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Vern Edwards' Blog



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Can a CO update the clauses in an existing contract when the FAR changes or when exercising options?

Posted by Vern Edwards, 01 November 2012 · 5,135 views

Two of my students, who work for a very large government contractor, told me that the contracting officers (COs) who administer their contracts unilaterally update contract clauses from time to time when they add funds to the contract or when they exercise options. They wondered if that was okay.It's not okay.More than a few people believe that the go...



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REAs and Claims: Is There A Difference?

Posted by Vern Edwards, 23 August 2012 · 6,441 views

Despite the plain language of the FAR definition of claim and an overwhelming amount of case law, many contracting practitioners falsely believe that claims and requests for equitable adjustment (REA) under a contract clause are categorically different, that a contractor must submit an REA before it can submit a claim,  and that there can’t be a cla...



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A Master of Science Degree in Government Contracting?

Posted by Vern Edwards, 19 August 2012 · 2,252 views

The George Washington University has announced a program for a Master of Science in Government Contracting. http://business.gwu....gc/program/.  I knew this program was in the works, and it is a good thing, but the curriculum is a disappointment. Here it is:There is a link on the webpage to the course descriptions.  Basically, what they have done is sl...



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Enough, already!

Posted by Vern Edwards, 02 August 2012 · 1,950 views

I’m going to show some self-restraint here and not say that I hate Congress. This morning’s Government Executive   email reported that some representative from Florida on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee "spoke out" about GSA bonuses and conference spending -- “GSA hammered on outrageous bonuses, conference s...



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Policy will not fix acquisition.

Posted by Vern Edwards, 19 July 2012 · 3,433 views

A Minor League Kerfluffle Steve Kelman and I have been involved in a minor league kerfluffle over a comment I made in response to a blog post he wrote entitled, “A new way to use past performance in contracting.” He proposed a new contracting incentive. Here is how he described it: I commented, “I cannot tell you how awful I think the...



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An agenda for the new OFPP Administrator

Posted by Vern Edwards, 28 June 2012 · 1,627 views

We have a new Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) Administrator, The Honorable Joseph Jordan.Most OFPP Administrators served about two years and didn’t do anything that had much of a lasting remedial effect on a system with which no one is very happy. Appointees have had a variety of qualifications. If I remember rightly, only two had ever w...



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Experiments in Service Contracting?

Posted by Vern Edwards, 01 March 2011 · 1,934 views

Show of hands: How many of you think that the government can reduce costs under  cost-reimbursement service contracts by tripling the number of government personnel involved in contract administration?Steven Kelman, Harvard professor and former OFPP administrator (and the best one we?ve ever had), has proposed an ?experiment? to do just that in the Februa...



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Is contracting an intellectual pursuit? Are contracting officers intellectuals?

Posted by Vern Edwards, 22 February 2011 · 2,017 views

What follows is the text of a speech I gave on January 13, 2011, at the Conference for Journeymen held by the Air Force Space Command, Space and Missile Systems Center, the organization with which I started my career in 1974, when it was the Space and Missile Systems Organization (SAMSO) of the Air Force Systems Command. Several people have suggested that...



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Debriefings Continued

Posted by Vern Edwards, 13 December 2010 · 1,368 views

I had an interesting exchange about my last blog post with a very thoughtful Wifcon member who is an attorney. The member advocated attendance by lawyers at debriefings and made a good argument based on assertions about certain special skills and capabilities of lawyers. I want to post my last reply to the member. I am not quoting the member's comment...



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Should government attorneys attend debriefings?

Posted by Vern Edwards, 06 December 2010 · 1,532 views

At the Nash & Cibinic Roundtable this past December 2 and 3 in Washington, DC, an issue came up that has bothered me for many years. The issue is the role of the government contract lawyer in the contracting process. Specifically, what role does the government contract lawyer play in debriefings of unsuccessful offerors? During a discussion of debrief...



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There's so much we have to know.

Posted by Vern Edwards, 30 August 2010 · 2,795 views

Reading some of the Wifcon posts of last week, it occurred to me that a lot of people are busily doing things that they don?t know much about. That has occurred to me many times over the years, but this past week has been an especially ignorance-rich environment.Some of us at Wifcon Forum talk by phone among ourselves about posts, and we are often astonis...



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What is the United States Code and what is in it?

Posted by Vern Edwards, 18 August 2010 · 1,196 views

Contracting officers are charged with ensuring that contracts are awarded in compliance with the law. See FAR 1.602-1(B). Consider, for example, FAR 6.101(a):QUOTE 10 U.S.C. 2304 and 41 U.S.C. 253 require, with certain limited exceptions (see Subparts 6.2 and 6.3), that contracting officers shall promote and provide for full and open competition in solici...



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Some Notes On Service Contracting

Posted by Vern Edwards, 13 August 2010 · 873 views

Although services account for most dollars obligated annually, FAR gives services short shrift. FAR Part 37 is only 18 pages long, including the table of contents and pages intentionally left blank. FAR does not define service or services. It defines service contract, but that definition is unsatisfactory because it tries to make a distinction between per...



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Summer Reading

Posted by Vern Edwards, 10 August 2010 · 999 views

I just read my umpteenth summer reading list, so I thought: What the heck. I know that we?re already past  the middle of summer and it?s a little late for a list, but why not? We have a month until Labor Day. Well, almost a month. Still time to get in one or more books.Summer?s about fun reading, so no ?professional? books and no heavy reads. These are so...



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What did I tell you?

Posted by Vern Edwards, 22 July 2010 · 979 views

Every now and then somebody comes along and proves your point for you in a wonderful way. Earlier this week I wrote about gimmicky reform "initiatives." Now I have learned that as the outgoing OMB director prepares to leave office he has published a memo that claims great success for the Obama administration?s acquisition waste reduction initiativ...



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Contrarian? You bet I am.

Posted by Vern Edwards, 19 July 2010 · 868 views

Steve Kelman has said that I?m a contrarian. He said it after I pooh-poohed the idea of the government holding contests and awarding prizes to encourage its employees to come up with new ideas to save money and promote ?open government,? i.e., ?transparency,? the new buzzword. OMB has issued 12 pages (!) of guidance about it. See OMB M-10-11, Guidance...



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What is it with all the awards?

Posted by Vern Edwards, 14 May 2010 · 876 views

Why do acquisition people love awards so much? There are all kinds of acquisition awards. For a list, go to http://www.fai.gov/acm/awards.asp. It prints out to more than three full pages, and it doesn't come close to listing all of the available awards.How can it be that a function/process that is the focus of so much dissatisfaction and criticism han...



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Tea Party: Here's one for you.

Posted by Vern Edwards, 10 May 2010 · 931 views

We?ve all heard of performance-based contracting. Well, now I want to talk about consultant-based contracting. While searching for something through Google I came to the website of a prominent, beltway acquisition consulting firm. Curious, I scrolled down their homepage and spotted this:QUOTE We Deliver ResultsFewer ProtestsA large defense agency called o...



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Tips for the Clueless Would-Be Contractor

Posted by Vern Edwards, 03 May 2010 · 1,832 views

A SAD STORY On February 19, the Armed Services Board of Contact Appeals issued its decision in the matter of Bernard Cap Co., Inc. , ASBCA Nos. 56679, 56703, 56705, and 56716, 10-1 BCA ? 34387, in which the board dismissed the contractor?s appeals from the deemed denial of four claims for payment. The contractor had won four indefinite-delivery indefinite...



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Wallowing in the FAR

Posted by Vern Edwards, 16 April 2010 · 1,173 views

Those of you who have read what I have written over the years know that I think Steve Kelman was the best Administrator of Federal Procurement Policy that we have ever had. He had more effect on the acquisition process, mostly positive, than any Administrator before or since. But he recently wrote something in his April 8 column in the online edition of F...



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