The Contracting Education Academy

Contracting Academy Logo
You are here: Home / Archives for FAR

By

OTAs primed for growth

Increasingly the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security are looking to “other transaction authority” agreements to acquire emerging technologies.

Procurements made under OTA are exempt from many Federal Acquisition Regulation rules and are typically limited to research, prototypes and in certain cases follow-on production.

The authority dates back to the 1958 Space Act, passed in the wake of the Soviet Union’s Sputnik launch, but in recent years it has heated up as the military and DHS have tried to leverage the innovation of tech startups that haven’t typically looked to the federal market for growth.

According to contracting intelligence firm Deltek, OTA spending hit $4.3 billion in fiscal year 2018, up from $2.1 billion in 2017. Because of increased interest in OTA procurement, Deltek recently began breaking out OTA opportunities and spending as a separate category in its GovWin database.

Part of the reason for renewed interest in OTAs is the need to innovate on the defense side faster than our adversaries.

Keep reading this article at: https://defensesystems.com/articles/2019/08/05/otas-set-for-growth.aspx

By

IRS doesn’t have an R&D shop, so it built a $7 million procurement vehicle instead

The ‘Pilot IRS’ program is about to issue its first solicitation, offering the agency a new way to automate low-level functions while testing a new acquisition method.

The IRS — like all federal agencies — is under several mandates to incorporate new and emerging technologies to improve its day to day operations and its mission of administering the nation’s tax code.

But the IRS doesn’t have a research and development office nor special acquisition authorities such as other transaction authority or a commercial solutions opening program. The IRS doesn’t even have funds allocated for R&D.

Instead, a team in the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer used parts 12 and 13 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation to create Pilot IRS, a phased, incremental funding procurement vehicle that will let the agency test new technologies on faster timelines without added risk. If a solution fails to meet expectations, it won’t proceed to the next phase of funding.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2019/08/irs-doesnt-have-rd-shop-so-it-built-7m-procurement-vehicle-instead/158952/

By

Learn fundamentals of federal contracting rules August 6-9

The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech (The Academy) kicks-off a four-day course on Tuesday, August 6, 2019 covering the fundamentals of using the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).

The course is being conducted at Georgia Tech’s world-class professional education facilities in the Global Learning Center located on campus in midtown Atlanta.

FARThis contracting overview of the FAR, covers Module 1 of CON 090: Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Fundamentals, and includes the identification of the basic principles of contracting by the federal government, identification of and access to on-line resources, and instruction on the location, citation, and interpretation of the FAR, the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) as well as other agency FAR supplements.

More information about this course is available at: http://www.pe.gatech.edu/courses/con-090-1-contracting-overview-far.  Complete registration information is located there, too.

Georgia Tech provides a highly-interactive learning environment that places emphasis on problem-solving and practical application.
Georgia Tech provides a highly-interactive learning environment that places emphasis on problem-solving and practical application.

Originally designed exclusively for federal contracting officers, The Academy has expanded its scope so that it is relevant to multiple audiences, including contractors seeking to learn more about the federal contracting process, federal officials who need to satisfy job-related continuous education requirements, and anyone seeking more information about the federal acquisition profession.

In all, there are four modules that make-up the CON 090 course series.  Information about the entire series can be found at: https://pe.gatech.edu/courses/con-090-1-contracting-overview-far.

The Academy’s complete list of government acquisition courses, and course scheduling, is at: http://contractingacademy.gatech.edu/training.

DAU logoThe Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech is an official equivalency training provider of the Defense Acquisition University (DAU).  The Academy also offers new coursework from the Federal Acquisition Institute.

Students attending CON 090 courses at Georgia Tech receive expert instruction, a printed Student Guide, helpful handouts, a deck of FAR Cards, and access to exclusive on-line resources.  Students earn 2.8 CEUs.  In addition, a complimentary breakfast in provided each class day.

By

2019 NDAA analysis: Enhancing IDIQs and other provisions

Over the past several months, this blog has analyzed several key provisions of the Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that impact government contractors. This post briefly summarizes a variety of other government contracts-related provisions of the FY 2019 NDAA that we have not yet discussed, including several that reflect a congressional intent to enhance the use of multiple-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contracts and encourage commercial item contracting, several that concern subcontracting and supply-chain considerations, and assorted other issues.

Awarding IDIQ Contracts Without Considering Price to Increase Order-Level Competition.

Section 876 provides a limited exception to the general requirement in 41 U.S.C. § 3306 that agencies must include cost or price to the government as an evaluation factor in evaluating proposals. The exception applies to task-order contracts (i.e., IDIQ contracts) for services that are priced on the basis of hourly rates. Specifically, agencies need not consider price as an evaluation factor for such contracts if:

  1. the agency will award a base contract to every “qualifying offeror”—meaning a responsible source whose proposal conforms to solicitation requirements, meets all technical requirements, and is otherwise eligible for award; and
  2. the agency will consider cost or price to the government in competitions for individual task orders.

This provision applies to non-defense agencies. Defense agencies had previously been granted a similar exception in the FY 2017 NDAA. See 10 U.S.C. § 2305(a)(3)(C).

Congress’s goal, as evidenced by the title to section 876, is “Increasing Competition at the Task Order Level.” By awarding base IDIQ contracts to all compliant proposals, without discriminating between them based on price, agencies are likely to have more contract-holders available to compete for specific work at the task-order level. Use of this mechanism should reduce an important barrier to entry to many potential competitors—not holding the necessary IDIQ contract to compete for work solicited under task order solicitations—and, by increasing competition, could result in lower pricing and better technical offerings at the task order level.

 

 

Keep reading article at: http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=810088

By

Proposed rule offers foreign military sales as a potential pathway to commerciality

Earlier this month, the FAR Council issued a proposed rule to expand the definition of “commercial item” under the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to include certain items sold in substantial quantities to foreign governments.  This new rule implements section 847 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY 2018 (Pub. L. 115-91), and has the potential to extend commercial item status to defense articles that have been sold to foreign militaries, including sales under the Foreign Military Financing program.

Ensuring the commercial item status of products and services has long been a key point of federal contracting compliance for many businesses, as commercial item contracts typically avoid many of the more burdensome provisions imposed by the FAR.  While the term “commercial item” is often generalized to refer to items offered for sale to the general public for non-governmental purposes, the definition of “commercial item” under FAR 2.101 includes certain items used for governmental purposes and sold in substantial quantities to multiple state and local governments.  See FAR 2.101.  This provision permitted products like protective equipment used by police and fire departments to be deemed commercial items.

Specifically, the FAR provides that a “nondevelopmental item” can qualify for commercial item status “if the procuring agency determines the item was developed exclusively at private expense and sold in substantial quantities, on a competitive basis, to multiple State and local governments.”  See FAR 2.101.  While the foregoing provision is limited to sales to state and local governments, the FAR separately defines “nondevelopmental item” as “[a]ny previously developed item of supply used exclusively for governmental purposes by a Federal agency, a State or local government, or a foreign government with which the United States has a mutual defense cooperation agreement.”  (emphasis added)  So while the FAR defines “nondevelopment item” to include products sold to foreign governments, the commercial item definition only extends to products sold to state and local governments.

The proposed rule expands the commercial item definition to include nondevelopmental items sold in substantial quantities to foreign governments.  While this change results in adding only four words to the FAR, it represents a potentially significant expansion to the concept of commerciality in federal contracting, as items used exclusively for defense applications would potentially be deemed commercial items under the proposed rule.  The notice of proposed rulemaking is clear that intent of the rule is to include defense articles previously developed at private expense for U.S. allies under the definition of commercial item.

Keep reading article at: https://www.insidegovernmentcontracts.com/2019/05/proposed-rule-offers-foreign-military-sales-as-a-potential-pathway-to-commerciality/

Contracting Academy Logo
75 Fifth Street, NW, Suite 300
Atlanta, GA 30308
info@ContractingAcademy.gatech.edu
Phone: 404-894-6109
Fax: 404-410-6885

RSS Twitter