maintenance | The Contracting Education Academy

November 13, 2018 By AMK

PA bill would open door to competitive school construction bids, away from cooperative purchasing

Pennsylvania state representative Jesse Topper has introduced a bill that would open major construction projects to competitive bidding, reports The Inquirer of Philadelphia.

The bill, which is with the State Government Committee, was precipitated by a study from research firm Ducker Worldwide that found from 2005 to 2010, schools across the state wasted more than $100 million in taxpayer money on roofing by using cooperative purchasing rather than competitive bidding.

The proposed bill would outlaw cooperative purchases for construction projects, which the bill’s backers say will save money, especially for public schools having financial troubles. One school district received a roofing bid from a cooperative for $2.4 million, whereas an open bid for the same project totaled $1.4 million.

Still, many Pennsylvania school officials say cooperative purchasing agreements have merit, offering quality assurance, consistency and reduced maintenance, reported The Inquirer. They also say that open bids, unlike cooperatives, don’t take design costs or project monitoring into account.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.constructiondive.com/news/pennsylvania-bill-would-open-door-to-competitive-school-construction-bids/541536/

January 18, 2018 By AMK

Navy gets savvy with contracting rules to avoid maintenance problems due to CR

The Navy is making progress on repairs it needs to make on its fleet of ships.

The service is seeing a 75 percent reduction in the days that ships are unable to be operational due to maintenance issues or repairs since 2014, said Real Adm. James Downey, deputy commander for surface warfare at the Navy Regional Maintenance Center.

“Coming through 2014, it was nearly 5,000 lost operational days, 4,900 and change,” Downey said during a Jan. 11 speech at the Surface Naval Association Conference in Arlington, Virginia. “As of November 2017, we closed out at about 1,165 lost operational days. We are still not where we need to be. The 75 percent reduction over the last three to four years is principally due to efforts put in place by my predecessors on process, on standing up various planning activities and on strategy.”

Last year, Vice Chief Naval Officer Bill Moran warned that putting off maintenance on ships is detrimental to the Navy.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsradio.com/defense/2018/01/navy-is-getting-savvy-with-contracting-rules-to-avoid-maintenance-problems-due-to-cr/

September 22, 2017 By AMK

Here’s an analysis of procurement funding in DoD’s FY18 budget request

Although increased capacity and lethality are the second priority of the Pentagon’s PB 2018 budget request behind restoring the readiness of the current force, funding for procurement increases far less than for RDT&E and operation and maintenance accounts (O&M) in real terms.

In the PB 2018 request, the Trump administration asked for a total of $125.2 billion in procurement funds, with $115 billion in the base discretionary budget and an additional $10.2 billion in Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO). This is $9.04 billion (or 7.8 percent) more than anticipated for FY 2018 in the PB 2017 request.

However, the PB 2018 request is only 0.65 percent larger than Congress appropriated for procurement in FY 2017, an increase of $819 million. Per Secretary Mattis’ memorandum on DoD budget guidance, the National Defense Strategy (NDS), currently being developed, will include a new force sizing construct that will “inform our targets for future force structure growth.” Accordingly, PB 2019, driven by the results of the NDS, will contain “ramps to grow the force quickly but responsibly.” This phased approach to increasing the size of the military means that any substantial growth in procurement funding over prior years’ budgets will occur in the PB 2019 budget request at the earliest, rather than in PB 2018.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2017/09/15/analysis_of_the_fy_2018_defense_budget__procurement_112305.html

May 2, 2017 By AMK

Low morale, cut corners just a few of agencies’ contracting woes while Congress debates federal funding

Congress has been criticized for kicking the can down the road when it comes to federal spending, but as the government shutdown clocks ticks closer to midnight — and agencies dust off their contingency plans — some are wondering if that kicked can might be the best option right now.

The continuing resolution currently funding the government expires at 11:59 p.m., April 28. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney said April 21 that the administration did not expect a lapse in appropriations, however “prudence and common sense require routine assessments to be made.”

OMB officials said the agency planned to hold a meeting or conference call a week out from the deadline, “regardless of whether the enactment of appropriations appears imminent.”

This will be the third such call in fiscal 2017. OMB made similar calls in fiscal 2014 and 2016.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsradio.com/budget/2017/04/budget-woes-stretch-beyond-agency-contracting-office-while-congress-debates-federal-funding/

February 25, 2016 By AMK

House Armed Services Committee agrees operating and support expenses must be considered in acquisition costs

Provisions to slow the growth of operating and support costs in acquisitions programs may be part of the reforms coming in the 2017 Defense authorization bill.

During a Feb. 3 House Armed Services Committee hearing, former Defense Department Comptroller Robert Hale said controlling O&S spending is so important it should be “the next frontier for acquisition reform.”

At the end of the hearing Committee Chairman Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) told Hale he received his message loud and clear on O&S costs and how to arrest them.

O&S consists of sustainment costs from the deployment of a system through the end of its use. Those costs can include anything from fuel to maintenance, modernization to manpower and depot maintenance to supplies.

Keep reading this article at: http://federalnewsradio.com/defense/2016/02/thornberry-says-message-received-high-sustainment-costs/

Pennsylvania state representative Jesse Topper has introduced a bill that would open major construction projects to competitive bidding, reports The Inquirer of Philadelphia.

The Navy is making progress on repairs it needs to make on its fleet of ships.

Although increased capacity and lethality are the second priority of the Pentagon’s PB 2018 budget request behind restoring the readiness of the current force, funding for procurement increases far less than for RDT&E and operation and maintenance accounts (O&M) in real terms.

Congress has been criticized for kicking the can down the road when it comes to federal spending, but as the government shutdown clocks ticks closer to midnight — and agencies dust off their contingency plans — some are wondering if that kicked can might be the best option right now.

Provisions to slow the growth of operating and support costs in acquisitions programs may be part of the reforms coming in the 2017 Defense authorization bill.

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