Preparation, contents, organization, forwarding, and status of appeal file.

§ 955.5 Preparation, contents, organization, forwarding, and status of appeal file. (a) Duties of the respondent. Within 30 days from receipt of the Board's docketing notice, or such other period as the Board may order, the respondent's counsel shall file with the Board an appeal file consisting of all documents pertinent to the appeal. The appeal file shall include: (1) The claim and contracting officer's final decision from which the appeal is taken; (2) The contract, including pertinent specifications, amendments, plans and drawings; (3) All correspondence between the parties pertinent to the appeal; (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; and (5) Any additional information considered pertinent. (b) Duties of the appellant. Within 30 days after receipt of a copy of the appeal file, the appellant shall supplement the appeal file by transmitting to the Board any documents not contained therein considered to be pertinent to the appeal. (c) Organization of appeal file. Documents in the appeal file or supplement, as applicable shall be arranged in chronological order where practicable, numbered sequentially, tabbed, and indexed, to identify the contents. Page numbering shall be consecutive and continuous from one document to the next, so that the complete file or supplement, as applicable, will consist of one set of consecutively numbered pages. (d) Lengthy documents. The Board may waive the requirement to exchange or electronically file bulky, lengthy, or out-of-size documents, or tangible evidence in the appeal file on a showing of impracticality or undue burden. Documents or tangible evidence subject to a waiver will be available for inspection at the Board. (e) Status of documents in appeal file. Documents contained in the appeal file are considered, without further action by the parties, as part of the record upon which the Board will render its decision, unless a party objects to the consideration of a particular document. Unless otherwise provided by Board order, any such objection shall be made at least 10 days prior to a hearing or the date specified for settling the record in the event there is no hearing on the appeal. If timely objection to a document is made, the Board will rule upon its admissibility into the record as evidence in accordance with §§ 955.14 and 955.21. [74 FR 20592, May 5, 2009, as amended at 80 FR 31304, June 2, 2015]