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Laptops issued to a contractor


Dave T

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2 hours ago, joel hoffman said:

I wasn’t able to determine when the “incidental to the place of performance” language was written.

The language "incidental to the place of performance" was added to FAR 45.000 by FAC 2005-56, 77 FR 12937, March 2, 2012, effective April 2, 2012. The change was accompanied by the following comment and response:

Quote

 

Comments: The same respondent recommended a number of other revisions to the Government responsibilities, also primarily in FAR subpart 45.6, Reporting, Reutilization, and Disposal. The respondent proposed to revise FAR 45.600, Scope of subpart (which was not included in the proposed rule) to allow for either the contracting officer or the plant clearance officer to perform plant clearance officer duties. The respondent recommended removing the proposed rule's requirement, at FAR 45.603(b), for the plant clearance officer to obtain approval at one level higher than the contracting officer before allowing the abandonment of sensitive property that does not require demilitarization. The respondent requested the addition of more examples of items considered to be incidental to the place of performance (see FAR 45.000).

Response: The above recommendations are not incorporated into the final rule because (1) contracting officers generally rely on the Government property expertise of plant clearance officers, (2) additional review and approval requirements can provide a broader perspective, and (3) too often, lists of examples are treated inappropriately as exhaustive lists.

 

 

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8 hours ago, joel hoffman said:

The government doesn’t need to make contractor employees accountable or liable.  They should make the contractor accountable for issued laptop computers.

45.104 Responsibility and liability for Government property.

      (a) Generally, contractors are not held liable for loss of Government property under the following types of contracts:

           (1) Cost-reimbursement contracts.

           (2) Time-and-material contracts.

           (3) Labor-hour contracts.

           (4) Fixed-price contracts awarded on the basis of submission of certified cost or pricing data.

      (b) The contracting officer may revoke the Government’s assumption of risk when the property administrator determines that the contractor’s property management practices are noncompliant with contract requirements.

      (c) A prime contractor that provides Government property to a subcontractor shall not be relieved of any responsibility to the Government that the prime contractor may have under the terms of the prime contract.

      (d) With respect to loss of Government property, the contracting officer, in consultation with the property administrator, shall determine-

           (1) The extent, if any, of contractor liability based upon the amount of damages corresponding to the associated property loss; and

           (2) The appropriate form and method of Government recovery (may include repair, replacement, or other restitution).

      (e) Any monies received as financial restitution shall be credited to the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts, unless otherwise authorized by statute ( 31 U.S.C. 3302(b)).

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@Dave T  If I were you advising another COR, I would just tell the other person to raise the issue with their CO/KO.  The CO can then coordinate with a knowledgable property person.

Any answer here is meaningless if the CO and property person doesn’t agree.  Plus it’s really impossible to decipher unless we know how the laptops are used in contract performance.  Who knows, maybe the current contract arrangement with the other COR is fine.

Laptops, other than those used in sensitive situations, are dirt cheap.  In some situations, they don’t cost more than a high end smart phone.  I would just send the question to the CO and quit worrying.

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In my recent experience (with DoD) laptops have pretty much replaced all desktop computers. Rarely do you see any employees, either government or contractor, with a desktop computer.  Yes, laptops are mobile, but not everyone with a laptop takes it out of the Government facility.  During my previous 2 assignments laptops were always considered ""incidental to the place of performance", even if the contractor employees were occasionally taking them out of the Government facility to work.  The way accountability was maintained is there was a Government employee assigned responsibility for the laptops. That Government employee would then "hand receipt" the laptops to the contractor employee. We did have one instance where a contractor employee lost a laptop (stolen from her car).  I know it became a sticky issue as the contractor said they were not responsible for any Government property in accordance with the terms of the contract.  I wasn't directly involved, so don't know how the issue was resolved.

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