The Postal Service Board of Contract Appeals (PSBCA) is a neutral, independent tribunal with the authority to hear and decide any appeal from a decision of a contracting officer of the United States Postal Service (USPS) or the Postal Regulatory Commission related to a contract with either agency.[1][2] The PSBCA is within the USPS Judicial Officer Department, with the Judicial Officer also serving as the PSBCA Chairman.[3] The PSBCA’s jurisdiction over contract disputes parallels that of the United States Court of Federal Claims[4] with the contractor generally having the option of filing an appeal with either the PSBCA or the court.[5]
The PSBCA, including its predecessor, the Post Office Department Board of Contract Appeals (PODBCA), has been in existence since at least 1959.[6] However, amendments to the Contract Disputes Act of 1978,[7] effective in January 2007, expressly established a Postal Service Board of Contract Appeals and specified its jurisdiction.[8]
Decisions of the PSBCA since 1986 may generally be found at the USPS website.[9] Those decisions and earlier decisions of the PSBCA and PODBCA may be found at commercial legal research services, such as Westlaw and LexisNexis.