U.S. Geological Survey - 404.12 - Contractor Performance Evaluations

U.S. Geological Survey Manual

404.12 - Contractor Performance Evaluations

09/20/08

OPR: Office of Acquisition and Grants

Instruction: This chapter replaces chapter 404.12, dated 02/20/96, and deletes Figure 1.

This chapter prescribes procedures for compliance with the contractor performance evaluation requirements of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and use of past performance in source selection decisions.

This procedure is required by FAR Subpart 42.15 and Department of the Interior Acquisition Policy Release (DIAPR) 2003‑01 dated December 20, 2002.

A. Agency Reviewer is the official responsible for resolution of disagreements between the Government and the contractor. This reviewer must be a level above the Contracting Officer.

B. Contracting Officer (CO) means an employee in the contracting office warranted under the procedures of SM 205.4. In this chapter, the term CO or cognizant CO refers specifically to the CO assigned responsibility for administration of the particular contract or order.

C. Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) refers to the person formally designated under the procedures of SM 404.11 to perform technical monitoring on a particular contract. Within DOI, the terms COR and Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) are synonymous and are used interchangeably. For simplicity, the term as used in this chapter also includes the technical liaison or inspector for contracts/orders with no formally designated COR.

D. Contractor Performance System (CPS) is operated by the National Institutes of Health. This system is used by a number of Federal agencies, including Interior, to capture past performance data. This system has been approved for all contract types and commodities, including construction and architect/engineer services.

E. Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) is the Government-wide past performance database, fed from CPS and other agency systems.

(i) Architect/Engineer Services -- $30,000 (or any amount in the case of a default termination).

(ii) Construction -- $550,000 (or any amount in the case of a default termination).

(b) Interim evaluations will be done at least annually for covered contracts with a total duration exceeding 1 year. Evaluation periods normally should coincide with the contract performance periods (e.g., option years). The CO may use other performance intervals or milestones to define interim evaluation periods, provided they result in at least one report each year. Evaluation reports will be completed within 30 days after the end of each performance/evaluation period.

(c) Final evaluations will be prepared within 30 days after physical completion or termination of a covered contract. In the case of a default termination, the CO's termination decision will serve in place of a separate evaluation report. In the event the default is converted to a termination for convenience or a no-cost termination, a final evaluation report will be prepared.

(d) For contracts with incentive or award fee provisions, evaluations used in determining award fee or incentive payments may be used to satisfy past performance evaluation requirements (FAR 42.1503(b)).

(2) Evaluations will be initiated by the cognizant CO using the Contractor Performance System (CPS). The COR will complete the next section of the evaluation screen when notified by system. When the contract involves goods or services used by a number of employees, the COR is responsible for obtaining input from a representative sample of end users of the items/services provided under the contract and for including their opinions in the evaluation. COs may elect to enter the evaluation after consultation with the COR, but should keep a record of the consultation in the file.

(3) The CPS system automatically provides the contractor an opportunity to review the evaluation reports and respond to comments as required by FAR 42.1503(b). The contractor may elect to provide comments through CPS or by paper. After consideration of the contractor's response, a final evaluation score will be assigned by the CO or, in the event of disagreement between the Government and contractor, the issue is forwarded to the "Agency Reviewer" to make the final decision. When contractor comments are provided outside the system, the CO will enter the contractor's comments on his behalf.

(4) After the evaluation is finalized, the CO will print a copy for the contract file, including the contractor's comments. If the CO elects to conduct the entire evaluation process by paper, the results must be entered into CPS by the CO or a designee and the paper documentation retained in the file with the CPS printout.

(1) Evaluation reports are retrieved by authorized Federal contracting officials from the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS). Evaluation reports obtained from PPIRS are considered "source selection information" as described in FAR 3.104-4. Evaluation reports will not be provided to any non-Federal party other than the contractor (FAR 42.1503(b)).

(2) Past performance evaluations are used prior to award of new contracts in determining a prospective contractor's responsibility and in evaluating competing contractors for award of negotiated contracts and orders. Whenever past performance is used as an evaluation factor, the CO is required to obtain and use the past performance data from PPIRS and include language in the solicitation notifying potential offerors that PPIRS data will be used. COs using performance evaluation reports in making source selection decisions are advised to contact the cognizant CO and/or COR for more complete details, particularly when the report contains negative comments. See also FAR 15.305(a)(2).

__________/s/ Karen D. Baker ______ __9/20/08__
Karen D. Baker Date
Associate Director for Administrative Policy and Services