The FAR Finance Team sent us this response concerning a revision being made to FAR 11.002. 

FAR Finance Team’s Response:   The FAR should not instruct requiring activities (requiring activities must prepare...) but rather the contracting officer. Therefore, the text was changed to instruct the contracting officer rather than the requiring activity (the contracting officer shall obtain from the requiring activity...). 

I thought the FAR applied to all members of the Federal Government but at least to the members of the Acquisition team.  FAR 1.102-4(e) states:  (e) The FAR outlines procurement policies and procedures that are used by members of the Acquisition Team...........

So how can they say the FAR should not instruct the requirments office on thier responsibility to prepare the requirements document. 

I just thought I would see what the WIFCON community thought about this.  Maybe I am off base in my thinking.  

 

Maybe they need to be reminded of what the "F" and the "A" in "FAR" stand for?

I suggest you tell them that they are free to ignore the FAR, but good luck getting their acquisition through the procurement shop.   It's like building  a train car and saying the gauge is the track guy's problem.

1.102-4(e) seems pretty clear on the specifics. Good luck.

I don't know why the FAR should not instruct requiring activities...it instructs agencies, HCAs, SPEs, etc. in addition to contracting officers.  Someone on that team needs a reminder that the FAR is not merely Contracting's regulation, but the entire Acquisition Team's.  In addition to FAR 1.102-4( e ), see FAR 1.102( c ) which defines the Acquisition Team:

Quote

The Acquisition Team consists of all participants in Government acquisition including not only representatives of the technical, supply, and procurement communities but also the customers they serve, and the contractors who provide the products and services.

That aside, I don't think this is a substantive change - if the contracting officer "shall obtain" something, that means some entity will still need to prepare and provide that something...

I agree with the prior comments.

Other examples of the FAR instructing individuals other than COs include:

- Requirements of "planners" regarding acquisition plans (Subpart 7.1).

- Technical and requirements personnel being responsible for providing and certifying as accurate and complete data supporting their recommendation for other than full and open competition (FAR 6.303-1)

- Advocates for Competition (Subpart 6.5)

- Procurement integrity requirements (Subpart 3.1)

- The evaluation team and source selection authority (Subpart 15.3)

5 hours ago, Boof said:

I thought the FAR applied to all members of the Federal Government but at least to the members of the Acquisition team.  FAR 1.102-4(e) states:  (e) The FAR outlines procurement policies and procedures that are used by members of the Acquisition Team...........

See FAR 1.108(f):

Quote

(f) Imperative sentences. When an imperative sentence directs action, the contracting officer is responsible for the action, unless another party is expressly cited.

Emphasis added.

So much for the FAR Finance Team, whoever they are.

I was wondering that myself.  What/Who is the "FAR Finance Team"

26 minutes ago, Desparado said:

I was wondering that myself.  What/Who is the "FAR Finance Team"

There are different teams on the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council, one of which is the acquisition finance team.  The link to the list of teams in broken in the link I provided, so I cannot tell specifically what they are responsible for.  They are tasked with different activities in a recent list of open FAR cases.  I did find GSA points of contact list for the different teams, including the acquisition finance team.  The current FAR cases they are tasked with drafting proposed rules for include issues related to sureties, taxes, incremental funding on fixed price contracts, and performance-based payments.

Members of the FAR Acquisition Teams are Government employees from DOD & Civilian Departments and Agencies.  The FAR Acquisition Finance Team works cases assigned to the Team by the FAR Principals for FAR Parts 15.4, 28, 29, 30-32.  Additional information may be found in the FAR Operating Guide at the following web link:

http://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/dars/docs/FAR_Operating_Guide_July_2015.pdf

 

 

FAR 1.102(c) does state that contractors are members of the Acquisition Team. I am not sure how or when that occurs in general. However, the law department  for many Contractors, in my experience, would not agree that Contractors are obligated by any FAR regulation that specifies requirements solely for Agencies or Contracting Officers.   

Edited September 29, 20178 yr by Neil Roberts
fat finger post before finished

They would not agree, and they should not.

The FAR is not binding on contractors, except as imposed by the express terms of contracts. See the attached.THE FAR: Does It Have Contractual Force And Effect?.pdf

Hi, Vern. I only chimed in with a post because it seemed that some of the other posts may have been leaning in the direction that all contractors are at all times members of the Acquisition Team due to FAR 1.102 (c) , and that therefore everything in FAR is binding on them as a result. Surprisingly, I have met many contractor supplier management employees and managers that actually believe every FAR regulation is applicable to Contractors. They had "good intentions" and beliefs that if FAR guides Agencies and Contracting Officers, Contractors are to be guided by the same. Thanks for your clarification.         

On ‎9‎/‎29‎/‎2017 at 6:51 PM, Vern Edwards said:

They would not agree, and they should not.

The FAR is not binding on contractors, except as imposed by the express terms of contracts. See the attached.THE FAR: Does It Have Contractual Force And Effect?.pdf

Vern (or anyone for that matter),  any idea why I get the following message clicking on that link: "The page you are trying to access is not available for your account."

I just tried and it worked.

Sometimes, you need the current version of acrobat reader to make it work.  That could be it.

I'm having the same issue as edwardscpfd.  Also gives the error code 2C171/1. 

I will have to check the permissions I gave you.

All members should now be able to download attachments.  Please try it.

2C171/1 is a permissions error code. Did you click the link for the download > didn't work > then signed in to post that it didn't work? If yes i'd guess the issue is it's only available to members given Bob has made sure all members could download the attachment.  

 

If what i said was correct, log in and then try to click the link. 

It is only available to Members who are logged in.

It now works for me.  I was logged in as a member before and after.  Whatever was changed worked.