redryder

Bummer.... but timing is important, so were the LD per diem amounts added before the task order was awarded (so that the contractor could have objected to them, or tried to negotiate them down/out)? If so, you may be able to enforce them, depending on how confusing/conflicting the language is; if they were added upon award, after receipt of the Kr's proposal and without any opportunity for it to object/negotiate, then I'd say you're out of luck.

Joe, I'm suspecting that you inherited this contract and task order, and that either the contractor has already missed an interim milestone, or is about to do so. From what you've said, it sounds like it could be a loser for the Government if we tried to enforce the LD assessment, since -- following the doctrine of contra proferentem --an ambiguity is construed against the drafter (we did draft the TO, right?). However, unless you believe that doing so would clearly not be equitable, you might consider notifying the contractor that you're contemplating assessing LDs for failure to meet one of the interim milestones. See how the contractor reacts; nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Joe, what does your contract say about liquidated damages? Does it specifically inform the contractor that LDs will be assessed for failure to meet interim milestones? I suspect not, from your question. In our experience, where interim completion milestones were important to the Government, and it was otherwise appropriate to do so (we anticipated suffering economic losses if they weren't met), the contract language informed the contractor that liquidated damages would be assessed for failure to meet the interim completion milestones. The contractor did miss a milestone, we did assess liquidated damages, and the contractor did not dispute the assessment.

eleven, don't wait until you can attend a class, and I strongly encourage you to join and participate regularly in Toastmasters. In the meantime, here's some advice: practice by recording yourself making a presentation, or doing a briefing (videotape it if at all possible), then watching and critiquing the presentation preferably with a friend who'll be honest with you. See what you're doing that distracts and detracts from your presentation; be conscious of ums, ahs, and ers, avoid them like the plague, and don't feel that you have to fill your pauses with sound. Be animated, use your hands and facial expressions for emphasis; don't read your presentation, make eye contact with a lot of the audience. Practice, PRACTICE PRACTICE!

I'd be interested in hearing from folks who've successfully used a solicitation containing a Statement of Objectives (SOO) vice a Performance Work Statement (PWS) to conduct a Performance-Based Services Acquisition (PBSA). Given the difficulty our customers have in writing a sound Statement of Work (SOW) -- much less a Performance Work Statement (PWS), Performance Requirements Summary (PRS), Acceptable Quality Level (AQL), or a Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) -- I wonder if the offerors would fare much better?

I agree with Vern's observation, and I'd add that the same would apply to a non-competitive task order issued under an multiple-award A/E ID/IQ contract, where the rates are established (and have been determined to be fair and reasonable) in the basic contract and you're negotiating with the contractor only to establish the appropriate number of priced hours of work to accomplish the task at hand (and maybe some travel-related expense). This is another instance where obtaining a CCPD certificate would seem to serve no useful purpose, since generally (at least in our experience) there is precious little data to certify, but no exception applies.