Stealth Posted December 29, 2020 Report Share Posted December 29, 2020 Hi all. First time poster. I am starting with HHS in a month coming from municipal government procurement/contracting. While I have CPCM certification and am familiar with the 2 CFR 200 for Federal Grant Procurements, I am not familiar with the FAR. In the month before I start, I'd like to deep dive into the FAR, especially the most important sections that can help jump start me right away. What are the most important sections of the FAR that you think I should study? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Roberts Posted December 29, 2020 Report Share Posted December 29, 2020 (edited) 19 hours ago, Stealth said: What are the most important sections of the FAR that you think I should study? To an extent, the most important sections of FAR for you may be driven by what immediate type contracting you will be focused on i.e., sealed bidding, commercial items, simplified acquisitions,negotiated procurement, etc. I suggest a simplified overview first, if you haven't already. No jest, but I recommend you consider Federal Acquisition Regulations (Wikipedia) (and links there to other material), and (no offense), FAR for Dummies handbooks. Also, there are many internet introductions. Perhaps you can give more details about what you think you will be doing initially. Edited December 30, 2020 by Neil Roberts redundant words Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Mansfield Posted December 30, 2020 Report Share Posted December 30, 2020 I would start here: https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc503280/m1/1/high_res_d/R42826_2015Feb03.pdf When you're done, come back and I'll recommend more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C Culham Posted December 31, 2020 Report Share Posted December 31, 2020 A side suggestion. After the deep dive into the FAR remember agencies like HHS have their supplement to the FAR so perusing the HHS supplement might be beneficial as well. https://www.acquisition.gov/hhsar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stealth Posted February 2, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2021 On 12/29/2020 at 3:53 PM, Neil Roberts said: To an extent, the most important sections of FAR for you may be driven by what immediate type contracting you will be focused on i.e., sealed bidding, commercial items, simplified acquisitions,negotiated procurement, etc. I suggest a simplified overview first, if you haven't already. No jest, but I recommend you consider Federal Acquisition Regulations (Wikipedia) (and links there to other material), and (no offense), FAR for Dummies handbooks. Also, there are many internet introductions. Perhaps you can give more details about what you think you will be doing initially. I started on Monday. The branch chief told me that You will want to focus on FAR parts 5, 6, 12, 13, 15 and 19. Our acquisitions run the gambit, although we don’t see sealed bidding and true R&D is rare, particularly for this team. On 12/30/2020 at 4:23 PM, Don Mansfield said: I would start here: https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc503280/m1/1/high_res_d/R42826_2015Feb03.pdf When you're done, come back and I'll recommend more. With the moving, it has been crazy trying to get myself ahead of the curve, but I have read some of this already. I'll let you know when I'm done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vern Edwards Posted February 3, 2021 Report Share Posted February 3, 2021 Before you plunge into the FAR, consider buying Government Contracts in a Nutshell, 6th ed. (2015), by Steven Feldman, $58 for paperback, $38 for Kindle. It takes you through the FAR part-by-part and provides an overview. You can preview the table of contents via Amazon. From the preface: "The Government Contracts Nutshell, Sixth Edition, is intended to highlight the essential elements and principles of government contracting regarding both contract formation and contract administration. It provides the reader with a foundation for understanding how government procurement works in formal and informal ways. Ideally, this treatment will enable students and practitioners to become familiar with the fundamentals of government contracting in a relatively short time." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Constricting Officer Posted February 3, 2021 Report Share Posted February 3, 2021 Add FAR part 16 to your supervisor's list. I would also suggest a a deep dive into the different policies and procedures between 13 and 15. There are a lot of freedoms in 13 that you won't find in 15. Don't get them mixed up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Constricting Officer Posted February 4, 2021 Report Share Posted February 4, 2021 On 2/3/2021 at 6:35 AM, Vern Edwards said: 👆👆👆 Never thought I'd say this, but we may need one of those "Blue Check-mark" things... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vern Edwards Posted February 4, 2021 Report Share Posted February 4, 2021 I'm not very media-smart. Is a blue check-mark a good thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Constricting Officer Posted February 9, 2021 Report Share Posted February 9, 2021 On 2/4/2021 at 9:39 AM, Vern Edwards said: I'm not very media-smart. Is a blue check-mark a good thing? Social media outlets (such as Twitter) confirms the identities of high-profile members. They give them a check-mark. Just saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam101 Posted March 27, 2021 Report Share Posted March 27, 2021 Go to beta.SAM.gov and look at random solicitations and you can see how FAR 13, 14, and 15 look like in practice, at least the public facing parts of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stealth Posted April 2, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2021 Thanks everyone for all your advice. Government Contracts in a Nutshell, 6th ed. (2015), by Steven Feldman is a good read so far. The FCN 101 with FAI/DAU seems to also help a bit. I don't have a formal internal training program so I wish there was a good checklist for things I need to do. A FAR matrix is good but only insofar as much as knowing how to use it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Mansfield Posted April 2, 2021 Report Share Posted April 2, 2021 19 minutes ago, Stealth said: I don't have a formal internal training program so I wish there was a good checklist for things I need to do. Make one. An opportunity to demonstrate leadership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vern Edwards Posted April 7, 2021 Report Share Posted April 7, 2021 On 4/2/2021 at 3:58 PM, Stealth said: I wish there was a good checklist for things I need to do. Do you mean things you need to learn? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
formerfed Posted April 7, 2021 Report Share Posted April 7, 2021 @Stealth, Are you in the 1102 series at HHS? If so, I think all 1102s get enrolled in a formal training program for FAC certification. The program also includes other than just straight contracting courses. https://oalm.od.nih.gov/sites/all/themes/custom/oalm/files/HHS.Handbook.2010.wpd.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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