ADVISORY ISSUED: April 22, 2003
REVISION 01 ISSUED: April 21, 2008
AGAR ADVISORY
OFFICE OF PROCUREMENT AND
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
AGAR ADVISORY NO. 51, Revision 01.
PAST
PERFORMANCE INFORMATION AND THE CONTRACTOR PERFORMANCE SYSTEM (CPS)
INTRODUCTION: This Agriculture Acquisition Regulation
(AGAR) Advisory supersedes AGAR Advisory 51, dated April 22, 2003 and updates
information concerning prior AGAR Advisories concerning past performance and
the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Contractor Performance System (CPS). Specific updates have been made to Specific
Issues, Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Requirements. This AGAR Advisory has been prepared to
consolidate information provided by prior AGAR Advisories concerning past
performance and the NIH CPS.
SUMMARY: The NIH CPS is the single USDA-wide system for maintaining
contractor performance/evaluation information.
Use of the system is mandatory.
This AGAR Advisory supplements the information at AGAR subpart 442.1502
and replaces AGAR Advisories No. 28 dated Mary 5, 1999, No. 31, dated December
15, 2000 and No. 41, dated March 21, 2002.
SPECIFIC ISSUES:
·
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)
Requirements – Past Performance.
o Source Selection: FAR 15.304(c)(3)(i) states that “past
performance shall be evaluated in all source selections for negotiated
competitive acquisitions expected to exceed the simplified acquisition
threshold.”
o General Evaluation Requirements: FAR 42.1502(a)
states that “agencies shall prepare an evaluation of contractor performance for
each contract that exceeds the simplified acquisition threshold at the time the
work under the contract is completed. In addition interim evaluations should be
prepared . . . to provide current information for source selection purposes,
for contracts with a period of performance, including options, exceeding one
year.”
o Construction: FAR 36.201(a)(1) states that “The contracting
activity shall evaluate contractor performance and prepare a performance report
using the SF 1420, Performance Evaluation (Construction Contracts), for each
construction contract of – (i) $550,000 or more; or (ii) More than $10,000 if
the contract was terminated for default.”
o Architect-Engineer: FAR 36.604(a) states that “For each contract
of more than $30,000, performance evaluation reports shall be prepared by the
cognizant contracting activity, using the SF 1421, Performance Evaluation
(Architect-Engineer). Performance evaluation reports are also be prepared for contracts of $30,000 or less.”
Effective October 1, 1998, the CPS
was designated as the primary USDA-wide system for maintaining contractor
performance/evaluation information, and use of the CPS became mandatory for
USDA at that time. (AGAR Advisory No.
19, dated April 8, 1998 applies. This
advisory has since expired.) This
designation and requirement to utilize the NIH CPS was incorporated into the
AGAR subpart 442.1502 by AGAR Acquisition Circular 96-03.
As
a minimum:
o The CPS shall be accessed for performance information when
evaluating past performance pursuant to FAR part 15.3;
o Information resulting from evaluations of contractor
performance in accordance with FAR 42.15 and FAR 36.2 shall be entered into and
maintained in this system.
o When the NIH releases the Architect-Engineer (A&E)
module, the information from the performance evaluation reports currently completed
on the SF 1421s shall be entered into and maintained in the system.
o The USDA Senior Procurement Executive has authorized a class
deviation permitting USDA, as a subscriber of the NIH CPS, to use the NIH CPS
Contractor Performance Insert Forms in lieu of the SF 1420 and SF 1421.
o A 1999 NIH class deviation permitted the use of the NIH CPS
Insert Form in lieu of the SF 1420 (construction). The attached class deviation authorized by
USDA, expands the 1999 deviation to also include the SF 1421
(architect-engineer).
o The attached class deviation is effective until issuance of
a change to the FAR.
Based on a review of USDA and USDA
agency information in the NIH CPS the following reminders are provided:
o Links to the CPS System and Information Page are available
from the USDA Acquisition Toolkit at http://www.usda.gov/procurement/toolkit.
o There are Manuals for Organization Administrators,
Contracting Officers, Project Officers, Contracting Officer Representatives,
et.al. available on the CPS Information Page.
o During initial set up of an evaluation:
o The organization administrator (system administrator) for
the NIH CPS for USDA is Mary Coleman, NIH CPS System Compliance Officer,
Procurement Systems Division.
Additionally,
each USDA Agency Contracting Activity has an organization administrator
established. Questions should be
directed to your agency organization administrators. If necessary, they will refer the
questions/issues to the USDA organization administrators. A list of the USDA agency administrators is
available on the USDA Acquisition Toolkit at
http://www.usda.gov/procurement/toolkit, as part of the NIH CPS information.
If
you have questions about this advisory, please contact Jacqueline Kelly by
telephone at
(202) 690-0021, by fax at (202) 720-3339, or by email to JacquelineE.Kelly@usda.gov. This advisory is available on the USDA homepage at http://www.usda.gov/procurement/policy/advisories.html.
EXPIRATION DATE: Until cancelled.
[END]
December
13, 2001
TO: W. R. Ashworth
Senior Procurement Executive
FROM: David J. Shea /s/
Chief
Procurement Policy Division
SUBJECT: Request
for Class Deviation from Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Sections 36.201,
36.604, 53.236-1(b) and 53.236-2(d)
In accordance with the FAR 1.404 and Agriculture Acquisition
Regulation (AGAR) 401.404, your approval to deviate from FAR sections 36.201,
36.604, 53.236-1(b) and 53.236-2(d) is requested.
FAR
subpart 36.201 requires the use of the Standard Form (SF) 1420, “Performance
Evaluation – Construction Contracts” when evaluating a contractor’s performance
under a construction contract. FAR subpart 36.604 requires the use of the SF
1421, “Performance Evaluation (Architect-Engineer),” when evaluating a contractor’s
performance under an architect-engineer contract.
The
purpose of this deviation is to permit the Department of Agriculture, as a
subscriber of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Contractor Performance
System (CPS), to use the NIH CPS Contractor Performance Insert Forms in lieu of
the SFs 1420 and 1421. The NIH CPS
Contractor Performance Insert Forms include all of the data elements required
by the SFs 1420 and 1421.
A
1999 NIH class deviation permitted the use of the NIH CPS Insert Form in lieu
of the SF 1420 (construction). This
requested class deviation will expand the 1999 deviation, by also including the
SF 1421 (architect-engineer), and will be effective until issuance of a change
to the FAR.
This
request has been coordinated with the Chairman of the Civilian Agency
Acquisition Council (CAAC). Reference
CAAC letter number 2001-03, dated October 17, 2001.
APPROVAL:
In
accordance with FAR 1.404 and AGAR 401.404, I authorize the class deviation
from FAR sections 36.201, 36.604, 53.236-1(b) and 53.236-2(d).
/s/
_12/18/2001_____________