COMMERCIALITY DETERMINATION - SATCOM

[JTSurfah]

My first WIFCON Post

I need some help with determining commerciality on a requirement for SATCOM, HF, VLF, EHF, UHF, and IT services (umbrella K). Past contracts have been determined as non-commercial, but I'm not the type to do things "because we've always done it that way." After some research (see below), I found that some of the military communication systems that the contractor is expected to support are not "of a type customarily used by the general public or by non-governmental entities for purposes other than governmental purposes." This leads me towards a non-commercial determination.

However, in Competitive Negotiation (Cibinic & Nash, 1999), the authors point out that there is a second type of commercial service known as "stand-alone services." My reasoning after reading this reference is as follows: The contracts we are recompeting are all covered under CBA's. Since the labor categories are basically sold commercially at hourly rates e.g. Electronics Tech, Antenna Mechanic, Facilities Supervisor, Maintenance Mechanic, etc., and can be found in AWD's generated by DOL, in addition to being found in the CBA's, this effort qualifies as commercial under the stand alone services criteria (see ref pg's 22-23).

One more twist: We recently did a mod to one of the current contracts which resulted in an additional labor category. Unfortunately, they called it something very specific (BMD / MIDAs operator), in the CBA. Does the fact that they were so specific, and that the labor category now links back to a very specific, non-commercial system, defeat my premise in the last paragraph? If I were advising on the process I think I would have asked that they name a more geneneral category like "Communication Systems Operator III" ....or something along those lines, but this all happened before my time.

Here are some links to some of the systems being supported:

Non Commercial (my opinion):

http://www.janes.com/articles/Janes-Milita...ted-States.html

http://www.eis.army.mil/dcats/n-04-09-02.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wideband_Global_SATCOM_system

http://www.afspc.af.mil/library/factsheets...eet.asp?id=5582

Commercial (my opinion):

http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/com/an-fsc-78.htm

I'd really appreciate any advice. I keep swinging back and forth on this, but I have to make a decision quickly in order to generate/assign a solicitation number for the upcoming RFI. It could get messy if I change my mind later, and then generate a new solicitation using a different form, and number.

Thanks for reading!

[Guest Vern Edwards]

Here is what FAR says about "stand alone" services, from the definition of commercial items in FAR Part 2. Read it and see what you think:

(6) Services of a type offered and sold competitively in substantial quantities in the commercial marketplace based on established catalog or market prices for specific tasks performed or specific outcomes to be achieved and under standard commercial terms and conditions. For purposes of these services?

(i) ?Catalog price? means a price included in a catalog, price list, schedule, or other form that is regularly maintained by the manufacturer or vendor, is either published or otherwise available for inspection by customers, and states prices at which sales are currently, or were last, made to a significant number of buyers constituting the general public; and

(ii) ?Market prices? means current prices that are established in the course of ordinary trade between buyers and sellers free to bargain and that can be substantiated through competition or from sources independent of the offerors.

Some friendly advice for your future posts:

1. Don't use so many acronyms. Not everyone does the kind of procurement that you do, so they might not understand all of your acronyms. Yet they might be able to shed some light on your problem.

2. Don't ask people to read a lot of stuff in order to help you. When I first read your post and got to the list of links my thought was -- Why the heck should I check out all that stuff for this guy/gal? We all have jobs. (At least, I think we do.) I for one am not going to check out a bunch of links in order to offer you an opinion unless the matter is of great personal interest to me. Make it as easy as possible for people to respond to you.

[JTSurfah]

Thanks for the reply. Advice taken.

I'm wondering whether a CBA constitutes "prices that are established in the course of ordinary trade between buyers and sellers free to bargain and that can be substantiated through competition or from sources independent of the offerors." My gut feeling is that they do not satisfy this definition. I guess I'm going to stick with the non-commercial determination.

Thanks again for your help!

[formerfed]

I don't think a CBA really impacts whether an item is commercial or not and "amrket prices." The CBA covers just basic labor and benefits. A company has a lot of that goes into the charagable rate.

[JTSurfah]

I agree, but the CBA effectively sets the base....and it's not necessarily competitive. In fact, I would argue that it is rarely competitive. The labor rates in the CBA I am reviewing for this effort are consistently 15 to 25 percent above area wage determination rates for the same or similar work...before adding in the premiums for shift work, lead, haz pay, etc. On top of that, the Health & Welfare rate is 172% above the SCA H&W rate!

[crisi13]

I don't know anything about the particluars of your acquisition, but does the following from FAR Part 2 definition for Commercial items help at all? I know SATCOM is used quite extensively in the commercial world and often there are minor differences in Military Satcom and Commercial SATCOM.

(3) Any item that would satisfy a criterion expressed in paragraphs (1) or (2) of this definition, but for --

(i) Modifications of a type customarily available in the commercial marketplace; or

(ii) Minor modifications of a type not customarily available in the commercial marketplace made to meet Federal Government requirements. Minor modifications means modifications that do not significantly alter the nongovernmental function or essential physical characteristics of an item or component, or change the purpose of a process. Factors to be considered in determining whether a modification is minor include the value and size of the modification and the comparative value and size of the final product. Dollar values and percentages may be used as guideposts, but are not conclusive evidence that a modification is minor;

Here are a couple of links comparing military and commercial SATCOM:

http://www.fas.org/spp/military/docops/arm...ext/chap07b.htm

http://www.fas.org/spp/military/docops/nav...rept/index.html