A decision just issued by the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (CBCA) offers guidance on how the federal government may respond to COVID-19 claims. In this case, there was an outbreak of Ebola at the project site, and the federal government did not provide any guidance to the contractor on how to respond to such an outbreak.

The contractor chose to demobilize and sought recovery of its increased costs under theories of constructive and cardinal change. The CBCA ruled as a matter of law that the Ebola outbreak constituted an excusable delay, but was not a compensable change under cardinal or constructive change theories. Notably, the Board did not address a constructive suspension theory of recovery, saying it was not before the Board.

We attach a copy of the decision for your review.

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