Filing Documents at the
Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (CBCA)

Where and How to File

The CBCA’s business days are days other than Saturdays, Sundays, federal holidays, days on which the CBCA is required to close before 4:30 p.m., or days on which the CBCA does not open for any reason, such as inclement weather. The CBCA’s business hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Eastern Time.

Include assigned judge’s name and CBCA case number on all filings.

Use any one of the following methods to file documents with the CBCA. Do not file a document twice using two different methods, such as providing a second copy by mail.

• Electronic Filings: The Clerk accepts electronic filings (“efilings”), meaning documents submitted through the CBCA’s email system (“efiled”). Parties may efile documents by sending an email (usually with attachments) to cbca.efile@cbca.gov,except for documents that are classified or submitted in camera or under a protective order. Efiling occurs upon receipt by the CBCA’s email server, except that the attachments must be in .pdf format and 18 megabytes (MB) or smaller or they will be rejected. Although the Clerk’s business hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., the Board considers efilings sent after 4:30 p.m. up to midnight (12:00:00 a.m.) Eastern Time as same day filings.  Efilings received after midnight (12:00:00 a.m.) Eastern Time are considered filed the next business day.
• In-person, Courier, or Express Mail (FedEx/UPS): In-person, courier, or express mail filings should be directed to the CBCA’s physical address at 1800 M Street, NW, 6th floor, Washington, DC 20036. The Clerk’s office only accepts in-person, courier, or express mail filings during business hours.
• United States Postal Service (USPS): USPS filings should be directed to the CBCA’s mailing address at 1800 M Street, NW, 6th Floor, Washington, DC 20036.
• Facsimile: The CBCA’s facsimile number is 202-296-0341. The filing of a document via facsimile occurs upon receipt by the CBCA of the entire document.
• Any questions about filings may be addressed to the Clerk by telephone at (202) 606-8800 or by email at cbcaclerk@cbca.gov.

Electronic Filing Best Practices

• Include the case number, case name, and brief description of filing in email subject line.
• Ensure an electronic receipt for efilings by requesting a read receipt before submitting the efile. If you submit multiple filings, you will receive a confirmation for only the first document filed. Please feel free to call the Office of the Clerk of the CBCA to confirm receipt of multiple submissions.
• Remember to cc: opposing parties, or otherwise indicate a copy has been served.
• If an efiling contains multiple attachments, use a file naming convention that identifies and indicates the order of the attachments (i.e, Attachment 1, 2, etc.).
• For each efiling, combine the document filed and its attachments into one .pdf. Attachments may be identified by placing a label sheet before each attachment or by labelling or electronically stamping the first page of each attachment.
• Do not submit multiple filings for unconsolidated cases in the same efiling.
• If efiling a Rule 4 appeal file, the index and each exhibit should be separate .pdf documents and shall be given file names that correspond with the exhibit number. DO NOT merge all exhibits into one .pdf document.
• DO NOT embed documents or document links in an efiling.

The following efilings will not be accepted by the CBCA:

• Efilings with attachments that are not in .pdf format;
• Efilings with links requiring the CBCA to download attachments from 3rd party document hosting services (e.g. Dropbox or secure FTP sites);
• Efilings that exceed the CBCA’s 18 megabyte (MB) size restriction;
• Documents that are classified or efiled in camera or under a protective order; and
• .PDF documents containing viruses. Efilings with attachments containing viruses will be blocked by the CBCA's efiling system. All .pdf documents should be scanned for viruses before they are sent to the CBCA to ensure that the e-mail filing is not blocked, and the filing is timely made.