CSA OPPOSES IMPOSITION OF POST-AWARD AUDITS

The Contract Services Association filed comments on an advanced notice of proposed rule (ANPR) making published by the General Services Administration (GSA). The ANPR requested input on waivers of consequential damages in contracts awarded for commercial items under various parts of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), as well as whether post-award audit provisions should be included for its Multiple Award Schedules (MAS) contracts and Government-wide acquisition contracts (GWACs).

Related to consequential damages, CSA noted in its comments:

“Obtaining protection from liability for consequential damages is a routine commercial practice. This is reflected in the regulations (FAR Part 12) implementing the acquisition reforms for commercial items. However, it is clear that the current FAR coverage still is lacking. Limiting such coverage hinders the Government’s efforts in the “war on terrorism” since the Government needs the very best commercial solutions and technologies to combat terrorism and related security concerns, and should ensure that the maximum number of contractors participate in Government procurements. Eliminating the gaps in coverage and extending the coverage will benefit the Government and the U.S. taxpayer, and encourage commercial contractors to do business with the Federal government.”

On post-award audits, CSA stressed its opposition to the imposition of post-award audits on commercial item schedule contracts. Rather, CSA noted, “ The time to examine such information is during the pre-award audit process, which CSA strongly supports.”

The acquisition reform initiatives of the 1990s (1994 Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act and the 1996 Clinger-Cohen Act) made it clear that commercial item contracts were exempt from post-award audits; this was reiterated in a letter signed by the authors of the Clinger-Cohen Act (Senator Cohen, and Representatives Clinger and Spence).

CSA also noted that “post-award audits are not a customary commercial practice. Indeed, it is reasonable to expect that contractors, confronted with the possibility of a post-award audit, will factor the associated risk into their contract/extension prices and that the associated costs will be passed on to the Government.”

A copy of the CSA comments can be found HERE.

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CSA is the nation’s oldest and largest association of service contractors representing over 200 companies that provide a wide array of services to Federal, state, and local governments.  CSA members perform over $40 billion in Government contracts and employ nearly 500,000 workers, with two-thirds of CSA companies using private sector union labor.  CSA members represent the diversity of the government services industry and include small businesses, 8(a)-certified companies, small disadvantaged businesses, women-owned, HubZone, Native American owned firms and global multi-billion dollar corporations.  CSA promotes Excellence in Contracting by offering significant professional development opportunities for government contractors and government employees, including the only program manager certification program for service contractors.  For more information on CSA, go to:  www.csa-dc.org.