Contracting resources - Profile by Joseph J. McGrenra, CFCM
Government Contract Law Basics by Thomas G Reid
For those interested or involved in federal contracting within the US, it may seem that there is an overwhelming amount of information on various aspects of the process. Regardless of whether you are in the private or government sector, government contract law can be the most confusing area to understand.
Management Concepts has recently published the Federal Acquisition ActionPacks, a series of inexpensive, user-friendly desk guides on government contracting topics.
Government Contract Law Basics, the volume by Thomas C Reid, serves as a great introduction to those who new to the field, as well as a valuable tool to more seasoned professionals.
Mr. Reid is the problem solver for Certified Contracting Solutions and has close to 30 years of contracting experience with the federal government, large and small business. He is also an attorney (specializing in procurement), which is hard to believe, because the volume is written in such in easy-to-understand English
This is not a theoretical volume, but a practical desk guide that can be referred to on a daily basis.
It is divided into three sections. Part I covers the basics of government contract law and is presented in a easy to read ‘question and answer’ format; Part II reviews key terminology, tools and techniques; and Part III captures best practices with a brief summary of each best practice followed by a ‘How to do it’ section that gives practical implementation advice.
If you have ever wondered about the primary sources of government contract law, go to page 14, where you will discover the six primary sources. And what about how conflicts of interest during the award and/or administration of government contracts be measured?-Go to page 40 for a brief but complete overview.
For my money, the best section of the book is Part III that documents best practices and provides tips on implementation.
Best Value Source Selection and Performance Work Statements by Phil Salmeri
The Best Value Source Selection and Performance Work Statements are both timely in government contracting. The author provides good resources for the reader to learn more about the two topics.
Annually, the federal government spends approximately $350 billion for goods and services. For those not involved with government contracting, images of detailed specifications and a cumbersome contract process (say, from the 19th century, spring to mind). However, since the early 1990s, the world of federal contracting has been undergoing a huge transformation in the underlying business philosophy. Processes and procedures have been streamlined and more effective and efficient ways to contract have been developed and implemented. Two such concepts are ‘best value source selection’ and ‘performance work statements’.
‘Best value source selection’ is an acquisition process that permits the evaluation of proposals and selecting the one that best fulfills the documented evaluation criteria (even if this proposal is not the least expensive).
‘Performance work statements’ are high level descriptions of a contract’s performance requirements. In other words, rather than a detailed description with performance requirements, performance work statements allow the customer to define their need and to provide performance objectives. Interested contractors are given the opportunity to propose individual approaches to satisfying the need.
Mr. Salmeri has been one of the leading proponents in spreading the benefits of both best value source selection and performance work statements. Mr. Salmeri has over 35-years of government contracting experience as a negotiator, contracting officer, branch head, trainer and consultant. Not only does he know the material, but he has extensive experience putting best value source selection and performance work statements into practice and stills maintains enthusiasm that is contagious.
So it should come as no surprise that Management Concepts asked Mr. Salmeri to write the volumes on both topics for their Federal Acquisition ActionPack series. Mr. Salmeri is a hands-on guy, and as he clearly states in his introductions to both books ‘I would rather conduct workshops and seminars than sit down at a computer and write…’, but luckily the publishers pursued him on these books and he agreed to write them.
The Office of Federal Procurement Policy provides overall direction for government-wide procurement policies, regulations and procedures and promotes economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in acquisition processes. The Administrator is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, and from 1993-1997 this position was held by Dr. Steven Kelman. Dr. Kelman, who is currently a professor of public management at Harvard University’s Kennedy School, writes a regular column for FCW.COM. In his 28 August 2006 column, he dubbed Salmeri as an ‘… unsung hero of contracting …’
Having been involved with both best value source selection and performance work statements, I was expecting to scan both titles to refresh myself on a couple of aspects, but I was surprised — I learned a lot. I have also referred to each title several times since my original reading of them. Both are practical desk guides that can be referred to on a daily basis, and I highly recommend both of them.
If you are a government contracting official who has not yet used best value source selection and performance work statements, you will learn how to; if you are an experienced veteran, you will refresh and increase your knowledge; and if you are a contractor interested in bidding on requirements that will utilize either best value source selection or performance work statements, you will get some invaluable advice on preparing your proposals.
Joseph J McGrenra,
CFCM Joseph has 25 years experience in government contracting and currently serves as theDeputy for Small Business for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Mid-Atlantic located in Norfolk, VA. For further information about the ActionPacks series visit <http://www.managementconcepts.com/publications/catalog.pdf>
