Don't Expect Pay For Sovereign Delay

Wednesday, February 04, 2009 05:05 pm

Don't Expect Pay For Sovereign Delay

Delay Damages ¬Sovereign Acts Doctrine
Conner Brothers Construction Co., Inc. v. Pete Geren
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit 2008 U.S.App.LEXIS 26811(December 31, 2008)

When national security is at risk, the government can keep you from yourjob site—and has no duty to compensate you for your idle time.

In April 2000, Conner Brothers Construction Company, Inc.(Conner)contracted with the Army Corps of Engineers to build a headquarters facility at Fort Benning, Georgia(the base).Immediately following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the government shut down the base to everyone except essential personnel and ordered Conner to stop work and vacate the premises.Two weeks later, the base commander allowed some contractors to return, but continued to restrict access to"mission-essen ¬tial personnel"since construction activities might allow information leaks and threaten operational security.The government did not deem Conner's work"mission ¬essen ¬tial,"and it did not permit the contractor to return to the full construction site until October 15, 2001.

Conner sought delay damages from the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals.The Board rejected the request, holding that the order excluding Conner from the base was a sovereign act, and therefore Conner was not entitled to damages for the resulting delay.Conner appealed, to no avail.

'Public and general' acts will bar your delay claims

Based on its analysis of the sovereign acts doctrine, the U.S.[...]