Al Rafideen Company

ARMED SERVICES BOARD OF CONTRACT APPEALS

Appeal of -- )

)

Al Rafideen Company ) ASBCA No. 59156

)

Under Contract No. W91GDW-10-D-2000 )

APPEARANCE FOR THE APPELLANT: Mr. Ahmed Maithem Jassim

Owner

APPEARANCES FOR THE GOVERNMENT: Raymond M. Saunders, Esq.

Army Chief Trial Attorney

CPT Lyn P. Juarez, JA

Trial Attorney

OPINION BY JUDGE NEWSOM ON THE GOVERNMENT'S MOTION TO

DISMISS FOR LACK OF JURISDICTION

Appellant appeals from a contracting officer's final decision denying its

demand for payment. The government moves to dismiss this appeal for lack of

jurisdiction on the basis that appellant's demand was not a claim, because it was

neither signed nor certified as required by the Contract Disputes Act of 1978 (CDA),

41 U.S.C. §§ 7101-7109. Appellant did not submit an opposition to the government's

motion. For the reasons explained below, the Board grants the government's motion

and dismisses the appeal without prejudice for lack of jurisdiction.

STATEMENT OF FACTS FOR PURPOSES OF THE MOTION

On 23 March 2010, the Joint Contracting Command-Iraq/Afghanistan awarded

Contract No. W91GDW-10-D-2000 to Al Rafideen Company for the procurement of

sand and related materials (R4, tab 1). The contract included Federal Acquisition

Regulation (FAR) clause 52.212-4, CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS -

COMMERCIAL ITEMS (MAR 2009) (R4, tab 1at48), subparagraph d of which stated

that the contract was subject to the CDA and incorporated FAR 52.233-1, DISPUTES.

On 28 July 2011, the contracting officer (CO) issued delivery order (DO) 0013

under the contract for 12,617 cubic meters of sand for $214,489 (R4, tab 5). In

September 2011, the CO notified appellant that it had no further need for sand under

DO 0013, and subsequently issued two bilateral modifications reducing the delivery

order quantities and related funding such that the total funding remaining after the

second modification was $69,956.51 (R4, tabs 8, 11, 15). The government asserts that

it made final payment to appellant in that amount on 21 February 2012 (R4, tab 16;

gov't br. at 1).

On 23 September 2013, appellant contacted the CO seeking compensation for

expenditures allegedly incurred on the contract in 2011 (R4, tab 18). After several

exchanges, appellant submitted a document entitled "Claim, Explanation, Invoices"

dated 7 October 2013 (R4, tabs 33, 34). The document lacked a signature,

certification, or stated total amount (R4, tab 34 ). The CO was able to calculate the

amount demanded to be $146,000 and notified appellant that "[ s]ince the claim is for

over $100,000 it will have to be certified." She attached FAR provisions showing the

required certification language. (R4, tab 35)

In response, appellant initially told the CO to "decrease" the amount claimed to

$98,000, but she again asked for a certification and again provided appellant the

required certification language (R4, tabs 36, 37). Appellant resubmitted its "Claim,

Explanation, Invoices" document, now dated 10 October 2013. This version included

a demand for $117,604.64 and stated: "First of all: I certify that the claim is made in

good faith." No additional certifying language, nor a signature, were included. (R4,

tab 38)

On 20 December 2013, the CO issued a final decision denying appellant's

purported claim (R4, tab 58). The contractor found errors in that decision (R4,

tabs 59-60) and thus the CO issued a corrected final decision on 30 December 2013

(R4, tab 61). On 11February2014, appellant submitted this appeal to the Board.

By letter dated 20 August 2014, the Board sua sponte advised appellant that the

"purported claim" in the record "d[id] not appear to contain a signature executing the

certification," nor did it contain all elements required in a certification, referring

appellant to several Board precedents. The Board directed appellant to demonstrate

that it submitted a certified claim to the contracting officer and provide a copy of that

claim to the Board. Appellant responded on 27 August 2014 by stating that it had

already provided the certified claim to the contracting officer. By letter dated

2 September 2014, the Board again directed appellant to provide a copy of the claim

and certification. Appellant responded by email that same day asking for clarification

on the missing certification assertions. Appellant responded again on 3 September

2014 by asking for a "claim attachment." By letter dated 9 September 2015, the Board

directed the parties to provide their views on whether the Board has jurisdiction to

adjudicate this appeal. The Board then held a 19 September 2014 teleconference at

appellant's request in which it explained its order orally to both parties.

On 8 October 2014, the government filed a motion to dismiss for lack of

jurisdiction. Appellant filed no response. On 12 November 2014, after appellant's

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deadline for responding, the Board again ordered appellant to submit a response by

28 November 2014. Appellant filed no response.*

DECISION

For contractor claims exceeding $100,000, the CDA requires the contractor to

certify that:

(A) [T]he claim is made in good faith;

(B) the supporting data are accurate and complete

to the best of the contractor's knowledge and belief;

(C) the amount requested accurately reflects the

contract adjustment for which the contractor believes the

Federal Government is liable; and

(D) the certifier is authorized to certify the claim on

behalf of the contractor.

41 U.S.C. § 7103(b)(l). This requirement is repeated in FAR 33.207(c) and in the

disputes clause incorporated into appellant's contract.

When required, as it was here, a CDA certification is a prerequisite to this

Board's jurisdiction. New Iraq Ahd Co., ASBCA No. 58800, 14-1BCA,35,479

at 173,953; Special Operative Grp., LLC, ASBCA No. 57678, 11-2 BCA, 34,860

at 171,480. A defective certification does not deprive the Board of jurisdiction,

41 U.S.C. § 7103(b)(3); however, the complete absence of a certification where

required does deprive the Board of jurisdiction and dictates dismissal. CCIE & Co.,

ASBCA Nos. 58355, 59008, 14-1BCA,35,700 at 174,817; Baghdadi Swords Co.,

ASBCA No. 58539, 13 BCA, 35,395 at 173,665. The fact that a contracting officer

purported to issue a final decision does not remedy the absence of a certification and

has no legal bearing on the Board's jurisdiction. Abdul Ahad Khadim Constr. Co.,

ASBCA No. 59206, 14-1BCA,35,694 at 174,766; Baghdadi Swords, 13 BCA

, 35,395 at 173,665.

Among its other purposes, the CDA certification is intended to enable the

government "to hold a contractor personally liable for fraudulent claims." Hawaii

*Initially after receiving the Rule 4 file, the Board sought to verify that appellant's

representative had authority to represent appellant. It issued orders dated

11April2014, 6 May 2014, 28 May 2014, 16 July 2014, 8 August 2014 and

13 August 2014, each directing appellant's representative to demonstrate that

he met the criteria under Board Rule 26 (now Rule 15) to act as appellant's

authorized representative. Appellant did not supply the required information

until 16 August 2014.

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CyberSpace, ASBCA No. 54065, 04-1 BCA if 32,455 at 160,533 (citing Transamerica

Insurance Corp. v. United States, 973 F.2d 1572, 1580 (Fed. Cir. 1992)). In so doing,

the certification "push[es] contractors into being careful and reasonably precise in the

submission of claims," Tecom, Inc. v. United States, 732 F.2d 935, 937 (Fed. Cir.

1984), and thereby is intended "to discourage the submission of unwarranted

contractor claims and to encourage settlements." Paul E. Lehman, Inc. v. United

States, 673 F.2d 352, 354 (Ct. Cl. 1982).

As we explained in Hawaii CyberSpace, 04-1BCAif32,455 at 160,535, the

absence of a signature on a certification defeats these objectives and renders the

certification ineffective. Accordingly, our decisions have established that the

altogether lack of a signature on a certification is not a defect that can be cured such

that we can exercise jurisdiction. Tokyo Company, ASBCA No. 59059, 14-1 BCA

if 35,590; Sygnetics, Inc., ASBCA No. 56806, 10-2 BCA if 34,576 at 170,465. The

absence of a claim certification deprives this Board of jurisdiction. Tefirom Insaat

Enerji Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., ASBCA No. 56667, 11-1 BCA if 34,628; Dick

Pacific/GHEMM, JV, ASBCA No. 55829, 08-2 BCA if 33,937 at 167,943.

Here, appellant's purported claim lacks a signed certification and thus the

Board lacks jurisdiction over this appeal.

Appellant, as the proponent of the Board's jurisdiction, bears the burden of

establishing jurisdiction by a preponderance of the evidence. Hanley Indus., Inc.,

ASBCA No. 58198, 14-1 BCA if 35,500 at 174,015. Appellant submitted no

opposition to the government's motion to dismiss and thus provided no basis for the

Board to deny the motion.

CONCLUSION

The government's motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction is granted. This

appeal is dismissed without prejudice.

Dated: 7 May 2015

Administrative Judge

Armed Services Board

of Contract Appeals

(Signatures continued)

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I concur I concur

~$--

Administrative Judge

~CKLEFORD

Administrative Judge

Acting Chairman Vice Chairman

Armed Services Board Armed Services Board

of Contract Appeals of Contract Appeals

I certify that the foregoing is a true copy of the Opinion and Decision of the

Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals in ASBCA No. 59156, Appeal of

Al Rafideen Company, rendered in conformance with the Board's Charter.

Dated:

JEFFREY D. GARDIN

Recorder, Armed Services

Board of Contract Appeals

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