DFARS | The Contracting Education Academy

July 25, 2018 By AMK

Congress can simplify commercial buying and increase government innovation

For decades Congress has demonstrated its deep interest in simplifying the federal government’s ability to buy commercial products and services. It recognized that to solve government’s most difficult problems, the government must have ready access to the innovative and rapidly evolving commercial marketplace.

But the government’s transactions in the commercial marketplace, which should be quick and easy, have gotten more complicated over the years, not less so. This is due in large part to the volume and complexity of government-unique contract terms and conditions.

Volume 1 of the Section 809 Panel report includes several recommendations for Congress’ consideration that will truly simplify contracts for commercial products and services. Among other strategies, Recommendation 2 makes the case for Congress retaining the authority to determine the applicability of new government-unique requirements that are well-intended but burdensome, rather than delegating that authority to the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council or the Department of Defense.

In 1994, the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act took important steps to make the government more commercial-like in its dealings in the commercial marketplace. FASA limited the applicability of many, but not all, procurement-related statutes in two ways. First, many statutes in effect at the time FASA was enacted were made inapplicable to commercial buying, significantly simplifying federal contract compliance and administrative burdens.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/commentary/2018/07/17/congress-can-simplify-commercial-buying-and-increase-government-innovation/

July 15, 2018 By AMK

Learn all about federal construction contracting the week of Oct. 29th

The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech is offering the four and a half day Defense Acquisition University course, CON 244: Construction Contracting, beginning October 29, 2018.

The course focuses on government contracting issues unique to the construction field. Topics include: acquisition planning, contract performance management, funding, environmental concerns, construction contract language, construction contracting in a commercial setting, the Construction Wage Rate Requirements statute (formerly referred to as the Davis-Bacon Act), the design/build strategy, schedule delay analysis, constructive changes, acceleration, construction contract quality management, and much more.

To register for this course, please visit: https://pe.gatech.edu/courses/con-244-construction-contracting.

Who Should Attend

Contracting officers, contract specialists, contracting officer representatives, program/project managers, small business specialists, and industry contracting personnel.

How You Will Benefit

Attendees learn how to:

Apply federal acquisition laws and regulations, Department of Defense and other agency supplemental regulations, agency policies and procedures, and best practices in soliciting, awarding and administering construction contracts.
Contrast typical support requirements with a federal Construction Acquisition Plan in accordance with FAR Parts 7 and 36, DFARS Parts 207 and 236, and agency supplements, policies and procedures.
Develop a construction solicitation package in accordance with the FAR, agency supplements, and agency policy/procedures.
Evaluate, using appropriate procedures, construction offerors and the contract awardee.
Determine the applicable construction contract administration (compliance) approach, using the FAR, DFARS, DoD regulation/guidelines, and other relevant agency supplements, procedures and best practices.
Formulate the remedy and appropriate clause for a changed construction condition in accordance with federal and DoD acquisition and other agency laws, regulations, and best practices.
Document appropriate actions necessary to verify and authorize construction progress payments and construction contract closeout.

Act Now

Plan to join your colleagues in attending this thorough and engaging examination of the federal construction contracting process. Complete registration details are right here.

Credit

Students successfully completing this 4.5-day course receive 32 Continuous Learning Points (CLPs) from the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) and 3.2 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Added Benefits

You’ll learn in a small group setting at Georgia Tech’s world-class Global Learning Center. You’ll receive expert instruction, a printed student guide to be used back on the job, valuable handouts, and exclusive electronic resources. A complimentary breakfast is provided each morning, along with snacks throughout each day.

Registration

For more information, cost, and the registration link, go right here: https://pe.gatech.edu/courses/con-244-construction-contracting.

May 22, 2018 By AMK

DoD implements FY18 NDAA requirement for post-debriefing Q&A process

This past March marked the beginning of a more fulsome required debriefing process for defense contracts.

The Director of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy (DPAP) issued a class deviation memorandum, effective March 22, 2008, requiring contracting officers to: (1) provide unsuccessful offerors an opportunity to submit additional questions within two days after receiving a debriefing; and (2) hold the debriefing open until the agency delivers written responses. The class deviation implements Section 818 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (NDAA).

Federal agencies have long been required to debrief unsuccessful bidders after it awards a contract on the “basis of a competitive proposals.” And the existing FAR provisions applicable to such debriefings, FAR 15.505 and 15.506, already require agencies to include, as part of the debriefing process, “reasonable responses to relevant questions about whether source selection procedures were followed . . . .”

In practice, however, agencies regularly ignore that requirement — often providing a limited written debriefing, declaring the debriefing closed with no opportunity for questions, and thereby putting the disappointed offeror on a 5-day clock to protest, without all the information to which it is entitled.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.insidegovernmentcontracts.com/2018/05/questions-department-defense-implements-fy-2018-ndaa-requirement-post-debriefing-qa-process/

May 2, 2018 By AMK

Reform panel on track to cut DoD-specific acquisition regs by half

Fourteen months after President Donald Trump ordered all agencies to stand up regulatory reform task forces, the Defense Department is making major progress in weeding out what it views as outdated and unnecessary acquisition rules.

The group of Defense officials charged with examining acquisition rules is one of three subgroups currently operating within DoD as part if its regulatory reform task force.

Its particular charge is to undertake an in-depth scrub of the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), decide what is still relevant, and what is slowing the system down for no good reason.

The review is about midway through, and so far, it is on track to reduce the size of the DFARS by about half. The group is made up of representatives from the military services, plus the Pentagon’s office of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsradio.com/defense-main/2018/04/reform-panel-on-track-to-cut-dod-unique-acquisition-regs-by-half/

January 3, 2018 By AMK

‘That’s the worst!’ — Acquisition regulations we love to hate

The sheer number of laws, regulations, and policies that apply to the defense acquisition process is staggering.

The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), which governs how the federal government buys goods and services, is a 2,000-page document. On top of that is the 1,500-page Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), which applies specifically to purchases by the Department of Defense (DoD). In addition to all those regulations are federal statutes and DoD internal policies that govern the acquisition process. For contracting officers, that means determining the applicability of hundreds of regulations, in addition to hundreds of laws and policies, to make a purchase.

Many of these laws, regulations, and policies are outdated, but no one has taken the time to remove or update them. According to a 2017 analysis by Deloitte, over two-thirds of all federal regulations on the books have never been updated since they were created. While each outdated regulation alone may not be a significant problem, in the aggregate those regulations can pose an enormous administrative burden. Many in the defense acquisition workforce have argued that assessing and complying with the large number of regulations slows down the acquisition process, wasting time, money, and energy that could be better spent elsewhere. Additionally, the complexity and cost of compliance creates a barrier to entry for small businesses that may wish to engage in business with DoD but cannot afford the lawyers and compliance officers necessary for the job.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.federaltimes.com/acquisition/regulations/2017/12/18/thats-the-worst-acquisition-regulations-we-love-to-hate/