CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION
CONTRACTING OFFICER (CO)
The DOJ's ITSS-3 Contracting Officer has the overall responsibility
for the administration of all twelve (12) ITSS-3 contracts. Only he/she
can
amend, modify or deviate from contract terms, conditions, and
requirements.
As necessary, the CO works with the COTR, contractors, and customer
organizations to ensure that contractors' performance conforms to the
terms and conditions as specified in the contract and all task orders
issued under the contract.
The CO maintains a separate contract file for every ITSS-3 contract.
The file contains the basic contract, all contract modifications, and
all contract related documentation.
The CO also maintains a file for every task order issued under every
ITSS-3 contract. The task order file contains a copy of the Statement
of
Work (SOW), technical and cost proposals submitted by contractors,
evaluation results of technical and cost proposals, a copy of the task
order issued to the contractor, all task order modifications, monthly
progress reports, all task order related documentation, and customer's
evaluation of contractor's past performance on the task order at its
completion.
CONTRACTING OFFICER'S TECHNICAL REPRESENTATIVE
(COTR)
The ITSS-3 COTR acts as a liaison between customer organizations,
contractors, and the
Contracting Officer, and coordinates the technical aspects of the ITSS
contracts.
As necessary, the COTR works with the CO, contractors, and customer
organizations to ensure that the contractors' performance conforms to
the terms and conditions as specified in the contract and all task
orders issued under the contract.
The COTR maintains a contract file for each of the ITSS-3 contracts.
The COTR also maintains a file for every task order issued under
every ITSS-3 contract in a manner similar to that used by the C.O.,
except that the COTR's file also contains information related to
monthly invoice payments and subsequent financial reimbursements from
customer organizations. The COTR's file may also contain information
related to contractor's technical performance activities.
The COTR works very closely with customer organizations and
contractors to make sure that the customers are satisfied with
contractor's performance on each task and that there are no outstanding
technical or contractual issues that need to be resolved.
The COTR maintains a database that contains information on the
status of each task order, the contractor's expenditures, invoice
payments, reimbursements billed to the customer organization, and the
contractor's past performance.
GOVERNMENT TASK MANAGER (GTM)
The Government Task Manager serves as a focal point for all
activities on a task order that he/she manages. He/she prepares the
statement of work, coordinates an evaluation of the technical
proposals, obtains funding for the project, arranges for the completion
of the reimbursement agreement initiated by the Contracts Management
Service (CMS), ensures that all contractor personnel have proper
security clearances before they start working on the project, provides
technical guidance to the contractor, reviews contractor's performance
and accepts deliverables to ensure that all requirements set forth in
the contract as well as the task order have been met, and evaluates
contractor's past performance.
The GTM ensures that the contractor's project management is
effective, quality of work meets or exceeds the Government's
requirements, scheduled deadlines are met, work is completed within the
authorized budget, and the contractor has an acceptable business
relationship with the Government.
The GTM is responsible for reviewing and accepting contractor's
monthly progress reports that documents accomplishments and
expenditures
during the month and plans for the next month's work. The GTM's
acceptance of a monthly progress report is his/her certification that
the contractor did accomplish the work as reported, and that labor
hours
and dollar expenditures are accurate as reported.
At the completion of the task, the GTM conducts an evaluation of the
contractor's past performance and submits it to the COTR.
CONTRACTORS
Contractors receive a Work Plan Request (WPR) from the COTR, and
review government's requirements as oulined in the Statement Of Work
(SOW) which is part of the WPR package. A work plan consists of a
technical proposal and a cost proposal.
Even though it is not mandatory, contractors are encouraged to
attend a pre-proposal conference that provides an opportunity for
contractors to ask questions and seek any clarification of the
Government's requirement.
In response to the WPR, contractors submit one copy of the technical
proposal to the CO and three copies of the technical proposal to the
COTR, and one copy of the cost proposal to the CO. If a contractor is
unable to bid on a particular task, a written notice must be provided
by the contractor to the CO and a copy to the COTR stating reasons for
not being able to bid on the task.
If some technical deficiencies are identified by the Government in a
contractor's initial proposal, the contractor will be afforded an
opportunity to respond to the Government's request to submit a best and
final proposal.
When the CO issues a formal task order authorizing a contractor to
start working on the task, the contractor performs work as described in
the SOW of the awarded task order. Contractor performance must conform
to all terms and conditions of the contract as well as the task order.
On all task orders, contractors must ensure that their personnel do
not perform any work which is outside the scope of the SOW, outside the
period of performance, and above the authorized budget as stated in the
task order.
Contractors submit monthly progress reports and invoices in a timely
manner.
At Government's request, contractors may provide comments on the
customer's evaluation of a completed task.
OTHER INFORMATION
The contractor must comply with security requirements stipulated
in the statement of work for each task order. Customer agencies are
responsible for obtaining security clearances, if necessary and as
required, for contractor personnel designated to work on their task
orders. Customers are also responsible for costs associated with
obtaining such security clearances.
The ITSS-3 contracts have no provision for reimbursing
contractor
personnel for hours worked on an overtime basis. Contractors are
required to provide adequate staff to complete projects on time. If it
is necessary for contractors to require their employees to work
overtime to meet project deadlines, even in that instance the
contractors cannot invoice the Government nor will the Government pay
them for a rate higher than that negotitated in the contract.
Contractors are reimbursed for the costs of transportation,
lodging, meals and incidental expenses of personnel who are authorized
by fully executed task orders to undertake travel (local, out-of-town
and/or overnight) under these contracts. Such costs are
reimbursed to the extent that they are reasonable and allowable as
provided in applicable FAR clauses, and are within the ODC funding
level approved in the task order.
Contractors are required to submit monthly progress reports to
the
Government for every active task order, describing the progress
achieved during the past month, plans for the forthcoming month, any
anticipated problems, and any action required by the Government. For
Time and Material task orders, these reports include monthly and
cumulative labor hours, associated labor rates, and extended dollar
expenditures. For Firm Fixed Price task orders, contractors do not
report labor hours and associated rates, but instead submit invoices
when the corresponding deliverables have been accepted by the
Government. But they still must submit monthly progress reports to
describe accomplishments as mentioned above.
Contractors are required to submit the monthly progress reports
on the fifth business day of the following month, allowing customer
agencies to review contractors' performance in a timely manner without
delaying prompt payment of invoices. An approval of a monthly progress
report by the customer agency is considered an acceptance of the
contractor's performance, including expenditures, for the month.
FAR 42.1502 requires Federal agencies to develop a
cost-effective way
to record and distribute contractor performance information. In
evaluating past performance, factors employed include quality of
product or service, timeliness of performance, cost control, business
practices, customer agency satisfaction, and key personnel performance.
Pursuant to FAR 42.1503(b), the evaluations must be shared with
the contractor, and the contractor must be permitted to provide written
comments where the contractor disagrees with the rating.
CMS has implemented an automated system to record contractors'
past performance on all completed task orders.