Too Late: Government’s Failure to Timely Audit Did Not Extend the Contractor’s Document Retention Obligations – Government Contracts Legal Forum
In Doubleshot, Inc., ASBCA No. 61691 (July 19, 2022), the Armed Providers Board of Contract Appeals (“ASBCA”) granted the contractor’s movement for partial abstract judgment, denying The federal authorities’s declare for unallowable prices to the extent that it was based mostly on lacking or unsigned worker time playing cards. The ASBCA held that the contractor was not required To take care of time card data to assist the allowability of labor costs past the retention interval specified Inside the contractor’s value-plus-fixed-payment contracts (collectively with relevant time extensions).
The contracts incorpopriced each the Audit and Records – Negotiation clause (FAR 52.215-2) and the Allowable Cost and Cost clause (FAR 52.216-7), which grant The federal authorities The biggest To look at the contractor’s data reflecting all declareed prices and scale again funds for portions That are unallowable. Following the contractor’s delayed submission of two final oblique value price proposals, the Protection Contract Audit Agency (“DCAA”) Did not start auditing the proposals till eight months after the contractual obligation To take care of data had expired. DCAA then questioned the contractor’s labor prices for which there was no time card assist, Regardless of The very Incontrovertible actuality that the contractor was In a place to demonstprice that it paid its staff. The Government’s declare and the contractor’s attraction adopted.
The ASBCA held that the contractor was not obligated To maintain time card data past the FAR-mandated retention intervals set Inside the contracts. Subsequently, The federal authorities Might not disallow The prices on The Idea that the time playing cards have been unavailable. In so maintaining, the ASBCA rejected The federal authorities’…….