About The Board

The Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (CBCA) was established on January 6, 2007, pursuant to section 847 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006, to hear and decide contract disputes between government contractors and civilian executive agencies under the provisions of the Contract Disputes Act, 41 U.S.C. §§ 7101-7109 (CDA). The CBCA's authority under this statute extends to all agencies of the federal government except the Department of Defense and its constituent agencies, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the United States Postal Service, the Postal Regulatory Commission, and the Tennessee Valley Authority.

The newly-formed CBCA consolidated into one organization the functions of eight boards of contract appeals – those of the Departments of Agriculture, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs, and the General Services Administration. The decisions of the predecessor boards continue as binding precedent at the CBCA. Fourteen administrative judges appointed by the Administrator of General Services under 41 U.S.C. § 7105(b)(2) preside over cases filed at the CBCA.

In addition to CDA cases, the CBCA hears and decides various other classes of cases. These include:

Cases arising under the Indian Self-Determination Act, 25 U.S.C. §§ 5325(f), 5331(d);
Disputes between insurance companies and the Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency involving actions of the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation under 7 U.S.C. §§ 1501 et seq.;
Claims by federal employees under 31 U.S.C. § 3702 for reimbursement of expenses incurred while on official temporary duty travel or in connection with relocation to a new duty station;
Claims by carriers or freight forwarders under 31 U.S.C. § 3726(i)(1) for payment of transportation services;
Applications by prevailing private parties for recovery of litigation and other costs under the Equal Access to Justice Act, 5 U.S.C. § 504;
Requests for arbitration under section 601 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Public Law 111-5, and section 565 of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013, Pub. L. No. 113-6, to resolve disputes between applicants and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as to funding for public assistance grant applications arising from damages caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita;
Requests for arbitration under Section 423 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act), 42 U.S.C. § 5189a(d), as amended by Section 1219 of the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2018, Pub. L. 115-254, to resolve disputes between FEMA and applicants for public assistance disaster grants arising from disasters that occurred after January 1, 2016; and
Disputes between federal long-term care insurance carriers and the Office of Personnel Management under 5 U.S.C. Chapter 90 and 5 CFR Part 875.

The CBCA also offers options for litigating cases intended to shorten and simplify the proceedings. These options include alternative dispute resolution (ADR), small claims procedures, accelerated procedures and alternative procedures.