Federal Construction Contracting

When it comes to federal construction contracting, the attorneys at Payne Hackenbracht & Sullivan know how the system works. (Please visit our Federal Construction Contracting Blog). Our attorneys have all worked for federal agencies and we understand the government's perspective and the government's procedures. Our considerable experience in federal construction contracting has involved the representation of general contractors, mechanical and electrical subcontractors, many different specialty subcontractors, and architect/engineers. In order for a contractor to successfully compete in the federal arena, he must be aware of his rights and responsibilities under a number of important laws and regulations. The government has rules for everything - from the procurement stage to the performance stage. We have assisted contractors in the preparation of sealed bids and in the proper response to requests for proposals. Our services have included the representation of contractors whose bids were improperly rejected as non-responsive, and in the representation of those who have suffered disqualification because of alleged non-responsibility. Our clients have also included contractors who sought withdrawal or upward correction resulting from a mistake in bid, or who sought to prevent an upward correction by a competitor. We have represented small businesses, women-owned businesses, and HUBZone contractors, and we have successfully opposed those who have improperly sought to qualify for preferential status. During contract performance, we have been involved in some of the leading cases decided by the boards of contract appeals and the courts in matters involving differing site conditions, defective specifications, changes (including constructive changes and cardinal changes), suspensions of work, terminations for convenience and terminations for default, variations in estimated quantities, over-inspection, liquidated damages, delays, and virtually every other issue that has been known to arise in the field of federal construction contracting.

You will immediately recognize that we can jump right into the middle of any problem because we do not need to be educated about government procedures, or construction terminology. We speak the language of both our clients and of the government agencies with whom we deal. Through the use of appropriate protest procedures, we have enabled many of our clients to receive awards that were improperly denied by the agency, and we have successfully assisted our clients to defend against competitors who have sought to deny the awarding of a project that our client is entitled to receive. When our clients face delays and uncompensated additional costs during the performance of a project, we assist them to convince the government that an equitable adjustment is due. Although we have considerable experience in the filing of claims and appeals, we only recommend litigation as a last resort. Even though we have successfully resolved many cases through the disputes process, we prefer alternative disputes resolution (ADR) to litigation. In fact, we are much more interested in a settlement strategy than in a litigation strategy. Our greatest source of pride is the fact that the overwhelming majority of our cases have been settled amicably.