Objective
Our objective was to determine whether Washington Headquarters Services (WHS) contracting officials complied with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and other rules and regulations for the solicitation, award, and management of two multiple-award contracts. We reviewed two WHS multiple-award contracts, each with three contractors, and a total not-to-exceed value of $555 million, and 11 task orders, valued at $164.8 million.
Finding
WHS Acquisition Directorate (AD) contracting officials generally solicited, awarded, and managed two multiple-award contracts and two task orders in accordance with the FAR and other rules and regulations. However, WHS AD contracting officials did not properly solicit, award, or manage nine task orders, valued at $155.1 million. Specifically, WHS AD contracting officials did not properly document and support the pricing calculation for removing functional areas from the scope of work for one task order; support acquisition decisions for nine task orders; obtain approval for the use of firm-fixedprice, level-of-effort (FFP LOE)-type contract line items for five task orders; or prepare performance reviews for three task orders.
WHS AD contracting officials did not properly perform contracting functions and document contracting decisions because WHS AD management did not have adequate quality assurance procedures.
For one task order, WHS AD contracting officials determined that the customer did not accurately define the user environment. In addition, the customer did not understand that, on an FFP-type task order, the contractor would be paid the same regardless of the number of contractor personnel working on the task order.
As a result, on one task order, DoD potentially wasted $271,358 and spent $2.4 million more than expected. In addition, by not properly performing contracting functions and not documenting contracting decisions, WHS AD contracting officials put the Government at risk of making uninformed decisions on future acquisitions. WHS AD officials took numerous corrective actions during the audit, including providing training and updating policies.
Recommendation
We recommend that the Director, WHS AD, review contracting officers’ failure to properly perform their responsibilities and, as appropriate, hold personnel accountable. Also, the Director, WHS AD, should verify that contracting officials obtain approval for using FFP LOE-type task orders and prepare performance reviews.
Management Comments
We received comments from the Director, WHS AD, in response to a draft of this report. The comments addressed all specifics of the recommendations, and no further comments are required.
This report is a result of Project No. D2013-D000CF-0139.000.