
- The contracting officer says your certification is defective.
- You are weighing an agency board against the Court of Federal Claims and want the trade-offs.
- You think the six years may have run, and you need to know when the claim actually accrued.
Two clocks, one trigger, and the trigger is the envelope
Under 41 U.S.C. 7104(a) a contractor may appeal a contracting officer's decision to an agency board "within 90 days from the date of receipt" of it. Under 41 U.S.C. 7104(b)(3) a contractor may instead sue at the Court of Federal Claims, and must file "within 12 months from the date of receipt". The Federal Acquisition Regulation makes the agency print both in the decision itself: the paragraph required by FAR 33.211(a)(4)(v) says 90 days "from the date you receive this decision" and 12 months "of the date you receive this decision". That is why FAR 33.211(b) requires the decision to be sent by certified mail or another method that evidences receipt, and why the envelope is evidence rather than clutter. The two routes are alternatives, not a sequence — 7104(b)(1) offers the court "in lieu of" the board — so choosing the board does not reserve the twelve months and letting the ninety days pass does not open a fresh clock. Behind both sits 41 U.S.C. 7103(a)(4)(A), which requires the claim itself to be submitted within six years of accrual, and FAR 33.201 defines accrual as the date when all events fixing liability "were known or should have been known", with some injury having occurred. Miss all of it and 41 U.S.C. 7103(g) makes the decision "final and conclusive and not subject to review by any forum, tribunal, or Federal Government agency" — which is a different and worse thing than losing an argument.
How it runs
- Send the enquiryThe form below. Six fields, about a minute.
- Pay the consultation fee$500, on the firm's secure payment page. Credited in full against the fee for the engagement if this office is engaged on the matter.
- The consultationThe call itself. Bring the contracting officer's decision, the envelope or transmittal it arrived in, the contract or solicitation number, and any debriefing correspondence — the clocks run from when you received the paper.
- A written summaryWhat was decided, what the next step is, and the date it has to happen by.
Questions people actually ask
What do I actually get for the fee?
The $500 is the fee for the consultation itself and for the written summary that follows it. It is not a retainer, and it does not include drafting or filing a FOIA request, an administrative appeal, a licence application, a delisting petition, a federal court complaint, a trademark application, a response to a USPTO office action, or a post-registration maintenance filing - each of those is separately scoped and separately quoted. Government, agency and court filing fees, any agency search, review or duplication fees, and any USPTO filing fees, are not included and are payable to the government, not to this office. On a government contract matter it likewise does not include preparing or certifying a claim to a contracting officer, a request for equitable adjustment, a termination settlement proposal, an agency-level protest, a protest at the Government Accountability Office, an appeal to an agency board of contract appeals, or a complaint in the United States Court of Federal Claims - each of those is separately scoped and separately quoted.
Is this legal advice?
The consultation is. This page is not — it is general information about federal practice, and reading it creates no relationship with this office. Sending this form does not create an attorney-client relationship. No attorney-client relationship is formed until this office and you have signed a written engagement agreement.
Can you tell me what my chances are?
You will get a candid assessment of what your record supports and where it is thin, which is the useful version of that question. What you will not get is a percentage. Every matter is decided on its own record by a government officer or a judge, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
What happens if you cannot help?
You will be told so on the call, and told where the matter actually belongs. That happens often enough to be worth saying out loud.
Is my request for equitable adjustment a claim?
Often not yet, and the difference decides whether anything is running. The Disputes clause at FAR 52.233-1(c) defines a claim as a written demand seeking, as a matter of right, payment of money in a sum certain, an adjustment or interpretation of contract terms, or other relief. It adds that a demand over $100,000 "is not a claim under 41 U.S.C chapter 71 until certified", and that a routine invoice not in dispute when submitted is not a claim — though it may become one if it is disputed or not acted on in a reasonable time. Until it is a claim there is no final decision to appeal, no clock under 7104, and no interest running, because interest under 41 U.S.C. 7109 and FAR 33.208(a) runs from the date the contracting officer receives the claim.
Who is allowed to certify a claim over $100,000?
Any individual authorised to bind the contractor with respect to the claim — 41 U.S.C. 7103(b)(2), FAR 33.207(e). It does not have to be an officer and it is not a notary question. The wording is prescribed at FAR 33.207(c) and must not be altered. Two traps: the threshold is measured on the aggregate of increased and decreased costs under FAR 33.207(d), so netting down below $100,000 is not available; and while a defective certification is curable and does not defeat jurisdiction under 41 U.S.C. 7103(b)(3), FAR 33.201 says failure to certify at all "shall not be deemed to be a defective certification", which is a materially different position to be in.