Page images
PDF
EPUB

approval by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs (OASPA). Form HHS-615, Publication Planning and Clearance Request, should be forwarded to OASPA through the OPDIV public affairs officer. Publications are defined in the chapter on publications in the Public Affairs Management Manual.

(12) Public affairs services. Projects for the acquisition of public affairs services in excess of $5,000 shall be submitted to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs (OASPA) for review and approval on Form HHS-524, Request for Public Affairs Service Contract.

(13) Audiovisual (videotape and motion picture production). Any proposed acquisition of an audiovisual production requires the submission of a Standard Form 282, Mandatory Title Check, to the National Audiovisual Center (NAC). When the results of this title check have been reviewed by the project office and if a determination is made that existing materials are not adequate to fulfill the requirement, a statement to that effect shall be prepared by the project office. For acquisitions in excess of $5,000, a copy of that statement, together with a Standard Form 202, Federal Audiovisual Production Report, and Form HHS-524A, Request for Audiovisual Material, shall be submitted through the OPDIV public affairs officer to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs (OASPA) for review and approval. Following approval by OASPA, the SF 202 and the statement explaining why existing materials are insufficient will be forwarded to NAC by OASPA. An approved copy of the Form HHS-524A will be returned to the OPDIV for transmission to the contract negotiator. All audiovisuals are required to be acquired under the Government-wide Contracting System for Motion Picture and Videotape Productions, unless they are included in the exceptions to the mandatory use of the uniform system. (See the Executive Agent for Government-Wide Contracting System for Audiovisual Productions' March 21, 1980, memorandum on Implementation of OFPP Policy Letter No. 79-4, November 28, 1979, Contracting for Motion Picture and Videotape Productions;

HHS General Administration Manual Chapter 1-121.)

(14) Privacy Act (Pub. L. 93–579.) Whenever the Department contracts for the design, development, operation, or maintenance of a system of records on individuals on behalf of the Department in order to accomplish a departmental function, the Privacy Act is applicable. The program official, after consultation with the activity's Privacy Act Coordinator and the Office of General Counsel as necessary shall include a statement in the request for contract as to the applicability of the Act. Whenever an acquisition is subject to the Act, the program official prepares a "system notice" and has it published in the FEDERAL REGISTER. (See HHS Privacy Act regulation, 45 CFR 5b; FAR Subpart 24.1 and Subpart 324.1.)

(b) Clearances or approvals required to be completed prior to contract award. All foreign research contract projects to be conducted in a foreign country and financed by HHS funds (U.S. dollars) must have clearance by the Department of State with respect to consistency with foreign policy objectives. This clearance should be obtained prior to negotiation. Procedures for obtaining this clearance are set forth in the HHS General Administration Manual, Chapter 20-60.

[49 FR 13969, Apr. 9, 1984, as amended at 49 FR 36110, Sept. 14, 1984; 50 FR 23129, May 31, 1985; 50 FR 38004, Sept. 19, 1985; 53 FR 15563, May 2, 1988; 53 FR 43207, Oct. 26, 1988; 53 FR 44551, Nov. 3, 1988]

307.105-3 Specification, purchase description and statement of work.

One of the most important parts of a contract is the description of the work to be done. The description of that work may be in the form of a specification, purchase description or statement of work. A brief reference to specifications and purchase descriptions is provided, although the nature of the work performed in this Department usually results in the development of work statements. The development of the acquisition planning document should result in sufficient information to readily develop the description of work, usually in the form of a statement of work.

(a) Specification. Specification is defined in FAR 10.001. Use of the specification is primarily limited to supply or service contracts where the material end item or service to be delivered is well defined by the Government.

(b) Purchase description. FAR 10.001 also contains the definition of purchase description.

(c) Statement of work. (1) General. A statement of work differs from a specification and purchase description primarily in that it describes work or services to be performed in reaching an end result rather than a detailed, well defined description or specification of the end product. The statement of work may enumerate or describe the methods (statistical, clinical, laboratory, etc.) that will be used. However, it is preferable for the offeror to propose the method of performing the work. The statement of work should specify the desired results, functions, or end items without telling the offeror what has to be done to accomplish those results unless the method of performance is critical or required for the successful performance of the contract. The statement of work should be clear and concise and must completely define the responsibilities of the Government and the contractor. The statement of work should be worded so as to make more than one interpretation virtually impossible because it has to be read and interpreted by persons of varied backgrounds, such as attorneys, contracting personnel, cost estimators, accountants, scientists, sociologists, educators, functional specialists, etc. If the statement of work does not state exactly what is wanted, or does not state it precisely, it will generate many contract management problems for both the project officer and the contracting officer. Ambiguous statements of work can create unsatisfactory performance, delays, and disputes, and can result in higher costs.

(2) Term (level of effort) vs. completion work statement. statement. Careful distinctions must be drawn between term (level of effort) statements of work, which essentially require the furnishing of technical effort and a report thereof, and completion type work statements, which often require development of

tangible end items designed to meet specific performance characteristics.

(i) Term or level of effort. A term or level of effort type statement of work is appropriate to research where one seeks to discover the feasibility of later development, or to gather general information. A term or level of effort type statement of work may only specify that some number of laborhours be expended on a particular course of research, or that a certain number of tests be run, without reference to any intended conclusion.

(ii) Completion. A completion type statement of work is appropriate to development work where the feasibility of producing an end item is already known. A completion type statement of work may describe what is to be achieved through the contracted effort, such as the development of new methods, new end items, or other tangible results.

(3) Phasing. Individual research, development, or demonstration projects frequently lie well beyond the present state of the art and entail procedures and techniques of great complexity and difficulty. Under these circumstances, a contractor, no matter how carefully selected, may be unable to deliver the desired result. Moreover, the job of evaluating the contractor's progress is often difficult. Such a contract is frequently phased and often divided into stages of accomplishment, each of which must be completed and approved before the contractor may proceed to the next. Phasing makes it necessary to develop methods and controls, including reporting requirements for each phase of the contract and criteria for evaluation of the reports submitted, that will provide, at the earliest possible time, appropriate data for making decisions relative to all phases. A phased contract may include stages of accomplishment such as research, development, and demonstration. Within each phase, there may be a number of tasks which should be included in the statement of work. When phases of work can be identified, the statement of work will provide for phasing and the request for proposals will require the submission of proposed costs by phases. The resultant contract will reflect costs by phases, require the

contractor to identify incurred costs by phases, establish delivery schedules by phases, and require the written acceptance of each phase. The provisions of the Limitation of Cost clause shall apply to the estimated cost of each phase. Contractors shall not be allowed to incur costs for phases which are dependent upon successful completion of earlier phases until written acceptance of the prior work is obtained from the contracting officer.

(4) Elements of the statement of work. The elements of the statement of work will vary with the objective, complexity, size, and nature of the acquisition. In general, it should cover the following matters as appropriate.

(i) A general description of the required objectives and desired results. Initially, a broad, nontechnical statement of the nature of the work to be performed. This should summarize the actions to be performed by the contractor and the results that the Government expects.

(ii) Background information helpful to a clear understanding of the requirements and how they evolved. Include a brief historical summary as appropriate. Include pertinent legislative history, related contracts or grants, and the relationship to overall program objectives.

(iii) A detailed description of the technical requirements. A comprehensive description of the work to be performed to provide whatever details are necessary for prospective offerors to submit meaningful proposals.

(iv) Subordinate tasks or types of work. A listing of the various tasks or types of work (it may be desirable in some cases to indicate that this is not all-inclusive). The degree of task breakout is directly dependent on the size and complexity of the work to be performed and the logical groupings. A single cohesive task should not be broken out merely to conform to a format. Indicate whether the tasks are sequential or concurrent for offeror planning purposes.

(v) Phasing. When phasing is applicable, describe in detail the work or effort required in each phase and the criteria for determining whether the next phase will take place. If one or more phases contain subordinate tasks or types of work, the preceding informa

tion in paragraph (c)(4) (iv) may be incorporated into the part.

(vi) Reference material. All reference material to be used in the conduct of the project, such as technical publications, reports, specifications, architect or engineering drawings, etc., that tell how the work is to be carried out must be identified. Applicability should be explained, and a statement made as to where the material can be obtained.

(vii) Level of effort. When a level of effort is required, the number and type of personnel required should be stated. If known, the type and degree of expertise should be specified.

(viii) Special requirements (as applicable). An unusual or special contractual requirement, which would impact on contract performance, should be included as a separate section. Such items could include required place(s) of performance or unusual travel requirements. Clearance requirements, such as forms clearance, should be addressed.

(ix) Deliverables reporting requirements. All deliverables and/or reports must be clearly and completely described. For example, in a Final Study Report it is important to indicate what areas the report should cover and the criteria for use in accepting the final report to determine if the contract objectives have been satisfied. It is important to require the preparation and submission of progress reports (administrative, technical and financial) to reflect contractor certification of satisfactory progress. If possible, the reports should be coordinated in such a manner as to provide a correlation between costs incurred and the state of completion. All delivery and reporting requirements shall include the quantities, the place of delivery, and time of delivery.

[blocks in formation]

GAM sets forth specific training requirements for program officials as follows:

(1) All program personnel selected to serve as project officer for an HHS contract shall have successfully completed either the Department's appropriate "Base Project Officer" course, or an equivalent course (see paragraph (b), below).

(2) At least fifty percent of the HHS program personnel performing the function of technical proposal evaluator on a technical evaluation team or panel for any competitively solicited HHS contract shall have successfully completed the appropriate "Basic Project Officer" course, or an equivalent course (see paragraph (b), below). This requirement applies to the initial technical proposal evaluation and any subsequent technical evaluations that may be required.

(b) Determination of course equivalency shall be made by the principal official responsible for acquisition of the cognizant contracting activity. The contracting officer is responsible for ensuring that the project officer and technical proposal evaluators have successfully completed the required training discussed in 307.170–2.

[49 FR 13969, Apr. 9, 1984, as amended at 56 FR 47002, Sept. 17, 1991]

307.170-1 Policy exceptions.

(a) Small contracting activities. (1) Program personnel designated to serve as project officers and technical proposal evaluators for contracts which originate in offices having a mission which only incidentally and infrequently involves the generation of contract requirements (i.e., normally less than three contract requirements per fiscal year and in an amount not exceeding $100,000 per contract) are not required to have completed any of the referenced training courses, although completion of an appropriate "Basic Project Officer" course is recommended.

(2) As a substitute for the training, contracting officers servicing these program offices are required to ensure, as a minimum, that program personnel designated to serve as project officers and technical proposal evaluators have read and studied the "DHHS Project

Officers' Contracting Handbook," and fully understand their responsibilities. The contracting officer shall require these program personnel to furnish written certification that they have fulfilled this requirement prior to discharging the duties of project officer or technical proposal evaluator.

(b) Urgent requirements. In the event there is an urgent requirement for a specific individual to serve as a project officer and that individual has not successfully completed the prerequisite training course, the principal official responsible for acquisition may waive the training requirement and authorize the individual to perform the project duties, provided that:

(1) The individual first meets with the cognizant contracting officer to review the "DHHS Project Officers' Contracting Handbook," and to discuss the important aspects of the contracting— program office relationship as appropriate to the circumstances; and

(2) The individual attends the next scheduled and appropriate "Basic Project Officer" course.

[49 FR 13969, Apr. 9, 1984, as amended at 56 FR 47002, Sept. 17, 1991]

[blocks in formation]

(a) Project officers. (1) Newly appointed project officers, and project officers with less than three years experience and no previous related training, are required to take the appropriate "Basic Project Officer" course. (The grade level for project officers attending the course should be GS-7 and above). All project officers are encouraged to take the appropriate "Writing Statements of Work" course.

(2) Project officers with more than three years experience, and project officers with less than three years experience who have successfully completed the appropriate basic course, are qualified (and encouraged) to take the "Advanced Project Officer" course.

(3) Additional information on prerequisites for attendance of these courses may be found in the "DHHS Acquisition Training and Certification Program Handbook."

(b) Technical proposal evaluators. Technical proposal evaluators, regardless of experience, are required to take

[blocks in formation]

(a) GAM Chapter 18-10, CommercialIndustrial Activities of the Department of Health and Human Services Providing Products or Services for Government Use, assigns responsibilities for making method-of-performance decisions (contract vs. in-house performance) to various management levels within the Department depending on the dollar amount of capital investment or annual operating costs. It also requires that each operating division (OPDIV), staff division (STAFFDIV) and regional office (RO) designate a "Commercial-Industrial Control Officer" (CICO) to be responsible for ensuring compliance with the requirements of the Chapter.

(d) Besides contracts with annual operating costs under $100,000, contracts under an authorized acquisition setaside for small business or labor surplus area concerns and contracts made pursuant to section 8(a) of the Small Business Act are exempted from the requirements of FAR Subpart 7.3, GAM Chapter 18-10, and OMB Circular No. A– 76.

307.303 Determining availability of private commercial sources.

In accordance with the provisions of GAM Chapter 18-10, OPDIVs, STAFFDIVs, and ROS and must prepare and maintain a complete inventory of all individual commercial or industrial activities, including those conducted under contracts in excess of $100,000 annually. They must also conduct periodic reviews of each activity and contract in the inventory to determine if the existing performance, inhouse or by contract, continues to be in accordance with the policy guidelines of GAM Chapter 18–10.

307.304 Procedures.

Contracting officers shall ensure that no acquisition action involving a commercial-industrial activity is initiated unless it is in compliance with the requirements of GAM Chapter 18-10. The contracting officer must check each request for contract expected to result in a contract in excess of $100,000 to ensure that it contains a statement as to whether the proposed contract is or is not subject to review under GAM Chapter 18-10 requirements. If the contracting officer has any questions regarding the determination of applicability or nonapplicability, or if the required statement is missing, the program office submitting the request for contract should be contacted and the situation rectified. If the issue cannot be resolved with the program office, the contracting officer shall refer the matter to the CICO for a final determination. The principal official responsible for acquisition is responsible for ensuring that contracting activities are in full compliance with FAR Subpart 7.3. 307.307 Appeals.

The review and appeals procedures discussed in FAR 7.307 are addressed in GAM Chapter 18–10.

Subpart 307.70-Considerations in Selecting an Award Instrument 307.7000 Scope of subpart.

This subpart provides guidance on the appropriate selection of award instruments consistent with the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act of 1977 (Pub. L. 95–224) and the OMB implementation of the Act as published in the FEDERAL REGISTER on August 18, 1978 (41 FR 36860). This subpart addresses acquisition relationships where the award instrument is the contract, and assistance relationships where the award instrument is either a grant or cooperative agreement.

307.7001 Applicability.

This subpart applies to the choice of award instrument-contract, grant, or cooperative agreement for all program and individual transactions, except where specifically prohibited by law.

« PreviousContinue »