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dsmith101abn

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Everything posted by dsmith101abn

  1. perhaps nothing. 6.305 Availability of the justification. (a) The agency shall make publicly available the justification required by 6.303-1 as required by 10 U. S.C. 2304(l) and 41 U.S.C. 3304(f). Except for the circumstances in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, the justification shall be made publicly available within 14 days after contract award. (b) In the case of a contract award permitted under 6.302-2, the justification shall be posted within 30 days after contract award. (c) In the case of a brand name justification under 6.302-1(c), the justification shall be posted with the solicitation (see 5.102(a)(6)). (d) The justifications shall be made publicly available- (1) At the Government Point of Entry (GPE) https://www.sam.gov. (2) On the website of the agency, which may provide access to the justifications by linking to the GPE; and (3) Must remain posted for a minimum of 30 days.
  2. I appreciate everyone's feedback. Although I probably wont respond to everyone's posts I'll give some morning statements. I'm aware of the COC process. There are several state laws governing blasting such as ORS 480. Again i'm doing an IFB, so i'm limited to evaluating price and price related factors with bids. (not a 2-step). I could, but do not want to, use the source selection process at 15.1. I'm familiar with the FP-14 (was on the team that updated it from the FP-03), and coming soon to a screen near you is the FP-24. I'm still gonna do what i said i'm gonna do, but as what i "think" will be my last question, towards the criticism of using a special standard or responsibility in my circumstance, can you, or will you, provide an example of when one might benefit from using a special standard? presumably that process is in the FAR for a reason, and i'm apparently not understanding why or when it would be appropriate to use. And lastly, I dont like that either. Why the Army works is NCO's can make field decisions based on the best info they have at the time.
  3. I’ve read all of the posts in this thread and most of the cited references. While I’m not going to try and shoot myself in the foot or make anything more difficult for myself, I’m going to try using a definitive or special standard or responsibility and include some requirements in the SCRs along with describing how substitutions might work. Right or wrong beneficial or not I’m doing it. While my current office deals with a fairly large dollar amount of construction work, our contracting office only has 6 other COs, most with under 5 years’ experience, so I appreciate everyone’s thoughts, references and inputs. If anyone cares to know I can post my outcome in the What Happened thread. Not a lot of posts in there so don’t know if that interests anyone.
  4. Could i require this if i didn't evaluate a proposal IAW 15.3 but a bid IAW 14 using a special standard of responsibility?
  5. Thanks Don. I found a 3rd edition laying around my office and found the section starting on page 422. I'll read that while i'm thinking about this, and thank you too JJ for the discussion.
  6. Right! let me think this through a little further and we'll see where I end up. I may be creating a potential problem out of nothing.
  7. I’ve not seen Sureties do a whole lot when we’ve run into issues. They’ll argue to days end to not pay for completion contracts, but my experience is a very small sample.
  8. I understand there is a difference between sealed bidding and LPTA. What I meant was how is the special responsibility standard, as drafted into a solicitation, different then an LPTA evaluation factor. Said another way if I were to solicit LPTA I would have what I’m calling a special standard of responsibility styled as an evaluation factor with no special responsibility standard. I’ve seen things in negotiated procurements where the proposed personnel are required to be the actual people used during performance. Is that something that can be required? I don’t know but I’m leaning towards no. Again this is all new to me and i'm going off 4 or 5 sentences of information that i was able to find.
  9. Thanks JJ for that link. That did answer a few questions that I had such as discretion in allowing contractors to rely on subs to meet special standards. My situation is we’re constructing a tunnel on state owned land. There is a spec requiring the contractor to submit a blaster in charge certified in the state of XX and have 5 years blasting experience at least 30 days before they start blasting. What we don’t want to happen is we get to the point in the schedule where blasting should start and the contractor fails to find and furnish a blaster meeting these requirements. So I wanted to solicit using sealed bidding with a special standard of responsibility to require the blaster in charge be certified and have 5 years’ experience now instead of waiting until 30 days before blasting starts. I’d have to wordsmith it but I was going to say something like: To be determined responsible, the Offeror must meet the general standards of responsibility IAW with FAR 9.104-1 and the following special standards of responsibility. 1. Blaster in charge licensed in the state of the tunnel construction. 2. Blaster in charge has 5 years of blasting experience. The apparent low bidder must submit documentation showing they can meet, or retain a subcontractor that can meet, the above special standards. I can’t figure out how that’s different then an LPTA evaluation factor. Are there any kind of limits on what we can use for special responsibility standards so long as they are a go no/go?
  10. Is there any decent read that explains special standards of responsibility? I found an old Wifcon forum, but outside the four sentences in the FAR and one sentence at DAU Acquipedia I could not find anything that expands on the framework. I have no experience using special standards of responsibility and was looking for something to read. My agency does budget money for literature and things of this nature if there’s something not out there publicly available. There's a tunnel project I am working on and I want to explore an idea I have but don't feel I know enough about the topic at this time.
  11. In the context of my post I mean experienced. I dont know many people who could graduate college and start at a GS12. I suppose one could have very limited experience and make that grade. The thought in my office is pick no hire over a mediocre hire. I think my office should have some developmental path to start as a newbie but we don't operate that way.
  12. My experience has been mostly already shared by others. Where i'm at now is my first small office and a little different experience for me. With the exception of our procurement techs who do simplified work, everyone is a GS12/13 and all of us have warrants. When hired you start with a $4 million warrant for the first year. During year two it usually goes up if you have performed well, stays the same if you have performed mediocrely, and if you perform poorly you get assigned to entering CPARS, processing closeouts and similar clerical tasks.
  13. Ever been to a mosque? The females sit in the back so the men can pay attention and be not distracted by what's in front of them. Happy Friday everyone! Signing off to enjoy my weekend.
  14. I complain a lot too. I can run circles around my boss and my bosses boss regarding regulations, but they (bosses) are very good at implementing approaches relating to the frame work of the FAR, which i am not. Doesn't change start at the top? Perhaps Fara Fast isn't at the top?
  15. If i don't copy and paste to a certain degree what's been done historically i can't get Sh** thru my current lawyer, tho that has not always been the case. My favorite comment "B-xxxxxx is included in the template so it must be important". No explanation why.
  16. O, but i once worked for an agency that discouraged taking advantage of a Ktrs discounts because the agency financial software would make you do a "modification" and it was more painful to do the "adjustment" than to pay the 1%. I don't know if you work for such an agency but bottom line is yes you can accept a discount whether there is a clause or not that says you can or can't accept.
  17. Yes you can accept a discount. It’s almost always beneficial to accept price/payment terms that are more favorable to the government if they come to light after a proposal or signed contract. Invoices for things that say 2/10 n 30 (pronounced two ten net thirty) is supposed to incentive a business (or government) to pay earlier than a due date. It’s generally in your best interest to pay earlier to get the discount, but if cash flow is a problem it may not be.
  18. I think that's it's own thread. Think of Amtrak, deficits or trillion $ debt. Boeing is pretty creative with their accounting but no business could survive a Government model. I'm off topic and dipping out before a scolding endures. Be @ canyon beach. Happy Tuesday!
  19. If you're asking for yes or no, then my opinion would be yes for both. With the exception of miniscule areas that you could argue over until blue in the face that in reality have little impact moving agency missions forward, complicated yes if you've never had exposure. I think sometimes people forget how hard it can be in the beginning. Complex, yes. Consider most agencies follow the FAR, agency supplements (2 different ones for the VA until a year or two ago), Supplements called Agency name Acquisition Manual, various acquisition policy memorandums (usually more than one type such as acquisition procedural manual, policy dashes, information letters, etc.), GAO decisions, other agency regulations such as the SBAs 13 CFR, DOT programs at 23 USC, VA at 38 USC, and many more that you have to put all together to ensure you legally follow all the rules depending on where you work. Does Bonneville Power Administration, Tennessee Valley Authority, the FAA, Architect of the Capital or any other agency that doesn't follow the FAR have the types of issues you think reform might solve or why reforms have failed? I apologize if you were only wanting a yes or no answer as I gave you a word dump.
  20. I suppose the part i'm confused about is if the procurement was protested to the SBA and GAO based on challenging the business size of the contractor who got the award, and the SBA denied that challenge, and assuming GAO will tell you they don't have jurisdiction over deciding on small business challenges, then what corrective action is the agency taking and why?
  21. Admittedly I don’t fully understand every aspect of your situation. It seems you were all sketched out the Government was doing something improper when you received a T4C notice a year ago, but actually they may have just been correcting an error made in their initial evaluation. I don’t feel I have the whole story, or I don’t understand why the agency did what they did. You said there was a protest to the SBA last year. Those protests don’t take a year, they generally take less than a month. I suppose an appeal could take longer but not a year from my experience. You would normally stay the award given a protest, so I understand your stop work order. If the contractor protests a size standard issue to the GAO, normally, GAO will just tell you they don’t have jurisdiction to decide on the matter. Of course I haven’t seen the protest. There’s generally nothing wrong awarding bridge contracts. would you expect an agency to go without a service or thing they need just because someone whines about it? Sure DOD gave up on Jedi, Homeland security and lots of other agencies have gave up, but I assume we’re not talking about a multibillion dollar effort here. Give the CO the benefit of the doubt that they are working the procurement in a good faith effort and will let you know what you need to know when you need to know it. That’s my red eyed, tired, Monday morning proceeded by preseason football weekend unsupported amateur thought.
  22. Did you look at FAR Part 19? To my knowledge the answer to you question is not in the FAR. Sometimes you need to look at other regulations to find acquisition answers. Do you know the regulations of the SBAs world? Have you looked at Title 13 of the CFR? How about 13 CFR § 121.404? Could be yes could be no.
  23. Maybe not a PMP but I could think of a few reasons; however, since you're asking I'm assuming you are requiring certain certifications and nobody knows why. Did you ask whoever wanted it in the solicitation, or the CO if you're industry?
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