Carter Safety Consultants, Inc.
Docket: ASBCA 51548, ASBCA 51904
Decision date: 2017-02-22

ARMED SERVICES BOARD OF CONTRACT APPEALS 
Appeal of--
Carter Safety Consultants, Inc. 
Under Contract No. W912P8-10-P-0255 
APPEARANCE FOR THE APPELLANT: 
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APPEARANCES FOR THE GOVERNMENT: 
ASBCA No. 60779 
Ms. Cliftena Carter 
CEO 
Thomas H. Gourlay, Jr., Esq. 
Engineer Chief Trial Attorney 
David R. Dyer, Esq. 
Engineer Trial Attorney 
U.S: Army Engineer District, 
New Orleans 
OPINION BY ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE O'CONNELL 
ON THE GOVERNMENT'S MOTION TO DISMISS FOR LACK OF JURISDICTION 
The United States Army Corps of Engineers moves to dismiss this appeal for lack 
of jurisdiction, contending that Carter Safety Consultants, Inc. (Carter) failed to file a 
timely appeal from the contracting officer's final decision (COFD). We grant the 
government's motion and dismiss the appeal. 
STATEMENT OF FACTS (SOF) FOR PURPOSES OF THE MOTION 
1. The government and Carter entered into Contract No. W912P8-10-P-0255 
(contract) on 30 September 2010 for information and project scheduling support (R4, tab 29). 
2. By letter dated 8 February 2016, Carter submitted a certified claim to the 
contracting officer (CO) for $109,542.60 for final payment under the contract (R4, tab 5). 
3. By letter dated 21 April 2016, the CO issued a final decision denying the claim 
(R4, tab 1 ). The COFD notified Carter of its right to appeal the decision to the Board 
within 90 days of receipt or to bring an action directly in the United States Court of 
Federal Claims within 12 months of receipt (id. at 22). The COFD also provided the 
mailing address for the Board (id.). 
4. The contracting officer emailed the final decision to Carter on 21 April 2016 
and also sent it by certified mail. Carter received the certified 
mail copy on 25 April 
2016. (R4, tab 1 at 1-2) 

5. By letter dated 5 August 2016, Carter appealed the COFD to the United States 
Government Accountability Office (GAO) (R4, tab 3). The letter stated that Carter had 
sent its appeal to the GAO several times before, the most recent attempt having been 
returned to Carter's offices on 12 July 2016 (id. at 1). Carter has not provided us with 
copies of its earlier appeals to the GAO. 
6. By letter dated 22 August 2016 (submitted in an envelope bearing a postal meter 
stamp of 3 September 2016 and received by the Board on 6 September 2016), Carter filed 
its appeal with the Board from the 21April2016 COFD. In the notice of appeal, Carter 
stated it received a letter on 19 August 2016 from the GAO Contract Appeals Board 
(CAB) in which the CAB stated that it did not possess jurisdiction to consider Carter's 
appeal and referred Carter to this Board. 
DISCUSSION 
The government moves to dismiss this appeal for lack of jurisdiction, asserting that 
Carter failed to file its appeal with the Board within 90 days of receiving the COFD. In its 
response, Carter did not address the timeliness of its appeal but merely argued the merits 
of its appeal. 
The Contract Disputes Act (CDA), 41 U.S.C. §§ 7101-7109, requires a contractor 
to file an appeal of a COFD with the Board within 90 days from receipt of that COFD. 
41 U.S.C. § 7104. We lack jurisdiction over any appeal filed outside this 90-day appeal 
period. Cosmic Constr. Co. v. United States, 697 F.2d 1389, 1391 (Fed. Cir. 1982). 
For purposes of this motion, we will assume that Carter received the COFD on 
25 April 2016 (the date that it received the certified letter) rather than 21 April 2016 (the 
date that the contracting officer emailed it). With a starting date of 25 April 2016, Carter's 
appeal had to have been filed no later than Monday, 25 July 2016. Carter did not mail a 
notice of appeal to the Board until at least 22 August 2016 (ignoring for the moment the 
12-day gap between the date of its letter and the postal meter stamp of 3 September 2016 ), 
which is more than 90 days after Carter received the COFD (SOF ii 6). 
We have held that we possess jurisdiction under the CDA in narrow circumstances 
where the contractor sent a timely notice of appeal to other officials in the Department of 
Defense. E.g., Contraves-Goerz Corp., ASBCA No. 26317, 83-1 BCA ii 16,309 (timely 
notice of appeal addressed to the Secretary of the Air Force through the CO); Brunner 
Bau GmbH, ASBCA No. 35678, 89-1BCAii21,315 (timely notice of appeal to 
government counsel); Thompson Aerospace, Inc., ASBCA Nos. 51548, 51904, 99-1 BCA 
ii 30,232 (timely notice of appeal to CO). 
In Carter's letter to the GAO dated 5 August 2016, Carter stated that it had tried to 
file an appeal with the GAO on or before 12 July 2016 (SOF ii 5), which raises the 
possibility that Carter filed an appeal within the 90-day period, albeit at the wrong forum. 
2 

We have held that, in contrast to appeals filed with the wrong official within the 
Department of Defense, we do not possess jurisdiction over appeals filed at other tribunals. 
See Waterstone Environmental Hydrology and Engineering, Inc., ASBCA No. 57557, 
12-1 BCA ~ 35,028 (late appeal to ASBCA dismissed after wrongful appeal to the Civilian 
Board of Contract Appeals). Thus, Carter's alleged timely appeal to the GAO, which is not 
within the executive branch of the government, does not provide us with jurisdiction. 
Finally, we observe that this is not an appeal where we would have expected the 
appellant to be confused by litigation options which a novice in contracting with the U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers might find daunting. Our records indicate that we docketed an 
appeal filed by appellant on 3 October 2011 from another contract it had with the Corps, 
which we docketed as ASBCA No. 57800. The docket identifies appellant's 
representative 
as Cliftena Carter, the same representative as in this appeal. The parties litigated that 
appeal for 14 months and then reported a settlement to the Board. Accordingly, we see no 
explanation for appellant's failure to file a timely appeal with the Board.* 
CONCLUSION 
The government's motion is granted and the appeal is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. 
Dated: 22 February 2017 
I concur 
\\ 
I ' I \ 
MICHAEL N. O'CONNELL 
Administrative Judge 
Armed Services Board 
of Contract Appeals 
I concur 
/~p?:~--- __ M ___ _ 
MARK N. STEMPLE~ RICHARD SHACKLEFORD 
Administrative Judge Administrative Judge 
Acting Chairman Vice Chairman 
Armed Services Board Armed Services Board 
of Contract Appeals of Contract Appeals 
* We express no opinion as to whether appellant may file an action in the Court of 
Federal Claims, which, as noted above, has a 12-month filing deadline from receipt 
of the contracting officer's final decision. 
3 

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. 60779, Appeal of Carter Safety 
Consultants, Inc., rendered in conformance with the Board's Charter. 
Dated: 
4 
JEFFREY D. GARDIN 
Recorder, Armed Services 
Board of Contract Appeals