Wolverine Tube, Inc.

Summary

The Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals considers cross-motions for summary judgment concerning Wolverine Tube, Inc.’s entitlement to convenience-termination costs under an Air Force pallet contract. The Board holds that the stop-work order, issued under FAR 52.242-15, expired after 90 days and rejects the government’s argument that recovery was limited to costs incurred before the order. The Board grants Wolverine’s motion in part and denies the Air Force’s cross-motion.

Holdings

1. The stop-work order was issued under FAR 52.242-15 as written and expired on September 2, 2021, 90 days after issuance, because the contracting officer neither canceled it nor terminated the affected work within the required period.
2. Even if FAR 52.233-3 had applied, it would not categorically bar recovery of all costs incurred during the work stoppage in a convenience-termination settlement.
3. Wolverine was entitled to summary judgment on its entitlement to fair and reasonable profit on allowable work costs and reasonable costs of preparing its termination settlement proposal.
4. Wolverine was not entitled to summary judgment on disputed first-article, production-material, operating, or supplier-settlement costs because genuine factual disputes existed concerning reasonableness, allocability, and the propriety of supplier settlements.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the stop-work order expired 90 days after issuance under FAR 52.242-15 or instead remained effective through the convenience termination under FAR 52.233-3.
2. Whether FAR 52.233-3, if applicable, categorically bars recovery of costs incurred during a work stoppage in a later convenience-termination settlement.
3. Whether Wolverine was entitled to summary judgment on disputed costs, including first-article and production materials, operating costs, and supplier settlement costs.
4. Whether Wolverine was entitled to summary judgment on fair and reasonable profit and reasonable costs of preparing its termination settlement proposal.

Disposition

other