Subcontractors For New VA Hospital Say They’re Not Getting Paid

Strange story since subcontractors are usually paid by the primary contractor, the one that actually signs the contract with the customer. Is the primary contractor getting paid or not?

Subcontractors For New VA Hospital Say They’re Not Getting Paid
April 4, 2013
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4)

The new Veterans Administration Hospital is started to take shape in Aurora but some of the subcontractors working on that project say they haven’t been getting paid.

They claim the total owed equals $41 million for two years of work.

“Companies are on the brink of going bankrupt if they already haven’t. Jobs are being lost and the stress on families is unimaginable,” said Small Business Administration Greg Lopez.

The Department of Veterans Affairs and its prime contractor, Kiewit Turner, are pointing fingers at each other. Colorado’s entire congressional delegation and the Small Business Administration are involved.

Lopez said more than 30 subcontractors, some of the veteran-owned companies, have been stiffed $41 million by the VA and Kiewit Turner.

“And a lot of them have been waiting over a year to get paid,” said Lopez.

Lopez has been in talks with the two sides for months. Colorado’s entire Congressional delegation fired off a letter to the VA last month and demanded it outline how it intended to “remedy nonpayment issues.”

The VA responded stating that Kiewit is responsible for paying its subcontractors.
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