OMB’s Office of Federal Procurement Policy has issued a memo detailing several new contracting reporting requirements in the Federal Acquisition Regulation as well as outlining management responsibilities CAOs and procurement executives must take and establishing related OFPP review processes.
According to the memo – available at the OFPP website – the federal government awarded over $500 billion to more than 160,000 contractors last year, but it said agencies used disparate methods to collect and maintain performance information and that much of the information they produce is inadequate.
Pursuant to FAR changes, effective July 1, 2009, agencies are required to:
Submit an electronic record of contractor performance in the Past Performance Information Retrieval System – http://www.ppirs.gov;
Establish internal procedures for collecting and reporting past performance information to PPIRS;
Identify agency officials responsible for preparing interim and final performance evaluations; and,
Consider the achievement of small business goals in performance evaluations when the contract includes a small business-subcontracting plan.
According to the memo, agency chief acquisition officers and senior procurement executives must make sure that internal procedures for evaluating and reporting contractor performance are clear and include evaluation factors, rating scales, and appropriate management controls.
OFPP will begin monitoring compliance with the changes in February.
