| What is the Center of Excellence in Service Contracting? |
| The Center of Excellence in Service Contracting is
a web-based "clearing house" to assist the acquisition community in contracting
for services in the public and private sectors. Creation of the Center
originated in the National Defense Authorization Act for 2001. The Army
has directed that each MACOM establish at least one center to identify and
disseminate best practices. This is ECC-E's Center. It is comprised of two
sections: Service Contracting and Performance-Based Services Acquisition. |
| SERVICE CONTRACTING |
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Links to templates and samples for Statements of Work, Bid Schedules, Quality
Assurance Surveillance Plans, etc. (Good starting points for PBSA) |
| PERFORMANCE-BASED SERVICES ACQUISITION (PBSA) |
| It's everywhere! It's everywhere!! |
| It's not a name for a type of test to which answers must be
provided in short literary composition. (get it? SA=essay) |
| It's not a disease. |
| It is a DoD acronym to which the Army has developed a sincere
liking. |
| It won't go away. |
| What is PBSA? |
| Do I have
to use PBSA? |
| I have a PBSA procurement, what next? |
| Is it Contracting's responsibility or the Requiring Activity's responsibility to prepare the PWS in accordance with PBSA? |
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Definitions
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PWS
Measurable Performance Standards?
Remedies?
Performance Assessment Plan?
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How will I know if my PWS is successfully written to be performance based?
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Are there any best practices and lessons learned from others
who have already completed PBSA packages?
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Links to guidebooks
and samples.
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Please send Comments, Questions, or
Recommendations about this Center Of Excellence to:
ECC-E Policy Division
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What is PBSA?
PBSA stands for performance-based services acquisition. It has
three key elements. It is an acquisition of services that are
based on performance.
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You could essentially get your car waxed next time using PBSA.
Instead of instructing "wax on, wax off" with accompanying hand motions as done
in the movieKarate Kid, you could request that your car be waxed to
present a uniform glossy appearance and reflect 1 inch letters placed 5 inches
from it, and the completed shine shall be free of wax build up and smudges.
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Do I have to use PBSA?
The answer is "yes" only if you're buying services that are NOT:
Research &
Development
Architect -
Engineer
environmental remediation and
restoration
emergency services
acquisitions, and
procurements conducted pursuant
to OMB Circular A - 76
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Is it Contracting's responsibility or the Requiring Activity's responsibility to
prepare the PWS in accordance with PBSA?
It should be a teaming effort between Contracting and the RA.
Contracting is not solely responsible for meeting the PBSA challenge, nor can
Contracting meet the challenge alone. It is to Contracting's and the RA's
benefit to work together closely on development of the procurement package. The
RA should be the lead on technical issues and Contracting the lead on the PBSA
flavoring of the PWS. The PWS, the standards, the remedies, and the performance
assessment plan are so closely integrated that changing information in one will
more than likely have an impact on at least one of the others.
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Definitions
The Performance Work Statement (PWS) is a document that
describes the requirement in terms of measurable outcomes versus the method by
which services should be performed. A PWS tells the contractor what needs to be
done to what standard as opposed to how to do it. You may find that what's
otherwise known as a Statement of Work (SOW) is now called a PWS. Be assured
that if "PWS" is used, you're talking performance based contracting.
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Measurable performance standards are statements written in
such a way to define an acceptable level of performance. They will determine
whether performance outcomes have been met.
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Remedies are written procedures that address how to manage
performance that does not meet performance standards. Incentives may also be
included to encourage performance that will exceed performance standards.
Remedies and incentives complement each other. Incentives are not mandatory.
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The Performance assessment plan is a written document that
describes how the contractor's performance will be measured and assessed against
performance standards. Performance assessment plans are commonly known as a
Quality Assurance Plan or Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan.
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How will I know if my PWS is successfully written to be performance based?
If the following questions about your PWS elicit the answer that
follows each question, your PWS is performed based:
Does the PWS tell the contractor HOW to do something? No.
Does the PWS tell the contractor WHAT RESOURCES it must use to
perform the services? No.
Does the PWS allow the contractor the flexibility to determine
how it will perform the services? Yes.
Does the PWS identify measurable performance standards? Yes.
Does the PWS have an accompanying section/document to address how
performance will be managed if it does not meet performance standards? Yes.
Does the PWS have an accompanying Performance Assessment Plan
that definitively describes how the contractor's performance will be measured
and assessed against performance standards? Yes.
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Are
there any best practices and lessons learned from others who have already
completed PBSA packages?
Yes. These lessons learned originated from contracting offices
within USACCE. (If you have a lesson learned that
you'd like to share, please submit it to:
ECC-E Policy Division
Teaming with the requiring activity is the most effective way to
write a PWS. Organizing a team to assist in development of acquisitions has
proven beneficial for requiring activities. and eventually for Contracting. To
successfully implement PBSA, Contracting has to act as cross-pollinators amongst
the other functional elements.
Synergy can be created by information released and discussed at
conferences and meetings. Newsletters, briefings, and web pages are also
beneficial.
Contracting yields a profit on its investment in a two-step
methodology when one ensures that offerors understand that their technical
proposal becomes the scope of work against which they must perform.
A good starting point for lessons learned is to review previous
similar acquisitions and seek input from the contract administrator.
Seeking information from individuals who think "outside the box"
and working one-on-one with counterparts can result in innovative solutions.
A change in the PWS could very likely result in a change in the
corresponding performance measures, evaluation criteria, and the information to
offerors.
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A PBSA website that is the envy of all
others. This website which is an
interagency-industry partnership in performance provides an abundance of
resourceful information, links, samples, and points to ponder. It's titled Seven
Steps to Performance-Based Services Acquisition. Check it out for yourself.
You'll be glad you did.
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