§ 6302.4 - Preparation, contents, organization, forwarding, and status of appeal file (Rule 4).

(a) Duties of contracting officer. Within 30 days after receipt of notice that an appeal has been docketed, the contracting officer shall assemble and transmit to the Board, with a copy to the appellant and the Government attorney, an appeal file consisting of all documents pertinent of the appeal, including:

(1) The contracting officer's decision and finding of fact from which the appeal is taken;

(2) The contract, including pertinent specifications, modifications, plans, and drawings;

(3) All correspondence between the parties pertinent to the appeal, including the letters of claim in response to which the decision was issued;

(4) Transcripts of any testimony taken during the course of proceedings, and affidavits or statements of any witnesses on the matter in dispute made prior to the filing of the notice of appeal with the Board; and

(5) Any additional information considered pertinent.

(b) Duties of the appellant. Within 30 days after receipt of a copy of the appeal file assembled by the contracting officer, the appellant may supplement the file by transmitting to the Board any additional documents which it considers pertinent to the appeal and shall furnish two copies of such documents to the Government attorney.

(c) Organization of appeal file. Documents in the appeal file may be originals or legible facsimiles or authenticated copies, and shall be arranged in chronological order where practicable, numbered sequentially, tabbed, and indexed to identify the contents of the file. The contracting officer's final decision and the contract shall be conveniently placed in the file for ready reference.

(d) Lengthy documents. The Board may waive the requirement of furnishing to the other party copies of bulky, lengthy, or out-of-size documents in the appeal file when a party has shown that doing so would impose an undue burden. At the time a party files with the Board a document as to which such a waiver has been granted, the other party shall be notified that the document or a copy is available for inspection at the offices of the Board or of the party filing the document.

(e) Status documents in appeal file. Documents contained in the appeal file are, without further action by the parties, a part of the record upon which the Board renders its decision, unless a party objects to the consideration of a particular document at or before the hearing or, if there is no hearing on the appeal, before closing the record. If objection to a document is made, the Board rules upon its admissibility into the record as evidence in accordance with Rules 17 and 23.