Summary
In fiscal year 2007, federal agencies worked with over 160,000 contractors, obligating over $456 billion, to help accomplish federal missions. This reliance on contractors makes it critical that agencies have the information necessary to properly evaluate a contractor's prior history of performance and better inform agencies' contract award decisions. While actions have been taken to improve the sharing of past performance information and its use--including the development of the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS)--concerns remain about this information. This report assesses agencies' use of past performance information in awarding contracts; identifies challenges that hinder systematic sharing of past performance information; and describes efforts to improve contractor performance information. In conducting this work, GAO analyzed 62 contract solicitations from fiscal years 2007 and 2008 and met with 121 contracting officials. While the solicitations represent a range of contracts and contractors, GAO's findings cannot be generalized to all federal contracts.
Agencies considered past performance information in evaluating contractors for each of the 62 solicitations GAO reviewed. Generally, factors other than past performance, such as technical approach or cost, were the primary factors for contract award decisions. A majority of officials told us their reluctance to rely more on past performance was due, in part, to their skepticism about the reliability of the information and difficulty assessing relevance to specific acquisitions. Contracting officials agreed that for past performance information to be useful for sharing, it must be documented, relevant, and reliable. However, GAO's review of PPIRS data for fiscal years 2006 and 2007 indicates that only a small percentage of contracts had a documented performance assessment; in particular, we found little contractor performance information for orders against the General Services Administration's (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule. Other performance information that could be useful in award decisions, such as contract terminations for default and subcontract management, was not systematically captured across agencies. Some officials noted that a lack of accountability and lack of system tools and metrics made it difficult for managers to ensure timely performance reports. Variations in evaluation and rating factors have also limited the usefulness of past performance information. Finally, a lack of central oversight and management of PPIRS data has hindered efforts to address these and other shortcomings. Several efforts have been initiated to improve PPIRS, but little progress has been made. In 2005, an interagency work group established several broad goals for improving past performance information, including standardizing performance ratings used by various agencies. However, these goals have yet to be met, and no funding has been dedicated for this purpose. In April 2008, changes to federal regulations were proposed that would clarify past performance documentation requirements and require the use of PPIRS. However, as of February 2009, the proposed changes had not been finalized.
Recommendations
Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director:
Team:
Phone:
Anne Marie F. Lasowski
Government Accountability Office: Acquisition and Sourcing Management
(202) 512-4146
Recommendations for Executive Action
Recommendation: To facilitate governmentwide sharing and use of past performance information, the Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), in conjunction with agency chief acquisition officers should standardize evaluation factors and rating scales governmentwide for documenting contractor performance.
Agency Affected: Executive Office of the President: Office of Management and Budget: Office of Federal Procurement Policy
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To facilitate governmentwide sharing and use of past performance information, the Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), in conjunction with agency chief acquisition officers should establish policy for documenting performance-related information that is currently not captured systematically across agencies, such as contract terminations for default and a prime contractor's management of its subcontractors.
Agency Affected: Executive Office of the President: Office of Management and Budget: Office of Federal Procurement Policy
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To facilitate governmentwide sharing and use of past performance information, the Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), in conjunction with agency chief acquisition officers should specify that agencies are to establish procedures and management controls, to include accountability, for documenting past performance in PPIRS.
Agency Affected: Executive Office of the President: Office of Management and Budget: Office of Federal Procurement Policy
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To facilitate governmentwide sharing and use of past performance information, the Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), in conjunction with agency chief acquisition officers should define governmentwide roles and responsibilities for managing and overseeing PPIRS data.
Agency Affected: Executive Office of the President: Office of Management and Budget: Office of Federal Procurement Policy
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To facilitate governmentwide sharing and use of past performance information, the Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), in conjunction with agency chief acquisition officers should develop system tools and metrics for agencies to use in monitoring and managing the documenting of contractor performance, such as contracts requiring an evaluation and information on delinquent reports.
Agency Affected: Executive Office of the President: Office of Management and Budget: Office of Federal Procurement Policy
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To facilitate governmentwide sharing and use of past performance information, the Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), in conjunction with agency chief acquisition officers should take appropriate action to finalize proposed changes to the Federal Aquisition Regulations that clarify responsibilities and performance documentation requirements for contract actions that involve orders placed against GSA's Multiple Award Schedule.
Agency Affected: Executive Office of the President: Office of Management and Budget: Office of Federal Procurement Policy
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To improve management and accountability for timely documenting of contractor past performance information at the agency level, the departments of Defense, Energy, Homeland Security, and NASA should establish management controls and appropriate management review of past performance evaluations as required and in line with any OFPP policy changes.
Agency Affected: Department of Homeland Security
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Agency Affected: Department of Defense
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Agency Affected: Department of Energy
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Agency Affected: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
