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formerfed

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  1. I’m skeptical about this and wonder about an ulterior motive. Ryan Connell left this organization and was very involved and influential.. He left that organization and went to the Digital and Artificial Office in charge of acquisitions. Between what’s he done there and the huge success of Tradewinds, I think someone at DoD wants to rein the CDAO in and have them accountable to DPCAP - that’s the “I” part of the new API directorate. Maybe I’m wrong but it sure looks suspicious.
  2. Yes. Picking up on Don’s point, you often don’t know when open market items are involved or specifically which ones are until you get close to order award. So you comply with FAR 5 after quote evaluation and prior to issuing the orders.
  3. Really nothing new in this thread was introduced from the previous 10 year old thread. There’s no conclusive answer. I assume if a conflict existed, the FAR would recognize it and state what’s proper (of course, that’s assuming the FAR committee is aware of it).
  4. @Vern Edwards This NCMA article provides a lot of background on the tool. The two leads (brief bio at the end) have a good deal of experience. https://ncmahq.org/Web/Shared_Content/CM-Magazine/CM-Magazine-April-2024/A-New-Tool-to-Help-Avoid-Bid-Protest-Pitfalls--The-Contract-Protest-Diagnostic-Tool.aspx
  5. Some interesting data on CPARS ratings. The average score based upon a 1-5 scale with Satisfactory being a 3 for FY22 was 3.52. That dropped from 3.72 in FY15. Less than 2% of contractors received Marginal or Unsatisfactory! https://www.highergov.com/reports/cpars-ratings-trends-2023/
  6. First, not all contracts are in CPARS. Some offices are not diligent in entering the data. Some are exempt. Then some actions are also exempt. Performance information can be gathered through questionnaires, interviews, and other sources including commercial like D&B. https://www.dau.edu/acquipedia-article/past-performance#:~:text=FAR Requirements for Evaluating Past Performance&text=In addition to CPARS%2C contracting,in accordance with FAR 9.404.
  7. This hits right on one of my pet peeves. Past performance has always been intended to consider an offerors performance. It allows wide discretion in evaluating data from a wide range of sources and not just CPARS. But the government in its typical bureaucratic and risk adverse mode, relies upon CPARS chiefly. In some cases, that’s the only source. And CPARS ratings are highly inflated.
  8. Unless the solicitation specifically requires information broken down by base and option years, just state your period of performance as: ”March 21, 2018 through September 21, 2021.” You are in compliance with the solicitation instructions and there’s no need to ask questions. This is the commonly expected and usual way of submitting the information.
  9. I read a number on online opinions. The consensus is much will be sent to the courts, especially when contractors are facing financial penalties and other impacts. One paper highlighted DoL. The author noted that a large part of their regulations are not based on statutory authority but political and senior agency direction and executive orders. The authors see lots of challenges in court y contractors for not only DoL but SBA and EPA. A really interesting situation is around the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). It exists from an amendment to evHomeland Security Act. The wording appears to be purposively vague by Congress. The authors suggested that Congress intentionally avoided specific direction and left implementing and controlling actions to the cyber experts at CISA. Sounds ripe for contractors to challenge in court especially when a company is shut out from doing business. Here’s something CISA just did
  10. Joel and Bob, FEMA provides grants for firefighting equipment. That may be where the funding to purchase came from, either in part or all. https://www.fema.gov/grants/preparedness/firefighters/assistance-grants
  11. I read the book maybe 20 years ago and don’t remember much. I must have borrowed it from someone or a library. Nothing seemed to stand out for me then. But I’m curious and will read it again. i did have some disagreements with a prior government boss. I always liked being responsive to program needs and reacting promptly. On the other hand, he liked to mull things over, gather large groups to discuss, develop plans, and have regular meetings to discuss progress. It turned out, agency senior management liked my approach more. I was often invited to meetings with the agency head and senior staff to discuss acquisitions and he wasn’t. I felt bad and decided to leave the agency for another job.
  12. The answer depends upon the agency with the requirement and the specific nature of the requirement. This should give you insight. Look closely at “Customer Viewing and Funding of Marketplace Solutions” on page 3. https://storage.tradewindai.com/pdfs/Tradewinds-Solutions-Marketplace-Customer-Handbook-v1.2-Aug-2023_2023-08-30-143746_tawp.pdf
  13. My mentor as an intern encouraged me to take two cost accounting courses at the local college. Sound advice and I thanked him 20 years later when he retired. That helped me several times over my career in understanding audit findings and having meaningful conversations with the auditors. Also in many instances, I had the auditors participate via telephone calls in meetings with contractors.
  14. A BPA makes the most sense. If the Army is concerned with price increases, they could always switch vendors. The company I worked for did lots of procurement reviews at different agencies. One shocking thing found is the number of contracts awarded instead of BPAs or POs because “we get more credit with contracts in workload assessments.”
  15. Good article Vern. My initial reaction is why the Army didn’t use the streamlined solicitation process of FAR 12.603? Then I looked at what’s required in terms of posting by that process as well as FAR part 5, and it’s not so streamlined either.
  16. Vern, Two thoughts I had earlier that contribute to the litigious environment but didn’t post. One is many CORs have other duties and don’t devote sufficient time to contract monitoring. When conflicts arise, CORs don’t admit they weren't diligent They are quick to point their finger at the contractor and are defensive. The second is many COs just don’t want to compromise and settle. Some, particularly those with years of experience, want to fight the contractor to show their toughness. Others shun the responsibility of deciding a claim and want to be told or directed by a board or a mediator on settlement. In order to make a change, either FAR coverage or strong policy by OMB needs issued.
  17. Maybe but I think the reasoning on not exercising the option falls outside of FAR 17.207. If GAO denies it, the contractor likely will pursue other avenues which I believe they will prevail in one form or another. Edit: After reading H.16 again along with the Q&As, the only way an offeror/contractor complies is having employees represented by a union. I think the protest, or at least part, will claim a Labor Harmony Agreement unduly restricts competition. If HHS is concerned about labor disruptions, there are other ways to deal with the issue.
  18. Sometimes contracting and technical people are so close to an issue, they don’t see faults and issues. I would ask other technical people for their opinions. But if the contractor interpreted the specification a certain way, it’s logical that the court might see the ambiguity. Going with the lawyers position makes sense.
  19. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/06/28/medicare-hotline-contract-hhs-maximus/
  20. Is this the case you’re referring to? http://www.cofc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/opinions/MILLER.DynacorpInfoSys.pdf
  21. Bringing up price reasonableness again, especially after FLContracts said pricing is fine, and questioning why competition wasn’t received is off topic. Questions like that also frustrate and intimidate people from asking questions here. We’re supposed to answer questions and help. Not bring up a bunch of “got ya’s” So we disagree. You say it’s the professional way to proceed. I say it’s too typical of the 1102 workforce - reacting out of fear of criticism and protests
  22. @Neil Roberts it’s in DOE Acquisition Guide FY2024 Version 5 part 25. I found it on my tablet but it locked up before I could copy the reference.
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