Board of Contract Appeals General Services Administration Washington, D.C. 20405 _________________ April 15, 1998 _________________ GSBCA 14463-RELO In the Matter of CHARLES D. PARTON Charles D. Parton, Madison, AL, Claimant. Robert H. Garfield, Chief, General Law Division, United States Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, AL, appearing for Department of the Army. NEILL, Board Judge. Claimant, Charles D. Parton, a civilian employee of the Department of Defense (DOD), asks that we review a determination by the United States Army denying his request for an extension of authorized temporary quarters subsistence expenses (TQSE). We find the Army's determination to be reasonably based and in accordance with applicable regulation. We, therefore, deny the claim. Background As part of the DOD's base realignment and closure for 1995, Mr. Parton was relocated from the Army's Aviation and Troop Command in St. Louis, Missouri, to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. He received his permanent change of station (PCS) orders on April 14, 1997. The orders authorized a ten-day house hunting trip and fifty days of TQSE. Mr. Parton scheduled a house hunting trip for the first part of May. During this trip, he and his wife concluded that they could not find an existing house meeting their needs and that it would be best to contract for the construction of a new home. On May 6, 1997, they entered into a contract calling for closing on their new home on September 15, a few days after the expiration of their authorized TQSE. The builder cleared the land for construction of the Parton home in mid-May, but rainy weather delayed pouring the foundation until the third week in June. Mr. Parton reported for duty in Huntsville on July 20, 1997. In mid-July, recognizing that the house would not be ready by the September 15 closing date, the Partons and their builder agreed on a contract extension calling for an October 17 settlement date. On August 26, Mr. Parton requested an extension of TQSE through October 17, his new anticipated closing date. The Army denied Mr. Parton's request for an extension of TQSE on the ground that the DOD Joint Travel Regulations (JTR), which apply to Mr. Parton as a civilian employee of DOD, do not permit the extension. Specifically, the Army's determination turned on the fact that, under the JTR, an extension can be granted only when the circumstances which justify it have actually occurred during the initial sixty-day period of TQSE. Discussion The JTR provision upon which the Army relies in denying Mr. Parton's request for extended TQSE reads in part as follows: Authorizations to extend the temporary quarters period and the number of days authorized will be held to a minimum. Extensions of the temporary quarters may be authorized only in situations where there is a demonstrated need for additional time in temporary quarters due to circumstances which have occurred during the initial 60-day period of temporary quarters occupancy and which are determined to be beyond the employee's control and acceptable to the DOD components concerned. In Mr. Parton's case, his authorized TQSE expired before he was able to take possession of his newly constructed home for two reasons. The first reason was that in early May he entered into a contract which permitted delivery of the house after expiration of the authorized sixty days of TQSE. The second reason was that a prolonged rainy season in late spring delayed the start of construction on his new home. Both these circumstances, however, occurred before the start of Mr. Parton's TQSE on July 20, 1997, when he reported for duty at Redstone Arsenal. The Army, therefore, is correct in concluding that authorization of the extension is prohibited by the JTR as it then read .[foot #] 1 William T. Stowers, GSBCA 14099-RELO, 97- 2 BCA 29,096; Jimmy L. Betts, GSBCA 13840-RELO, 97-1 BCA 28,798; Thomas M. Hood, GSBCA 13845-RELO, 97-1 BCA 28,954. Mr. Parton's claim is, therefore, denied. ----------- FOOTNOTE BEGINS --------- [foot #] 1 Recently, Change 389 to the JTR removed the requirement that the circumstance leading to the need for an extension occur during the initial sixty-day period of authorized TQSE. This change, however, has no application to Mr. Parton since it did not become effective until March 1, 1998, considerably after Mr. Parton had completed his PCS move. ----------- FOOTNOTE ENDS ----------- _____________________ EDWIN B. NEILL Board Judge