Deas Construction, Inc.

CourtArmed Services Board of Contract Appeals
DecidedDecember 13, 2016
DocketASBCA No. 60633
StatusPublished

This text of Deas Construction, Inc. (Deas Construction, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Deas Construction, Inc., (asbca 2016).

Opinion

ARMED SERVICES BOARD OF CONTRACT APPEALS

Appeal of -- ) ) Deas Construction, Inc. ) ASBCA No. 60633 ) Under Contract No. FA4855-14-M-V003 )

APPEARANCES FOR THE APPELLANT: Mr. Douglas Reitmeyer Vice President for Litigation Mr. Kirk Deas President

APPEARANCES FOR THE GOVERNMENT: Jeffrey P. Hildebrant, Esq. Air Force Deputy Chief Trial Attorney Heather M. Mandelkehr, Esq. Anna F. Kurtz, Esq. Trial Attorneys

OPINION BY ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE NEWSOM

This appeal concerns the termination for convenience of a $42,000 commercial services contract. Appellant contends that it fully performed the contract before the termination and is entitled to full payment. The government contends that appellant performed only a fraction of the scope of work and is only entitled to a fraction of the contract price as a termination settlement.

Appellant elected to proceed under the Board's Accelerated procedure of Board Rule 12.3. After a hearing, for the reasons explained below, we hold that appellant did not fully perform the contract and that the government's determination of the amount of appellant's termination settlement is reasonable.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. This appeal concerns a contract to repair an Isochronal Inspection Maintenance Stand (ISO Stand or Stand) and deliver a technical manual for the Stand (R4, tab 7 at 4, tab 2 at 2).

2. An ISO Stand is an elevated platform that fits around and up against an aircraft. The Stand allows maintenance personnel to access and walk 360 degrees around the aircraft to perform repairs and maintenance. This enables personnel to work more efficiently than if they had to climb up and down ladders to perform repairs or maintenance. (Supp. R4, tabs 148, 152; tr. 11223-24, 2/48) 3. The particular ISO Stand at issue was designed and built by a company called KWD Manufacturing, Inc. (KWD) (R4, tab 4; tr. 2/48, 54). The Stand had been acquired sometime in the past, and by 2013 it was located at Cannon Air Force Base, lying mostly disassembled in a state of disrepair. Cannon AFB maintenance personnel did not have the technical expertise to repair it. (Tr. 11223-25)

4. In 2013, the Air Force contacted KWD and inquired how to make the Stand functional (tr. 2/53). After examining the ISO Stand, in June 2014 KWD submitted an unsolicited quote to repair the Stand for a price of $109,390.10 (R4, tab 51 at 1; supp. R4, tab 56).

5. The parties dispute whether KWD also supplied the government with a list of parts missing from the ISO Stand. KWD's president, John Deane, testified that he provided with the quote a cost workup that included "a conglomerate of many items." Questioned whether this included a list of parts missing from the Stand, he testified that he did not supply "a per se cross down the line list" where "could you submit it and have everybody quote in it- I did not." (Tr. 2/214-15) The contracting officer testified that the Air Force did not have a list of missing parts (tr. 1/57). Based on this testimony, we find that KWD provided a list of materials but not a missing parts list that could be used by other offerors to generate a quote.

6. In 2014, the Air Force decided to hold a competitive procurement for award of a commercial services contract to repair the ISO Stand (supp. R4, tab 73; tr. 1/38-39, 48-49, 224-28).

7. The Air Force issued a request for quotations on 18 September 2014 (R4, tab 1). The solicitation contained a single contract line item number (CLIN) that described the work as follows:

The contractor shall provide non-personal services, to include all personnel, equipment, labor, supervision, and other items and services necessary to repair an Isochronal Inspection [ISO] Maintenance Stand Part No. 38-1-00-5, and provide all required manuals and documents in accordance with the Performance Work Statement (PWS) dated: 16 September 2014.

The solicitation called for a single unit price for this CLIN. (R4, tab 1 at 2) The solicitation also provided that the "stand must be tested and the end item repaired to a new refurbished condition as identified in the Performance Work Statement (PWS)" (id.).

2 8. The PWS elaborated, stating:

1. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES The Contractor shall provide non-personal services, to include all personnel, equipment, labor, supervision, and other items and services necessary to ensure the fabrication, shipping, installation, and assembly of the Isochronal Inspection (ISO) Maintenance Stand (Part No. 38-1-00-5) is completed and repaired to a new refurbished condition. The maintenance stand shall be in compliance with Air Force Instruction (AFI) 91-203, Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), and all other applicable Air Force, federal, state, and local requirements.

1.2 The Contractor shall test the assembled unit to ensure the stand is fully functional, properly fits and stores in hangar, and successfully wraps around aircraft.

(R4, tab 2 at 1)

9. The PWS specified two deliverables: (1) the "ISO Maintenance Stand 38-1-00-5: 100% assembled, fully functional, and in compliance with all applicable regulations" and (2) "Technical Manual with equipment illustrated parts breakdown" (R4, tab 2 at 2).

10. Shortly after issuing the solicitation, the Air Force issued Amendment 1, announcing a site visit to be held on 22 September 2014 (R4, tab 5).

11. Appellant, Deas Construction, Inc. (Deas) is a small business. Prior to the ISO Stand project, Deas had bid on only one federal acquisition and had never been awarded nor performed a federal contract. (Tr. 2/221-29)

12. Deas sent a representative, Mr. Christian Hernandez, to the site visit. Mr. Hernandez took photographs of the Stand and asked questions. (Supp. R4, tab 91)

13. Following the site visit, the Air Force issued Amendment 2 to the solicitation containing written answers to the questions asked during the site visit. The answers to two of the questions are key to this dispute:

3 • Are the electrical repairs the main focus of this requirement, or is the end item the overall requirement?

- The requirement is for a fully functional end item, to include electrical. Reference PWS paragraph 2.1, 2.2

• Is there a list of items missing or needing repair/replacement, or an estimate of what components are missing?

- No, the awarded contractor will have to determine what is missing or needing replacement to deliver the completed ISO Stand 3 8-1-00-5

(R4, tab 6) (Bold deleted)

14. Kirk Deas, the owner of Deas, interpreted "the awarded contractor" to mean that the contractor who was awarded the contract - but not the bidders - would determine what parts were missing. He testified that he thought the job required the contractor only to assemble the parts that were available, not to acquire missing parts. (Tr. 2/235-36, 243) If he had known that the Air Force would require Deas to provide missing parts, Deas would not have bid the job (tr. 2/245).

15. Two offerors submitted quotations in response to the solicitation, KWD and Deas (tr. 1/58). KWD, the original manufacturer, re-submitted its previous quote of $109,390.10 (supp. R4, tab 99 at 2; tr. 1/58-61). Deas submitted a quote of $42,000.00 (supp. R4, tabs 94, 99 at 1-2).

16. The contracting officer noted the price difference but did not think that there was a problem with Deas' pricing. She assumed that Deas knew how to bid the project. She also believed KWD's quote was excessively high because, as she explained, "KWD's quote was the exact same quote that had been turned in earlier as a sole-source quote. In my experience, sole-source quotes have always been higher than what we would expect from a competed contract." (Tr. 1/58-59)

17. On 30 September 2014, the Air Force awarded Contract No. FA4855-14-M-V003 to Deas (R4, tab 7; supp. R4, tab 105).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Deas Construction, Inc., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/deas-construction-inc-asbca-2016.