Embassy builder B.L. Harbert sues State Department for $461 million over pandemic-era costs

Harbert filed the complaint in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims on Oct. 28, Fox News reported. The 13 claims stem from jobs in Mexico, Central America, Morocco, Turkey, Iraq and Thailand. The company says it has won about 60 embassy and consulate jobs since 1999 and had 17 underway when the pandemic hit, close to two-thirds of the State Department's building program at the time.

Harbert says that early in 2020 it asked whether to stop work under the excusable-delay terms of its contracts. According to the complaint, the department told it to stay ready to mobilize, keep buying and shipping materials, track the added costs and file requests for equitable adjustment. Labor on the new embassy in Guatemala City alone ran about $1.3 million a month. Harbert eventually filed more than $500 million in adjustment requests and other claims.

The company alleges that career officials agreed to a $370 million settlement in September 2025 and that the government paid $501,636 before political leadership stepped in and dropped the deal. Contracting officers started denying the claims in July, and all 13 had final decisions by Oct. 13, the complaint says. The suit does not seek to have the settlement enforced, though Harbert may add that claim later.

None of the allegations has been tested in court. The State Department had not responded to Fox News. Harbert says the government has occupied all 12 buildings, some for more than three years, and that some embassy jobs now draw only two or three qualified bidders.