Posted February 15, 20232 yr comment_75788 Hello! It has been a long time since I have requested an assist audit through DCMA. I requested one today and this was the response that DCMA relayed to me "Is xyz supplier your subcontractor? If so, DCMA does not conduct business with Subcontractors. Subcontractors are the sole responsibility of the Prime." It was always my understanding that when a Prime was denied audit rights/access to a suppliers rates and factors, that the Prime would submit an assist audit request through their local DCMA office for field pricing/audit support, isn't that the case? Did something change recently? Do prime's no longer have the support from DCMA or DCAA for assist audit support? What is a primes recourse in a situation where a sub refuses to provide the necessary data to perform a cost and price analysis? Was there a DCMA bulletin released stating that they no longer provide assist audit support for Primes when needed? Thanks!
February 15, 20232 yr comment_75789 It is assumed that the subcontractor source selection was justified as a non-competitive transaction and it is below the Truth in Negotiations dollar threshold. You may use any or all of the techniques below (source FAR 15.404-1): (ii) Comparison of the proposed prices to historical prices your company paid in the past for the same or similar item. (A) The prior price must be a valid basis for comparison. If there has been a significant time lapse between the last acquisition and the present one, if the terms and conditions of the acquisition are significantly different, or if the reasonableness of the prior price is uncertain, then the prior price may not be a valid basis for comparison. (B) The prior price must be adjusted to account for materially differing terms and conditions, quantities and market and economic factors (i.e., inflation). For similar items, your company must also adjust the prior price to account for material differences between the similar item and the item being procured. (C) Expert technical advice should be obtained when analyzing similar items, or commercial products or commercial services that are “of a type”, or requiring minor modifications for commercial products, to ascertain the magnitude of changes required and to assist in pricing the required changes (iii) Use of parametric estimating methods/application of rough yardsticks (such as dollars per pound or per horsepower, or other units) to highlight significant inconsistencies that warrant additional pricing inquiry. (v) Comparison of proposed prices with independent cost estimates generated by your company and or a 3rd party company you may hire. You may also engage the services of a government contract experienced audit firm that subcontractor is willing to disclose appropriate information to under a written non-disclosure agreement where the audit firm provides you with an appropriate price analysis disclosing top level information acceptable to the subcontractor. You may wish to consider whether this is so insurmountable that your company buys the subcontractor. You may find it necessary to evaluate whether your company can make the item or provide the service in house. The item or service may need to be re-evaluated to determine whether the work can be included in a higher level sub-assembly or service "design" in such a way that the subcontractor would not be required. The posting would have been enhanced if it included information such as dollar value, whether it was a commercial item or service, dollar value of prime, subcontract and prime contract type, etc.
February 15, 20232 yr Author comment_75790 I guess I want to know whether it is still one of the responsibilities of DCMA to provide assist audit support for a Prime, when their subs exceed the $2 million threshold. Non commercial items. Our ACO flat out told us that "Subcontractors are the sole responsibility of the Prime". It used to be that DCMA would provide assist audit support for subcontractors. I am wondering if that changed.
February 16, 20232 yr comment_75793 19 hours ago, realquiet said: It was always my understanding that when a Prime was denied audit rights/access to a suppliers rates and factors, that the Prime would submit an assist audit request through their local DCMA office for field pricing/audit support, isn't that the case? DCMA does not do audits. That is the function of DCAA. Usually, for DCAA to do an assist audit of a sub's proposal, the assist audit has to be requested by the auditor responsible for auditing the prime's proposal.
February 16, 20232 yr comment_75794 34 minutes ago, Retreadfed said: DCMA does not do audits. That is the function of DCAA. Usually, for DCAA to do an assist audit of a sub's proposal, the assist audit has to be requested by the auditor responsible for auditing the prime's proposal. realquiet, in addition to what Retreadfed says, see also: DCMA field pricing assistance support Links: https://www.dcma.mil/DCMA-Pricing-Support/ https://www.dcma.mil/Portals/31/Documents/HQ/Pricing/Threshold Implementation Announcement Memo.pdf?ver=2020-05-01-115752-330 May 1, 2020 document: https://www.dcma.mil/Portals/31/Documents/HQ/Pricing/Additional Guidance for Contractors.pdf?ver=2020-05-01-115708-300 See also PGI 215.404-2 Data to support proposal analysis: https://www.acquisition.gov/dfarspgi/pgi-215.404-2-data-support-proposal-analysis.
February 16, 20232 yr Author comment_75798 Thank you. So, for our local DCMA office to say "Is xyz supplier your subcontractor? If so, DCMA does not conduct business with Subcontractors. Subcontractors are the sole responsibility of the Prime." That's not necessarily true. If the Primes subcontractor is in excess of $2million and the Prime has been denied access to a subcontractors records, and the CO says it's in the Gov's best interest; field pricing support is provided to a Primes subcontractor. I understand we, as the Prime, are still responsible to determine a fair/reasonable price, etc. But, for DCMA to flat out say "DCMA does not conduct business with Subcontractors"; that just seems incorrect. Thanks!
February 17, 20232 yr comment_75809 19 hours ago, realquiet said: I understand we, as the Prime, are still responsible to determine a fair/reasonable price, etc. But, for DCMA to flat out say "DCMA does not conduct business with Subcontractors"; that just seems incorrect. Thanks! Yes - but did you ask for “field pricing support” or an “audit”? One of the links that I provided is guidance for Contractors.
February 17, 20232 yr comment_75813 21 hours ago, realquiet said: for DCMA to flat out say "DCMA does not conduct business with Subcontractors"; that just seems incorrect. That is a little over broad. However, that statement is based on FAR 42.202(e)(2) and the fact that the government does not have privity of contract with subcontractors. Because of the latter, the government generally cannot assert a CDA claim against a subcontractor.
