Opinion ID: 552472
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Contract Price Claim

Text: The Government Claim 7 The Claims Court determined that the Government has asserted a right of set off which is tantamount to seeking 'the adjustment ... of contract terms....'  1 Placeway, 18 Cl.Ct. at 164 (quoting 48 C.F.R. Sec. 33.201 (1988)). The Claims Court noted that this constituted a government claim. Because certification is not required for government claims, the Claims Court would have jurisdiction over an appeal from a decision of a CO, provided it is final. The Claims Court, however, concluded that because the CO had not yet ascertained the amount of the set off, no final decision was made by the CO, and thus the Claims Court had no jurisdiction to decide the dispute. Id. at 164-65. In particular, the Claims Court observed that the CO's letter contained neither the label Final Decision nor the notice of appeal rights that final decision letters normally contain. Id. at 165. 8 We agree that the set off asserted is a government claim, but we conclude that the CO effectively made a final decision on the government claim. It was undisputed that Placeway had completed performance of the contract. Moreover, the contract price for the work completed was undisputed and was due upon completion of work. Although the CO may have implied that the amount of the claimed set off would be redetermined in the future, the CO effectively granted the government's claim in the amount of $297,057.12 when he declined to pay Placeway the balance due on the contract. That the CO might decide Placeway owed more or less at a later time does not affect the finality of the decision made granting the government a sum certain, $297,057.12. 9 Generally, exhaustion of administrative remedies should occur before a case is ripe for judicial review. Both issues of liability and of damages should usually be resolved before judicial review is sought. See Teller Envtl. Sys., Inc. v. United States, 802 F.2d 1385, 1388-89 (Fed.Cir.1986). In the instant case, the CO decided that the contract price balance could not be released because of Placeway's failure to complete the subject project in a timely manner which in turn allegedly caused delays in the government's issuance of notices to proceed on other contractors' projects, potentially incurring liability on the government's part. App. at 108. The CO's decision, however, did determine both liability and damages. He concluded that Placeway was liable because of delayed performance and effectively ruled that damages would be the contract balance, $297,226.12, subject to revision if he concluded that different damages were due at some indeterminate time in the future. 2 Accordingly, we conclude that the CO made a final decision on the government claim alleging damages because of Placeway's delay in contract performance. The decision is no less final because it failed to include boilerplate language usually present for the protection of the contractor. Moreover, the CO's decision was adverse to Placeway and thus it could properly appeal to the Claims Court. As a final decision on a government claim, the Claims Court has jurisdiction, even though the claim was not certified. Accordingly, we vacate the Claims Court's dismissal of Count II and remand for further proceedings.