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July 6, 2020 By cs

GAO: Oversight of contractor compliance with subcontracting plans needs improvement

Half of the contracts recently examined by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) didn’t contain evidence of compliance with small business subcontracting requirements.
The subcontracting report submission system is web-based.  Photo credit: GAO file photo

Federal agencies are supposed to notify Small Business Administration (SBA) representatives about proposed contracts that contain small business subcontracting plans for possible review.  But for about half of the 26 contracts we examined, agencies couldn’t show whether that happened.

Agencies also didn’t ensure that contractors submitted subcontracting reports, or that the reports were accurate.

Certain federal contracts that go to large businesses must have small business subcontracting plans.  Under these plans, contractors have to make a good-faith effort to offer subcontracting opportunities to small businesses.

GAO Report Details

GAO, in its report publicly released on June 29, 2020, found that selected agencies did not consistently follow all required procedures for oversight of small business subcontracting plans, both before and after contracts were awarded.  GAO reviewed 26 contracts with a subcontracting plan at four agencies — Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), General Services Administration (GSA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Department of the Navy (Navy).

For about half of the 26 contracts, agencies could not demonstrate that procedures for Procurement Center Representative (PCR) reviews were followed. These SBA representatives may review small business subcontracting plans and provide recommendations for improving small business participation.  When an agency is awarding a contract that includes a subcontracting plan, contracting officers are required to notify these representatives of the opportunity to review the proposed contract.  Without taking steps to ensure these opportunities are provided, agencies may not receive and benefit from suggestions for increasing small business participation.

For 14 of the 26 contracts, contracting officers did not ensure contractors submitted required subcontracting reports.  After a contract is awarded, contracting officers must review reports contractors submit that describe their progress towards meeting approved small business subcontracting goals.  In some cases, contracting officers accepted reports with subcontracting goals different from those in the approved subcontracting plans, with no documentation explaining the difference.  Without complete and accurate information about a contractor’s subcontracting goals, an agency cannot adequately assess a contractor’s performance in meeting its subcontracting plan responsibilities.

The SBA encourages agency compliance with small business subcontracting plan requirements by providing training to contracting officers and contractors, and by conducting reviews.  For instance, SBA Commercial Market Representatives conduct compliance reviews to evaluate a large prime contractor’s compliance with subcontracting program procedures and goal achievement. However, SBA could not provide documentation or information on almost all compliance reviews conducted in fiscal years 2016–2018.  SBA has developed new procedures for conducting compliance reviews, but as of mid-March 2020, had yet to fully implement them.  SBA has conducted fiscal year 2019 compliance reviews that reflect a first phase of their new procedures.  SBA has draft guidance on the new compliance review process, including some specific information regarding what Commercial Market Representatives are to record as part of the compliance review. SBA has begun to conduct compliance reviews in accordance with the guidance, but does not have clearly documented and maintained records for the first phase of these reviews.  Without consistent, clear documentation and records that will be maintained going forward, SBA’s ability to track contractor compliance and agency oversight efforts will be limited.

Why GAO Did the Review

Certain federal contracts must have a small business subcontracting plan if subcontracting opportunities exist.  But recent Department of Defense Inspector General reports raised concerns about agency oversight of subcontracting requirements.  GAO was asked to review oversight of subcontracting plans.  Among its objectives, GAO’s report discusses: 1) the extent to which selected agencies (DLA, GSA, NASA, and Navy) oversee small business subcontracting plans, and 2) how SBA encourages agency compliance with subcontracting plan requirements.

GAO reviewed data and documentation for a non-generalizable sample of 32 federal contracts (including 26 contracts with a subcontracting plan) at four agencies, selected to include contracts over $1.5 million at both civilian and military agencies awarded in fiscal years 2016–2018.  GAO also reviewed the Federal Acquisition Regulation, SBA and selected agency documentation, and interviewed agency officials.

What GAO Recommends

GAO made 10 recommendations to strengthen oversight of these plans.  GAO’s recommendations address ensuring that procedures for PCR reviews are followed, contractor subcontracting reports are monitored and reviewed for accuracy, and SBA compliance reviews are clearly documented and maintained.  DLA, GSA, NASA, and Navy concurred with all of GAO’s recommendations. SBA partially concurred with the recommendation pertaining to that agency’s operation, although GAO maintains that its recommendation is warranted.

View GAO’s full report at: https://www.gao.gov/assets/710/707231.pdf.

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition workforce, CMR, Commercial Market Representatives, contracting officers, contracting opportunities, DLA, DoD, Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System, eSRS, GAO, good faith, GSA, NASA, Navy, PCR, Procurement Center Representative, SBA, subcontracting, subcontracting goals, subcontracting plan

January 17, 2020 By cs

Space Force sets first Pitch Day using alternative acquisition authority

As the Space Force begins to stand up operations, the newest military branch wants to get in on the latest wave of acquisition options to match its space-age mission.

Space Force officially became the sixth branch of the military in December with passage of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. As the newly-minted branch gets up and running, the 45th Space Wing, based out of Patrick Air Force Base in Brevard County, Florida, is holding a pitch day on March 4 to hear about “innovative solutions” to several problem areas around installation support and space operations.

For the pitch day, Space Force is leaning on its Commercial Solutions Opening, or CSO, authority, which allows certain government agencies — such as the Defense Department — to move quickly on acquisitions involving innovative ideas, especially those from nontraditional vendors that could use government funding to move from idea to prototype to production. The CSO contracting method uses iterative funding to move a project through four phases of development—the same structure used for Other Transaction Authority, or OTA, contracts.

“The Space Force intends to obtain ‘innovative’ solutions or potential new capabilities that fulfill requirements, close capability gaps or provide potential technology advancements,” according to a notice posted to the Contracting Opportunities website.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2020/01/space-force-sets-first-pitch-day-using-alternative-acquisition-authority/162244/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: Commercial Solutions Opening, contracting opportunities, CSO, NDAA, OTA, other transaction agreements, other transaction authorities, other transaction authority, pitch days, prototyping, rapid fielding, rapid prototyping, Space Force. Air Force

December 4, 2019 By cs

Complaints continue as GSA moves forward with beta.SAM.gov

The General Services Administration (GSA) is trying to address problems with the contract opportunity portion of the new beta.SAM.gov website and has added some functions that industry has been complaining about.

Complaining actually might be too weak a word. Howls from industry have been fierce since GSA shut down the old FBO.gov and migrated contract opportunity data to beta.SAM.gov.

Many functions and ease of use that FBO.gov offered have disappeared and users have been vocal about their displeasure.

GSA has addressed some of those. For example, users of beta.SAM.gov can now search by solicitation number. But other legacy functions are still missing, such as email alerts for tracked procurements.

GSA promises that email alerts are under development.  No word yet on when it will be added.

Keep reading this article at: https://washingtontechnology.com/blogs/editors-notebook/2019/12/beta-sam-gsa-notes.aspx

See our earlier articles on this subject at: https://contractingacademy.gatech.edu/?s=beta

See GSA memo regarding transition of FBO.gov to beta.sam.gov at: FBO Has Transitioned to Beta 2

Hints for using the new Contract Opportunities function in beta.SAM.gov are here: https://interact.gsa.gov/blog/helpful-hints-new-contract-opportunities-function-betasamgov-how-use-search-filters

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: beta.SAM.gov, contracting opportunities, FBO, FBO.gov, FedBizOpps, FPDS, GSA, SAM, System for Award Management

November 5, 2019 By cs

Not everyone will be posting opportunities to the FedBizOpps replacement

Shifting to a new platform with new data structures is difficult, and not all contracting offices will be able to make the change by Nov. 12.

After Veterans Day weekend, federal agencies will no longer be able to post their procurements to Federal Business Opportunities, or FBO.gov, as the General Services Administration migrates those capabilities to a tab under beta.SAM.gov. Not every agency will transition immediately.

At least one contracting office, the Federal Aviation Administration’s headquarters office, won’t be posting to the Contract Opportunities page on SAM. The office posted an announcement Thursday on its own procurement site, FAA Contract Opportunities, telling vendors to check that site going forward.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2019/11/not-everyone-will-be-posting-opportunities-fedbizopps-replacement/161027/

Fact sheet on FBO transition to beta.SAM available here: FedBizOpps To Become ‘Contract Opportunities’ in SAM.gov

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: beta.SAM.gov, contracting officers, contracting opportunities, FAA, FBO, FedBizOpps, SAM

August 15, 2019 By cs

FedBizOpps to merge with SAM.gov before year’s end

The General Services Administration (GSA) has announced that FedBizOpps.gov will migrate to a new SAM.gov site as early as the first quarter of FY20.

All totalled, as many as 10 GSA-managed websites are expected to be merged into SAM.gov by the end of 2019.

In addition to FedBizOpps and the existing SAM site, the other websites to be consolidated are: the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS), the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA), Wage Determinations Online (WDOL), Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System (eSRS), the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA), and contractor past performance databases Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS), Contractor Performance Assessment Reports System (CPARS), and the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS).

Once made a part of SAM.gov, FedBizOpps will be identified as “Contract Opportunities.”  A full description of the changes to be made to FedBizOpps, including new features to be introduced once the transition to SAM.gov is complete, appears in a fact sheet issued by GSA.  The fact sheet can be found here: FedBizOpps To Become ‘Contract Opportunities’ in SAM.gov

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: beta.SAM.gov, Contract Opportunities, contracting opportunities, FBO, FBO.gov, FedBizOpps, SAM, SAM.gov

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