Agency Email Notifying Appellant of Protest Not Sufficient to Serve as Stop-Work Order; ASBCA No. 59977, Appeals of 4H Construction Corporation

Appeal of the agency’s refusal to pay termination for convenience costs is sustained, where the contractor reasonably began preparing to mobilize to the work site after receiving four task orders but prior to receiving the official notice to proceed, and where an agency email notifying the contractor of an award protest did not serve as a stop-work order, because it was not issued properly and because the agency did not respond to the protester’s inquiries about the protest to confirm that performance should be suspended.