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Joseph A. Hackenbracht is a Partner in the Federal Contracting Group of Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman and practices in all phases of federal government contract and construction law. He is often called upon to advise clients concerning contract interpretation and to assist clients in the preparation of proposals for negotiated procurements. Joseph has extensive experience handling protests, contract claims, appeals to administrative boards of contract appeals, and litigation in various Federal courts. He has prepared and litigated claims involving the many issues which arise concerning construction, including defective design, defective specifications, differing site conditions, changes, suspensions, delays and contract terminations.

By: Joseph A. Hackenbracht 

On July 18, 2012, the Small Business Administration published a proposed increase in the small business size standard for “Dredging and Surface Cleanup Activities” from $20 million to $30 million in average annual receipts. 77 FR 42197. The average annual receipts are calculated by averaging a concern’s receipts for the

By: Joseph A. Hackenbracht

From August 2, 2002 until July 14, 2004, Todd Construction, a general contractor located in Oklahoma, was awarded five indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) contracts by the Savannah District of the Corps of Engineers for design and construction of projects in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Each contract was for a period of

By: Joseph A. Hackenbracht

For many years, the boards of contract appeals have considered challenges to performance evaluations and declined, for various reasons, to hear those cases. Then, in 2008, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims held that it possessed jurisdiction to address a contractor’s challenge of the performance rating it had been given by

 By: Joseph A. Hackenbracht

Federal contractors need to prepare for another change in the online environment. Currently scheduled to take place in late July of this year, the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) system will no longer exist. The Federal government is starting a new registration system called the System for Award Management, or SAM [Uncle,

In an earlier blog we discussed what the ARRA meant for Federal Construction Contractors, and noted that the reporting would be over the internet, once the government had its website up and running.

On Monday, August 17, 2009, recipients of economic stimulus funds were notified that they now can access the website www.federalreporting.gov and register.

In recent years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has attempted to employ "innovative" contracting methods but, in doing so, has often limited the number of contractors who have had the opportunity to perform major construction projects.  One of the justifications for these “innovative” methods has been that there will be a reduction in the

For over twenty years, the federal government and private industry, including contractors, mining companies, developers and builders, have debated the extent to which land clearing and dredging activities should be regulated. Since the 1970’s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have regulated the discharge of pollutants into the waters of

A decision just published by the Government Accountability Office ("GAO"), Matter of Burchick Construction Co., mpany, involved a request for proposals issued by the Department of Veteran Affairs ("VA") for the construction of an ambulatory care center . After receiving five proposals and evaluating the technical evaluation factors, the VA conducted discussions with the offerors that only addressed their price

The Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (“ASBCA”) recently decided a case involving the issue of whether a contractor could recover the fees charged by a consulting firm as a contract administration cost.  Fru-Con Construction Corporation. Although the cost principles in the FAR, at 31.205-47(f), provide that “costs are unallowable if incurred in