Documenting Shutdown Impacts for Government Contract Equitable Adjustments

Are you a small or mid-sized federal contractor (SMB GovCon) still dealing with the mess of the 2025 government shutdown? If you experienced stalled projects, idled workers, or frozen funding, your path to recovery is through a meticulously documented Request for Equitable Adjustment (REA). This essential guide breaks down the practical, 10-step playbook that determines whether you recover real dollars or are forced to eat the loss.

The REA is a powerful, flexible tool—often preferable to a formal Contract Disputes Act (CDA) claim—that allows contractors to recoup added time and costs when government action, delay, or inaction unexpectedly increases performance costs.

• Identify the Compensable Triggers: Understand which shutdown events justify an REA, such as formal stop-work orders, furloughed COs or inspectors, facility closures, or running into a "no funding" status.
• Master Real-Time Cost Tracking: Learn why contemporaneous documentation is key and how to immediately set up dedicated cost codes or accounts for shutdown-related labor, material, and overhead expenses. Remember, inadequately supported costs can be disallowed.
• Adhere to Strict Notice Requirements: We detail the importance of timely written notice—sometimes required within 20 days of incurring costs—under key clauses like FAR 52.242-14 (Suspension of Work) and 52.242-17 (Government Delay of Work) to preserve your recovery rights.
• Quantify Schedule Impacts: Discover how to compare actual progress against your original baseline schedule and use project management tools to document task slippages and resource reassignments caused by the pause.
• Manage Communication: Find out how to preserve a crucial chronological correspondence file, including official orders and written follow-ups to any verbal instruction from the CO/COR.
• Coordinate with Subcontractors: Learn how to flow-down stop-work orders and require your subs to mirror your documentation processes, segregating their shutdown costs to ensure you can include their pass-through costs in your prime REA submission.
• Prepare the Submission: We outline how to structure your REA package like a mini-claim file, including detailed cost narratives, redacted timesheet extracts, annotated invoices, and financial appendices that paint a forensic picture of loss.

Don't wait! Building your REA documentation muscle now strengthens your entire business process for future government contracting opportunities and certifications. Stay responsive, be prepared for audits, and know your rights if you need to escalate the REA to a formal CDA claim.

Listen now to ensure your thorough record-keeping leads to maximum recovery of your shutdown losses!