Court Rules That Contracting Officer Cannot Extend Deadline For Final Decision A Second Time

The Court of Federal Claims issued a ruling confirming that a Contracting Officer can extend the time she has to issue a final decision, but can only make one extension.  Under the Contract Disputes Act, a Contracting Officer must issue a final decision either within 60 days or, if the case is complex, notify the contractor of the deadline by which a decision will be issued.  In this case, the Contracting Officer notified the contractor that a final decision would be issued within nine months.  As that deadline came near, the Contracting Officer attempted to extend it a second time.  However, the Court held that the second extension was invalid and that the claim was deemed to be denied once the initial deadline passed without a decision being made.