Subcontracting | The Contracting Education Academy

July 15, 2013 By AMK

Federal contractors failing to pay Afghan subcontractors, IG finds

U.S. contractors in war-torn Afghanistan have repeatedly failed to pay their subcontractors, prompting strikes, work stoppages and death threats at a time when U.S. forces are preparing to withdraw, a key inspector general warned on Thursday.

In an alert letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and regional diplomats, John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, said that nearly a quarter — 183 out of 753 — of complaints to SIGAR’s hotline from 2009 through October 2012 were about Afghan prime contractor and subcontractor nonpayment issues. As a result, he said, his auditors have opened 52 investigations encompassing $69 million in payments owed. An additional 44 such complaints have been filed with the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the Defense Department’s inspectors general over the past six years.

Missed payments have resulted in the delay of projects “promoting the stability of Afghanistan,” a belief among Afghan workers that the lapsed payments are the fault of the U.S. government, a threat by one subcontractor to set himself on fire in front of the U.S. embassy, and one threat to blow up a compound of U.S. contractors and government agencies, the letter said.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2013/06/federal-contractors-failing-pay-afghan-subcontractors-ig-finds/65261/?oref=govexec_today_nl

June 18, 2013 By AMK

DoD proposes anti-counterfeit IT measures

The Defense Department has proposed updating its acquisition regulations to require major contractors subject to cost accounting standards – and their large subcontractors – to have anti-counterfeit avoidance and detection systems in place for electronic parts.

The long-awaited proposal, issued mid-May, would implement requirements from the fiscals 2012 and 2013 national defense authorization acts, passed amid concern that counterfeit milspec electronic parts have made their way into weapons systems, potentially undermining their reliability or making them open to a remote cyber attack – although cybersecurity experts have said the risk presented by the latter possibility is relatively low.

The proposal would require companies with cost-reimbursement contracts subject to cost-accounting standards (a requirement that can’t be valid for contracts worth less than $700,000) to mount an acceptable anti-counterfeiting effort that would include training, inspection, parts traceability, use of “trusted suppliers” and a methodology to rapidly determine whether a suspect part is, in fact, counterfeit. The proposed rule doesn’t define what a trusted supplier would be.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.fiercegovernmentit.com/story/dod-proposes-anti-counterfeit-it-measures/2013-06-04

July 18, 2012 By AMK

Prompt payments may become contract selection factor

The Obama administration has directed agencies to make contract payments faster to all their prime contractors for the next year with the understanding that those companies will pass along those accelerated payments to their small-business subcontractors, officials said July 11.

The administration is aiming to get money into the hands of more small businesses, although it’s a short-term relief. Indeed, officials are setting clear expectations for prime contractors by making payment habits a future factor in the bid selection process.

Keep reading this article at: http://fcw.com/articles/2012/07/11/subcontractor-prompt-payment-omb.aspx.

The July 11, 2012 OMB policy directive can be found at: http://contractingacademy.gatech.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Providing-Prompt-Payment-to-Small-Business-Subcontractors-OMB-07.11.2012.pdf.

June 21, 2012 By AMK

Lockheed CEO warns of increased government costs from sequestration

As federal contractors try to figure out how to brace for the impact of sequestration in January, one thing about the potential $1 trillion in cuts over 10 years is becoming clearer. The government will end up paying more for products and services currently under contract.

Robert Stevens, the retiring-Lockheed Martin CEO, said Tuesday one consequence of sequestration that few have talked much about is vendors will likely ask the government for an “equitable adjustment” to their contracts.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.federalnewsradio.com/394/2911052/Lockheed-CEO-warns-of-increased-government-costs-from-sequestration–

June 13, 2012 By AMK

Procurement chief tells agencies to focus on small business set-asides

Agencies must report on their progress in steering federal contracting set-asides to specific types of small businesses, according to new direction from Joe Jordan, the recently installed White House chief procurement officer.

Joined by Small Business Administration chief Karen Mills, Jordan told agencies in a memo last Wednesday to meet their statutory goal for contracting 23 percent with small businesses by considering the use of multiple award contracts with an eye toward “maximizing opportunities for small businesses when agencies make small dollar awards, and strengthening accountability for small business goal achievement.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com//contracting/2012/06/procurement-chief-tells-agencies-focus-small-business-set-asides/56188/?oref=govexec_today_nl.

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