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Blitz

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Posts posted by Blitz

  1. crwhitley,

    My advice is to seek legal counsel. You introduced Part 15 procedures when you established a competitive range and provided competitive range exclusion letters. GAO has ruled that if you introduce FAR 15 procedures to a Part 8 acquisiton, then GAO will hold you to those more stringent part 15 procedures in the event of a protest. Thus, you would have to follow the procedures in FAR 15.506 for post award debriefings.

  2. In this GAO case the agency included specific language in the solicitation describing how they would approach the LPTA evaluation. GAO didn't raise any issues with the approach of starting technical evaluations with the lowest priced proposal first. The safe bet would be to include that language in future solicitations if you indeed want to follow that approach. There are other issues raised by boricua when you follow this approach but as long as you are following what you said in your solicitation you'll be fine.

    See B-407947... "The RFP informed offerors that award would be made on a lowest-priced technically acceptable basis considering the following three factors: technical, past performance, and price. RFP at 71-72. In this regard, the RFP established that the agency would first evaluate offerors’ prices, and then evaluate the apparent lowest-priced proposal for acceptability under the technical and past performance factors. If the lowest-price offeror was evaluated as unacceptable, the agency would then consider the acceptability of the next lowest-price offeror, continuing this process as necessary. Id. at 72."

  3. Regarding the applicability of "calendar days" when it comes to a timely bid protest; I just wanted to point out that in the event a deadline falls on a weekend, federal holiday, or other day when GAO is closed, the deadline for a timely bid protest is extended to the next day on which GAO is open. (4 C.F.R § 21.0(d)). Certainly not the case in the scenario described by elguero but just something to keep in mind.

  4. I agree with dcarver. FAR 32.104 refers to contract price--not contract value. The FFP CLIN has a price of $2 million. The CPFF CLIN has an estimated cost and a fixed fee of $8 million--not a price.

    Don, what do you make of the fact that 32.104(d)(2)(ii) refers to as total value of $2.5 million? I am confused by the used of "contract price" in 32.104©(2)(i) and "total value" in (ii). If looking at orders against IDVs we used the $2.5M total value why would that be different for individual contracts. Reading the FAR literally I would agree with you but is this a matter of this section being poorly written?

  5. What do you make of this FAR council response under FAC 2005-15?

    Comment: Clarify whether competitive procedures means ``full and open competition'' or ``limited competition'' when the competition is conducted with as many sources as practicable under one of the authorities listed in FAR 6.302.

    Response: Sole source commercial T&M/LH contracts are not authorized. Commercial T&M/LH contracts may be awarded under the statutory authorities that permit contracting without providing for full and open competition. When these authorities are used, contracting officers are required to solicit offers from as many potential sources as is practicable under the circumstances. Nothing in this rule requires ``full and open'' competition.

  6. Here is the scenario, contract for severable services funded with annual appropriations as follows:

    Base Period: POP 12/01/2013 to 08/31/2013 (9 Months funded with FY-13)

    Option Period: POP 09/01/2013 to 09/01/2014 (12 Months funded with FY-13)

    Question: There is a notion in my current organization that this is an acceptable practice since we are dealing with two separate periods of performance. The argument being that it is not a violation of FAR 37.106(bravo) since each specific CLIN does not exceed one year. Specifically the language in the FAR appears to differentiate between awards and option periods as separate actions when applying the 12-month limitation. The language is 37.106(bravo) states:

    The head of an executive agency, except NASA, may enter into a contract, exercise an option, or place an order under a contract for severable services for a period that begins in one fiscal year and ends in the next fiscal year if the period of the contract awarded, option exercised, or order placed does not exceed one year (10 U.S.C. 2410a and 41 U.S.C. 253l). Funds made available for a fiscal year may be obligated for the total amount of an action entered into under this authority.

    I am having a hard time wrapping my head around this rationale. How could we use FY-13 funds to fund a contract for severable services using annual appropriations for a total POP of 21 months? Am I missing something here? I’ll be interested to hear your thoughts on the subject and your interpretation of FAR 37.106(bravo).

  7. Agree with Navy...it appears you are confusing pricing with funding. Funding for IDIQs takes place at the TO/DO level. Also, for the most part, the minimum guaranteed is met during the base year via a TO/DO so exercising Options on and IDIQ without an actual obligation is a pretty common practice and it doesn't go against the FAR language you referenced.

  8. What is the most popular figure to classify a Person Year?

    2080 is full time, 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year.

    2000 considers the 10 national holidays.

    1980 is the figure that is being used in the acquisition which I am supporting. I questioned the rationale of using 49.5 weeks (1980/40) as a Person Year because it not only breaks a week in half, it breaks a day in half.

    What number of hours would you use, as a general matter. Thanks.

    Barry sends

    Barry,

    I'm not sure what you mean by a Person Year. I have seen contractors propose based on Productive Hours for a particular year. Normally this is calculated as follows:

    Base Hours (2080) minus Vacation Hours, Holiday Hours, Sick/Emergency Leave Hours = # of productive hours for the year.

    Now, like you said, the 2080hrs is based on a 40hr work week. Keep in mind that contractors can choose how they manage their workforce to meet any particular requirement. So depending on the requirement itself and the contractor's management approach the 2080hrs may be adjusted up or down for any particular employee.

    Hope this helps some.

    Blitz

  9. I personally feel that "Administration of Government Contracts" (4th Edition is now available) by Cibinic, Nash, and Nagle was the best book that I ever bought to learn the overall rules of construction contract administration, including contract interpretation rules. My latest edition is the 3rd Edition, before Prof. Cibinic passed in 2005. You can purchase the latest edition for about $105. I've seen that price for both hardcover and paperback editions via a GOOGLE search. I bought one once from our local college bookstore but they are available on-line. It is part of the George Washington University Government Contracts Program series. "Formation of Government Contracts" by is also a must have.

    Hi Joel,

    I'm looking for a reference guide that deals with administration of Cost Reimbursement Type contracts, closeout of such contracts, DCAA audits, CAS, etc. You mentioned the "Administration of Government Contracts" book as being very helpful when it comes to administering construction contracts. How would you rate the book's content when it comes to administering Cost Reimbursement Type contracts?

  10. Not if the fixed fee was 6% of estimated costs. However, if the contract were written to say that the contractor would be paid 6% of incurred costs, then you would have an illegal CPPC arrangement.

    That is exactly right! The contract fee amount was set up based on the estimated cost from the contractor's proposal. Then based on that estimate, a CLIN was created to cover the fee. It was done by calculating 6% of the estimated cost to come up with a $ figure to be paid in 12 Fixed Priced monthly payments during the contract year.

  11. Blitz, I'm glad the WIFCON forum could help you. I have a nagging question, though, as to why you think that salary uplifts are a "tax free allowance" to contractor employees? If that's true, it would be news to me and many, many contractors.

    Best wishes!

    Bremen, Thanks for point this out. That was a a wrong assumption made in our office. You are right. It is not a tax free allowance. The Department of States website states: "all Danger Pay is considered an "incentive" rather than a "reimbursement" and therefore is taxable (DSSR 054.2)."

    Regards

  12. Hi Blitz,

    I'm not clear on why this is different from any other modification under the Changes clause, for which the contractor would be entitled to an equitable adjustment--including fee on any additional costs.

    That being said, were I the contractor preparing a price proposal for this work, I would DEFINITELY expect fee on all of my costs, including hazardous duty and danger pay salary uplifts. I would be paying my employees those additional payroll costs (and would be paying payroll withholding taxes on those costs) and I would very likely be paying Defense Base Act insurance premiums -- and I would expect to make a profit on those costs.

    Hope this helps.

    Hi,

    Thank you everyone for your comments. I wasn't sure what was allowed is the cost pool before we could determine the amount of fee to be paid. This is the first time we've come across danger pay and since it is a tax free allowance for employees we thought perhaps it shouldn't be part of the cost pool.

    By the way, I am new to this whole Cost-Reimbursement type contracts. I've worked on FFP pretty much for the first 10 years of my career. So please bear with me.

    Thank you retreadfed for direct me to 15-404-4. It clearly states that facilities capital cost of money shall be excluded. No mentioning of danger/hazard pay.

    Have a great day everyone,

    Blitz

  13. Hello Everyone,

    I have had little luck researching this topic and would much appreciate your input/comments.

    Scenario: We are adding a new requirement to an existing CPFF contract. The contract has an established 6% fixed fee. This new requirement is for services at a location identified as a Hazard/Danger pay location. The contractor's position is that the fee should be based on all direct costs such as base pay, fringe, labor overhead, G&A, and other premiums paid (including hazard/danger pay).

    Question: Is the government supposed to pay fee (6%) on hazard/danger pay?

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