baierle

Who is to say the contractor needs to pay overtime? Tell them what service you want covered (24/7 or whatever). It's up to them how they schedule their people and what the shifts are, etc... You can give historical data so they can see the unusual hours that may be worked... and ask for FFP to cover the SOW. Please include ESTIMATED QUANTITIES language/clause. Negotiations for any increase/adjustment may happen only if you bust your estimated ceiling (max) by 115% or more... -EB

If it were me, I would find out if the testing is contrary to standard commercial practices, and to what degree. If I find it normal industry testing and not unique to Government, then go commercial streamlined, whenever possible. You can still use Part 15 with regard to selection only prepare contract as commercial and not UCF. Why make it more difficult for yourself and for the contractors? My old boss used to say: If it is legal, ethical, good for the client...then find a way to make it happen!

thank you very much... The more I know, the more I realize that I don't know!

Has anyone heard of contracting officer requiring contractor to sign block 19 of SF26 before CO/KO will sign block 20 to award the document? I think CO/KO is confused with SF30 modifications when she insists contractor sign first. Any guidance on this will be helpful because right now, I am baffled.....

Well, not sure how to answer that one. I am not at the Park Service any more, but I do remember legal / solicitor getting involved. It was not 'authority' to procure at issue, but to ensure the artist was protected in the event of someone wanted to commercialize this wall art at the parks (copyright?). If you refer to funding (appropriations), it may not have been appropriated funds being used--fee revenue...not sure. However, I did not encounter any expression of this procurement being outside of any law or anything. -b

No, it was for various National Parks. I believe it was fee franchise or some other types of funding but not disaster or emergency funds.

Hi. Do some research under Part 27, copyrights. I believe you will find a clause you can use. We contracted competitively for artist to depict renditions of various historical and cultural resources. It was small business set aside, commercial (local set aside), we asked for sample art work and had specific evaluation criteria including simple past performance review. Everybody was happy with the price, contractor, results. -

Thank you all for your input. We have notified the client that their request is out of scope. Napolik's description helped put it into perspective for me. To be clear, we used demo procedures at 13.5 as this was commercial items-- at about $90K each. So, if client decides to go forth with the extra widget, may I presume they need to prepare J&A (JOFOC), no? The additional item will be under $100K, but I don't believe that will release anyone from the requirement for such justification. I appreciate all of the guidance, dialogue, etc. I learn every single day!!

Hi- I have a competitively awarded, commercial purchase for five widgets. Prior to delivery of these widgets, client desires six widgets due to a mission change. Is this within scope? May I add another widget to this order without doing JOFOC (J&A)? I will appreciate any guidance.

Thank you, Vern. Yes, you have our situation paraphrased clearly and correctly. I have taken your information as very important guidance. Question: is it even "cleaner" still if we award to technically-acceptable offeror as proposal is, and then do a within scope modification to remove items the Government does not need? I don't see an issue---- except maybe for the fact that we knew we did not need the extras it at the pre award stage but bought them anyway just to remove them via mod later... any thoughts on this? V/r--EB

Thank you, Vern-- I appreciate your help. Essentially, we expected to get more responses but only received two. One was clearly a last minute, cut and paste proposal that did not even address the requirements of the solicitation. The other was one of the expected proposals and met/exceeded our minimum requirements, offering more than what we needed. We like much of the proposal of the technically-acceptable offeror, but some elements need to be removed as costly and not needed and there are some other aspects that the client would like for us to discuss. That is why I asked if we can turn this into negotiated and conduct some trade offs. V/r-EB

okay--both were evaluated and only one was determined to be acceptable. I should have finished my java before posting. I apologize for the lack of clarity but still would appreciate feedback. V/r--EB

ooops, technically-unacceptable.....

The second proposal was clearly deficient in all criteria, making it technically-acceptable. V/r--EB

Hi-- if the contracting officer received two proposals under LPTA, and only one was evaluated and determined to be technically-acceptable, may the contracting officer turn this procurement into a negotiated procurement to discuss with the one technically-acceptable offeror without canceling and resoliciting? I appreciate whatever feedback I get.

The statement of objectives (SOO) provides a broad view of the acquisition objectives in lieu of a SOW. Offerors refer to the SOO, performance requirements documents, and other RFP docs to prepare their proposals ----including the Statement of Work (SOW). The SOO is too general to be enforceable, which is why it's not included in the cotract. The final SOW is what the Government negotiates with the best value contractor and ultimately becomes the contract requirements

As a taxpayer and a contracting officer, this email from this contractor offends me. There is nothing wrong with making a buck; I am all for it!!. It's the description of dumping of a "bucket" of taxpayer money in apparent violation of bona fide needs rule that disgusts me.

Good day-- can anyone recommend a good source selection course? I took it with the Navy (CTC 415) many years ago and I am no longer with DoD but need to get some refresher training on the subject matter. I have been disappointed with the MCI and ESI training I have taken---- it seems lacking. Any suggestions as to where I can get some good SS training will be greatly appreciated. Thanks much! eb

*********** Here's my two cents: I have over twenty years as a contracting officer and value the service a legal advisor can provide. Having said that, I am so turned off by the contract legal advisors. In my last assignment, the legal advisors (solicitors, etc) were more grammer-checkers than anything. Basic contract concepts needed to be explained. Now, in this current position, the legal advisor wants a letter sent with the info and question needing legal advice. A written letter!!! Facsimiles are not acceptable, nor are emails. I don't understand this unless it is to justify their existence (back charge via job order, etc...)and nothing more. I have not met a contracting officer lately who has time to get their solicitations out and perform proper admin, resolve contracutal issues, etc. let alone time to draft a letter when needing legal advice. I often go to the Cibnic and Nash references, this forum, and other resources before I even think about asking the solicitor. ....they tend to add to my burden more often than not.

We are conducting a source selection for XXX services for our agency. This inquiry concerns "Offeror B", whose price is very competitive and is technically OUTSTANDING ( very competitive). Offeror B's proposal states they will use XYZ FIRM. Org (subcontractor, non profit) for some of their work on this project. XYZ FIRM.Org has a cooperative agreement at the Interior Department (National) level for similar work. There is a thought that this non profit subcontractor may have access to some of the vegetation data that others' may not have and this may give them some advantage. We doubt this very much but need to get some advice. During the RFP phase, we disclosed the data to all offerors that was provided to the Government by XYZ FIRM.Org under this cooperative agreement. However, more data is forthcoming from XYZ FIRM.Org under this National cooperative agreement when it becomes available for Government use. How can we mitigate our vulnerability if Offeror B gets award of this contract based on superior results from the technical evaluation of their proposal, and an interested party protests because of the perceived (legit or not) competitive advantage? No one was precluded from offering on this project, however, AWARD will be made only to the eligible small business who meets our best value criteria. This was clearly spelled out in the RFP Is there anyway to mitigate this vulnerability? Any suggestions or advice will be greatly appreciated as I have worked hard to make this a clean procurement. Looking forward to some help from my colleagues out there..... eb

I can't describe how leasing trailer space is any different than hotel or long term apartment rental. I can only inquire when my gut does not feel right....as in this case. These are leased and placed on Government property vice personal property. That's about the only difference. What is going on here does not seem to be in the best interest of the taxpayers at all. It's expedient for my fellow Government workers who cannot manage their housing program, nor obtain adequate funds for permanent housing; and who have no authority to procure trailers and such..... ...but not in the best interest of the taxpayers... We could have OWNED these trailers years ago. Apparently, there is not authority to procure trailer housing, so we have leased them. Year after year without any ownership.... -eb

I need a nudge in the right direction: As a new contract specialist here at Interior, I need to ensure that I have the legal authority to continue contracting for trailer house leases to house government employees of the Interior. The fact the client has the funds does little to ease me (they have never seen the Redbook--what's that???), and GSA authority does not appear to apply to trailer houses . I am not 100% that my client can legally fund this type of procurement. I am, however, 100% certain the client does not care about my legal authority. Any info anyone can provide to help me arm myself will be greatly appreciated.... PS: I did not even mention the desired sole source nature of such procurement (folks are housed in the trailers!!!) I LOVE THIS JOB

Hi. I am a GSA novice and need some guidance: What do I need to write or document to determine not to go GSA? I searched GSA Advantage and have not found service contractors I believe can do what we need in our Performance Work Statement. Similar, but not what we are seeking. We (I and the client) agree we would like to go open market commercial, best value on this procurement. How much documentation do I need to move ahead and bypass GSA? Is it whatever the contract signatory authority requests? Is this determination protestable? Of course any one with a stamp can protest, but is there something that I need to concern myself with before I determine to move on and go open market? Any advice would be appreciated. V/r--EB