Answer: because senior leadership is fixed on CPFF. Yes, we've noted that contract type is up to discretion of KO -- maybe approved by others (PARC, HCA, etc). Regardless -- decision is made -- it will be CPFF. Question is: how best to mitigate and is the schedule legal. That's the question of the original post -- is the schedule arrangement legal? Leadership believes cost plus contract will result in higher numbers of contractor employees in the que, waiting for vetting. They also believe FFP resulted in lower fill because the contract type drove rates down, which impacted (negatively) the fill rate. There are problems with that logic. But in the end -- that's the decision. Only by switching to cost plus, and specifically CPFF is leadership willing to go to the CofS of the Army re: vetting process.
Again, thoughts on the schedule approach? Can we do that? Or must the FIXED fee be calculated on the basis of the estimated cost for the TOTAL requirement (100) at the time of award. If we can say that the fee is fixed at the time of award for each grouping in the schedule -- we're OK. Problem is: must fee be based on total, so that we must pay the total fixed fee, and not the total fixed fee for a lower level. (Which is why some are concerned that this is a cost plus percentage of cost arrangement, but with a cap - the cap being the fixed fee for 100).