FAR | The Contracting Education Academy

February 11, 2019 By cs

Proposed FAR amendment makes whistleblower protections permanent

The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) is being amended to make permanent a “pilot program” of whistleblower protections established in 2013.

When announcing this move, the government affirmed its commitment to enhanced whistleblower protection for government contractor employees and clarified existing rules.

Whistleblower protections for contractor employees were first added to the FAR as part of reforms mandated by the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994. These provisions remained unchanged until September 2013, when an interim rule implemented a four-year pilot program to enhance these protections under contracts with civilian agencies (while temporarily suspending the original provisions). The proposed rule implements Congressional direction to make the pilot program permanent. DoD, NASA, and the Coast Guard have their own whistleblower protection system codified in 10 U.S.C. 2409.

Under the pilot program, now being made permanent, a contractor or subcontractor employee who believes he or she was discharged, demoted, or discriminated against for making a covered disclosure may file a complaint with the agency’s Inspector General within three years of the alleged reprisal. The initial whistleblower protection regulations had encompassed only disclosures to a Member of Congress, an authorized agency official, or the Department of Justice of information “relating to a substantial violation of law related to a contract.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=775878

January 30, 2019 By cs

The new ‘other transactions authority’ guide — Helpful, but not enough

The Department of Defense recently published a new guide to Other Transactions Authority (OTA) contracts.

The guide attempts to answer a number of questions associated with the policies and practices surrounding OTAs. It partially succeeds, but it also falls short of providing the details both contracting officers in government and industry representatives need to use OTAs with confidence and alacrity.

Two helpful things the guidance makes clear are that OTAs are in fact contracts and that they are still likely to be very complicated contracts.

There is a perception in some quarters that OTAs are a magic wand that can eliminate the difficulties of doing business with the government. The guide implicitly refutes that premise as it correctly catalogues the many details anyone contemplating an OTA vehicle has to consider.

OTAs have real virtues, but they basically just substitute the world of commercial contracting for the world of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) contracting. Anyone who has ever attempted to read a commercial contract for say a real estate sale or for cellphone service has some idea of how complex a commercial contract can be.

OTAs can simplify doing business with the government substantially, but a good contract is a good contract and a bad contract is a bad contract, independent of whether it is FAR based or an OTA.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/frankkendall/2019/01/03/the-new-other-transactions-authority-guide-helpful-but-not-enough

January 29, 2019 By cs

Domestic sourcing requirement doesn’t fit DoD’s gloves

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued a bid protest decision regarding the application of the Berry Amendment’s domestic sourcing requirement to a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) solicitation for leather combat gloves with touchscreen capability.

In that decision, the GAO found that the nonavailability exception to the Berry Amendment applied to the glove’s kidskin leather even though the agency determined, through market research, that this type of leather was available domestically. Importantly, this decision provides an opportunity for stakeholders to consider the nuances associated with the Berry Amendment’s nonavailability exception and to reflect upon the complex regulatory landscape of domestic sourcing requirements.

Federal Government Domestic Sourcing Regimes and the Nonavailability Exception

Over the last 100 years, the U.S. government has enacted myriad domestic sourcing laws. For example, during the Great Depression, Congress enacted the Buy American Act (BAA) to “create jobs for American workers and protect American industry” by requiring the U.S. government, under certain circumstances, to procure items that have been mined, produced or manufactured in the United States. As implemented through the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and agency supplemental regulations, like the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), the BAA generally requires executive agencies to purchase “domestic end products” unless an exception or waiver applies.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.insidegovernmentcontracts.com/2019/01/domestic-sourcing-requirement-doesnt-fit-dods-gloves/

January 25, 2019 By cs

Our popular Construction Contracting course begins Feb. 25th — Make plans now to attend

The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech is offering the four and a half day Defense Acquisition University course, CON 244: Construction Contracting, beginning February 25, 2019.

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 known 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.

January 8, 2019 By cs

Contracting workforce at forefront of Army savings

New Year’s resolutions take on many forms. Whether it’s kicking a bad habit, curbing meals to lose weight or perhaps a making a greater effort to keep in touch with family and friends beyond the occasional social media post, a new calendar year often begins with the best intentions.

A contract specialist with the Mission and Installation Contracting Command (MICC) office at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston discusses Army contract opportunities with two local small business representatives during an industry outreach event in November at the University of Texas at San Antonio Procurement Technical Assistance Center in San Antonio. The event provided contracting guidance, briefings and breakout and match-making sessions with MICC contracting personnel. (Photo by Ryan L. Mattox)

Such intentions may also call for an evaluation of spending in hopes of socking away a little more in retirement accounts or building a coffer for future tuition needs of soon-to-be high school graduates. Similar efforts to save across the government also begin with individual resolutions and don’t necessarily require meticulous analysis.

Introduced as a replacement for the Army Suggestion Program, the Army Ideas for Innovation, or AI2, program became fully operation in 2017 and strives to capitalize on A innovative and creative solutions put forth by civilian and uniformed members of the service that contribute to cost savings, increased productivity and improved processes.

The call for innovative solutions by the government aimed at realizing cost savings isn’t necessarily a novel concept. In fact, a lesser known workforce goes about that task as its daily endeavor. Members of the Army Acquisition Corps possess a combination of requisite education, experience and certification levels vital in carrying out their duties to include contracting. They make up about 34 percent of the Army acquisition workforce consisting of approximately 38,500 professionals responsible for developing, acquiring, fielding and sustaining equipment and services to meet the Army’s present and emerging needs.

Contracting officers in the 1102 career series and Soldiers in the 51 Charlie military occupational specialty at the Mission and Installation Contracting Command make up a subset of the Army Acquisition Corps. They are responsible for acquiring equipment and services that support service members from the time they voluntarily raise their right hand in solemn oath to serve this nation through retirement as part of the Soldier for Life initiative.

In fiscal 2018, MICC contracting officers and Soldiers executed almost 30,000 contracts valued at more than $5 billion. This included contracts for professional scientific and technical services, administrate support, remediation services, construction, manufacturing, educational services, accommodations, food services, and utilities just to name a few. MICC contracts are vital in feeding more than 200,000 Soldiers every day, ensuring installation readiness with many daily base operations support services, readying more than 100,000 conventional force members annually, training more than 500,000 students each year, and maintaining more than 14.4 million acres of land and 170,000 structures.

The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), which governs processes for acquiring contract goods and services by the DoD as well as all executive agencies, serves as the bible for contracting professionals. It prescribes policies and procedures for negotiating contract awards using other than a sealed bid. By using one or a combination of source selection approaches, MICC contracting officers obtain the best value in a negotiated acquisition.

Employed by contracting officers every day, negotiation tactics can spell significant savings and increased benefit for the Army both on a smaller scale for relatively low-dollar buys through reverse auction as well as with complex acquisitions. As many government contractors discover, skillful negotiation benefits both their respective industry interests and the government as each strives for innovative pursuits to meet operational priorities and focused efforts.

The significant role by MICC contracting professionals in the transition of rotary aircraft maintenance services between contractors at Fort Rucker, Alabama, earlier this year illustrates the value the contracting workforce bares on the Army’s efforts to save costs. The innovative approach to the $4.7 billion contract presents the potential for 191,000 extra flight hours over the next 10 years, according to the GAO, estimated at a DoD benefit of $876 million.

MICC contracting professionals also contribute to government savings by reducing opportunity costs that take on a not-so-tangible form. Efforts by the command to standardize acquisitions for full food services and base operations this year offer enterprise-wide solutions for not only decreasing bid and proposal costs but also dramatically curbing touch labor and procurement acquisition lead time.

Not only does the contracting workforce save the Army money, but also those savings – both tangible and intangible – allows leadership from supported organizations to redirect those funds and resources toward other mission priorities. As trusted business advisers to their mission partners, MICC contracting professionals are dedicated to the timely delivery of contract goods and services in support of Soldiers and the Army’s commitment to readiness.

Source: https://www.dvidshub.net/image/5004231/contracting-workforce-forefront-army-savings