Announcing Contract Award and Contracting Officers Responsibilities - Case Study Example

Announcing Contract Award and Contracting Officers Responsibilities Introduction Awarding the federal contract require professionalism in order to meet the government’s requirements. The contracting agent should select competent contractor who can provide quality products in time at a satisfactory price to achieve a better performance (Cibinic et al., 2006). The officer should ensure they follow the states regulations and set aside for small business programs in order to improve small business competence (Compton, 2009). This document examines the procedure for awarding the contract for supplying 5,000 electric generators with a capacity of 3 kilowatts to be used by U.S army for battlefield communications. Requirements for announcing federal contract awards When planning for federal contracting process the contracting agency has a responsibility to post information concerning the acquisition that exceeding $3,000 on the Federal Procurement Data System (Compton, 2009). The agent can make local announcement of the procurement process through local process and other media. The publication provides aims at giving declaration of the project requirements and the particular procedure for submitting a proposal (Keyes & Feldman, 2011). It contains the procedure for requesting for specific information regarding the proposal. The applicants should be keen to follow the project requirements to ensure their applications are considered for the award of contract (Nash et al., 2007). The contracting agent makes an appropriate evaluation process to assess the qualification of the applicants and determine the qualified candidate. In case the contracting agency requires addition details from the applicant, they can do based on the applicant’s response to the publicized information (Compton, 2009). The statement of contract requirements the officer declares the criteria for evaluating the candidates and should state any special requirements for assessment such as presentation and demonstration of technological capacity to deliver the contract requirements (Keyes & Feldman, 2011). The agent makes declaration of the announcement procedure for the contract winners including the process applied in the evaluation of the candidates. The contracting officer must ensure the particular needs of the contract are disclosed to the target applicants and request for proposals using an approach specifically designed to achieve full and open competitive procurement process (Cibinic et al., 2006). The contracting officer should ensure adequate planning and market research as well as develop qualifications through a process that shall ensure full competitiveness of the procurement of the generators. Since the contract in the scenario is a government’s contract, the procurement agent should communicate the percentage of the contract value to be set aside for the Small Business programs (Keyes & Feldman, 2011). Communicating the proportion of the contract value set aside for small businesses can be of great importance because it determines the extent to which the federal government is supports small business to participate in the economic development. Therefore, the announcement of the contract requirement to the interested parties and giving the small businesses a chance to participate in the government contract will promote competitiveness and foster economic growth (Nash et al., 2007). Application of the Requirements to this scenario The contract requirement in this scenario is for the acquisition of 5,000 electric generators with a capacity of 3 kilowatts for the military use. Since it is a national agreement, and the agency is "conducting the procurement process on behalf of the federal government there is a need to take into consideration the small business set aside programs" to ensure participation of the small businesses (Compton, 2009). The agent has the option to use various bidding procedures such as “sealed bidding” or “fixed price budget” among other means (Cibinic et al., 2006). The particular value of the contract has not been stated thus it may be better for the procurement agent to use sealed bid contract to attract competitiveness of the contract performance while the contract value is kept as low as possible. The procurement officer should announce the contract value and the proportion set aside for small businesses to ensure the compliance with the federal government requirements (Keyes & Feldman, 2011). In addition, the officer should ensure all applicants are sourced and selected from among the competent personnel. Since the contract involves the acquisition of electric generators the potential suppliers should be adequately informed of the needs to enable them make self-examination of their capacity deliver the requirement. During the announcement of the contract, the procurement officer should inform the potential applicants of the selection criteria and declare whether they will hold oral presentation and analysis of proposals for the qualified candidates in order to select the most competent applicants (Department of Health and Human Services, 2012). Finally, the director should disclose the number of contractors required to supply the required generators. Since the agent requires 5,000 electric generators a single sourcing may not be appropriate (Tiefer & Shook, 2004). The contract should be awarded to many qualified contractors in order to ensure they provide those generators in time. The contract value has not been indicated in the scenario thus it will be appropriate for the procurement officer to make an announcement of the criteria for awarding the contract and specify the criteria for application. They should inform applicants whether the proposal to be sent is based on closed bid of a fixed budget. In addition, the officer should communicate the procedure for selecting the applicants and the time within which the winners of the contract will be announced after the closure of submitting the applications (Department of Health and Human Services, 2012). Responsibilities of the Contracting Officers Representative (COR) The contracting officer has a role to play in ensuring the request for a contract proposal attracts the most competent applicants in order to meet the state requirement for the contract (Keyes & Feldman, 2011). It is the procurement agent’s responsibility to determine "the nature of the contract to be used in order to attract the most qualified applicants" at the best price possible (Compton, 2009). In order to achieve the contract objectives procurement officer should ensure the selection procedure is based is based on the government’s objectives for selecting the applicants. The various objectives considered during the selection process include the dollar value, tradeoff, technical skills and whether to use a single source or multiple sources (Cibinic et al., 2006). The procurement officer should disclose the objectives in the information released to the public when soliciting for applications or bids. Based on contracting criteria the procurement agent has a duty to define the criteria for sending the application for the contract and clarifying the required competence. They have to evaluate the applicants’ competencies, capacity to meet the requirements, their performance and prior experience in a similar field. The officer has a responsibility to disclose the application’s evaluation process and specify whether all evaluation factors have similar significance or whether they shall be weighted differently (Department of Health and Human Services, 2012) In the case of sealed bid the procurement officer has a role to select competitive proposals and award the contract to the most competent applicant based in the specified contract requirements (Cibinic et al., 2006). However, the procurement officer is not obliged to award the contract to the applicants and may decide to decline all applications due to public interests. "The opening of sealed bids is done publically at the time and place stipulated in the proposal announcements" (Compton, 2009). After the award of the contract to the winner, the procurement agent should announce the contract winner and notify the losers within three days after the award of contract either in written form or using electronic media. Due to the technicality of the contract requirement the contracting officer may have to seek the support of electrical experts before announcing the contract requirements so as to ensure the gadgets meets the required capacity for effective performance (Department of Health and Human Services, 2012). The existing training and certification requirements for COR The COR has a general duty to administer and monitor the contract. They ensure the contractors satisfy the contracts commitments (Cibinic et al., 2006). They should observe business ethics, provide effective contract management and communicate effectively about the contract requirements. Besides the contracting officers should have competence in “decision making,” problem solving, be able to develop teams and must be flexible (Compton, 2009). The contracting officer should can plan and execute contracts, maintain appropriate documentation, evaluate and report necessary changes, evaluate the contract value, monitor compliance of the contract schedule, monitor or recommend proposed changes, etc. The COR should have basic knowledge in contract requirements, define the government requirements, exercise analytical skills and should have general understanding of the contract requirements (Department of Health and Human Services, 2012). The COR should have at least one hour training on procurement standards, DAU COR 222 or ALMC-CL or any equivalent course for experience. However, a fresher COR should undergo an at least 16 hours training after every three years and one-hour acquisition ethics training or any other relevant training (Cibinic et al., 2006). The COR should have competency-based training to achieve certification and should have Level II and III certifications. In order to maintain FAC-COR certification, the officer has continued undergoing further training in related issues. Level I is the apprenticeship or entry level, Level II is the Mid-level or Journeyman and Level III is a senior or Expert level (Compton, 2009). The COR charged with the federal government responsibility to deliver the required 5,000 electric generators should have higher competence than a general level. They should be professional to ensure the government gets the particular requirement at a competitive price (American Bar Association, 2007). The professional COR should have the following minimum core training: a minimum of 40 hours of training, 8 hours of EVM and cost estimation training, 16 hours of training in project training, 16 hours of appropriations law training, 8 hours of IT, construction or advanced research and development acquisition training, and 8 hours of risk management training (Compton, 2009). Certification requirement The COR must have FAR-COR certification and is achieved through competency based and assignment-specific training (Keyes & Feldman, 2011). Once certification has been attained it is valid for two years thus the COR must undergo continuous training in order to maintain the certification. COR is responsible for ensuring the contractor provides Federal government requests and should oversee the contractor’s performance to ensure they distribute the contract requirements (Manuel & Lunder, 2012). Based on their expertise the COR should construct breakdown structure of the work, arrange relevant documents for project analysis, monitor performance and maintain quality assurance (Compton, 2009). COR Specific Requirements The COR should ensure the contract is awarded to the most competitive contractor. They should utilize different techniques to ensure they get the contractors with the capacity to provide the requirements (Compton, 2009). For example, they may contact professionals concerning the market capacities, visit on-line communication or query database, assess catalogue and product literature, analyse the recent market research outcome, hold pre-solicitation conferences, publish the formal request for information, etc. The contractor awarded the tender to provide the federal agent with 5,000 electric generators should supervise the completion of the work and ensure they have adequate equipment, labor and tools to execute the preventive maintenance (Compton, 2009). The contractor should provide the workers with protective measures during the execution of the order and ensure all injuries are reported and attended to soonest possible. The COR has to invite proposals from qualified suppliers willing to deliver the project requirements within the required time (Tiefer & Shook, 2004). The officer shall be responsible for inspecting and accepting or rejecting the products based on the specific needs. The COR is responsible for issuing technical and substantive guidance in regard to the acquisition process (American Bar Association, 2007). The officer may consider subdividing the contract to more than one contractor and exercise appropriate control measures to ensure those contractors meet specific requirements of the contract. After the COR has confirmed the satisfaction of contract conditions, they should compensate the contractors the outstanding balance of the entire value of the contract in accordance to the agreement (Compton, 2009). Specific requirements The most critical role of the COR is to ensure delivery of governments requests at a competitive price in the market (Manuel & Lunder, 2012). The COR should ensure the contracted party can perform the activities that they were contracted to provide. In case the COR is unable to obtain the requirements from a single source, they should subdivide the contract to reach more sources or allow the main contractor to subcontract as long as they can deliver the products or services according to the contract (Keyes & Feldman, 2011). The COR has concern for the quality of the generators to be delivered because they should serve a specific purpose for which they were purchased to serve. Even though, the contract has no specified value the COR must ensure the contractor meets the requirements at competitive price. The contractor has to meet specific performance as stated in the contract requirements (Cibinic et al., 2006). Finally, the COR should decide the proportion of the contract to be set aside for the small businesses in accordance to the federal government regulations (Compton, 2009). Assess the importance of safeguarding proprietary information According to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (48 CFR 27.402 Policy), proprietary information refers to “contractor’s legitimate property right or other valid economic interest in data resulting from private investment (Compton, 2009). Protection of proprietary information form undisclosed and unauthorized users is essential in order to stop the compromise of such exclusive right or economic importance, avoid endangering the contractor’s business arrangement and avert harming government’s potential to gain access to use of such data. The contractor should adhere to certain safeguarding requirements, and the government should also protect proprietary or trade secret information submitted during the bidding process. Safeguarding proprietary information is essential for protecting the integrity of the government and contractors. Also, it will protect the contractors against competitors who may leak confidential information from the contractors. The owner of the information maintains it secret due to economic value they derive from such information (Manuel & Lunder, 2012). In this scenario, the COR can protect proprietary information locking all the proposals under a tight lock to keep unauthorized persons from accessing the contractors information. In the case any information was sent electronically the COR should use a password to safeguard it against unauthorized persons (Cibinic et al., 2006). Conclusion The awarding of government contract for the supply of 5,000 electric generators requires adequate procurement procedure to be undertaken in order to ensure achievement of contract requirements. The COR should be competent and observe due process for awarding the contract. They should safeguard proprietary information in order to protect the interests of the contractors. References American Bar Association, (2007). Government Contract Law: The Deskbook for Procurement Professionals, (3rd Ed.). USA: American Bar Association. Cibinic, J., Nash, R. C. & Nagle, J. F. (2006). Administration of Government Contracts. USA: CCH Incorporated. Compton, P. B. (2009). Federal Acquisition: Key Issues and Guidance. USA: Management Concepts Inc. Department of Health and Human Services (2012). Federal Acquisition Certification For Contracting Officer’s Representatives (FAC-COR) Handbook. Keyes, W. N. & Feldman, S. W. (2011). Government Contracts in a Nutshell, (5th Ed.). West Group. Manuel, K. M. & Lunder, K. E. (2012). Small Business Set-Aside Programs. Retrieved on 10th August 2014 from Nash, R. C., Schooner, S. L., O’Brien-DeBakey, K. & Edwards, V. J. (2007). Government Contracts Reference Book, (3rd Ed.). USA: CCH Incorporated Tiefer, C & Shook, W. A. (2004). Government Contract Law. USA: Carolina Academic Press. Http://www.law.umaryland.edu/marshall/crsreports/crsdocuments/R41945_06152012.pdf Read More