Example Of Contract Change Evaluation Research Paper

Contract Change Evaluation After the award of contract, one party might launch a claim or a dispute regarding certain clauses in the contract. Alternatively, the contractor might launch a dispute concerning an element of the contract. The resolution of these claims can be done through a court appointed arbitrator, a mediator or through litigation. While these are plausible ways to address claims and disputes, the government policy on the matter encourages the resolution of issues regarding a contract through mutual consent and agreement. This is done at the contracting officer level. It is important to explore all reasonable efforts to resolve in controversial issues before a claim is submitted. In order to facilitate this, an administrative process is required, and knowledge of the process should be availed to the contractor in case it is needed.Administrative Process for Effecting Changes The authority to give change orders is vested in the contracting officer. The only exception is when such authority is entrusted to the contracting officer to the administrative contracting officer. Often when change orders are issued, there are economic implications that follow. It is required that the contracting officer institutes cost segregation for the changed work. In doing this, the contracting officer will segregate the following direct costs (Office of the Federal Register, 1989).a. Nonrecurring costs: These costs include obsolete work, engineering costs and the cost of work that is repeated.b. Recurring costs: These are the costs of items such as material costs, and labor costs.c. The cost of work that is distinctly added as a result of the change order: These costs include the costs of new prototypes, subcontracted work and new retrofits.The other important element is the administration of change order requirements.Documentation: two documents are required in instances where the price implications of the change orders are not forward related. In addition to the change order, a supplemental agreement detailing the resultant equitable adjustments is required.Definitization: it is noteworthy that in an instance where authority is delegated by the contracting officer to an administrative contracting officer, any changes to the delivery schedule of the contract should be subject to the consent of the contracting officer.The Judicial Process of Dispute Resolution The following judicial process will be followed in order to resolve disputes arising from contracts. The contracting officer is authorized to preside over the resolution of disputes arising from contracts.

The contracting officer will intervene when disputes cannot be resolved through mutual agreement. The contracting officer is required to:

Review and consider the facts informing the claim resulting from the dispute.
Seek legal assistance as well as input from relevant advisors.
Seek the input of the contract administration officer.
Render a decision on the claim in a written form that details the following
A vivid description of the dispute.
Make references to the relevant terms of the contract.
Highlight he factual areas where agreements and disagreements occur.
The rendered decision with a detailed rationale.
The contracting officer will supply the written decision via certified mail to the contractor.
The decision will be rendered within the confines of statutory limitations on time.
The decision will be rendered within a reasonable period.
Planned Actions in Soliciting and Awarding Contracts In the solicitation and awarding, certain planned actions are relevant during the solicitation of proposals and award of contracts. When preparing to solicit for the contracts, the need for the firm will be communicated in a manner that encourages open competition. The contracting officer will use advance marketing research and procurement planning and develop the requirements and specifications to enhance competition. The solicitation of proposals will be done based on the information from the market research. More precisely, the market research will offer information on some of the qualified contractors. It is to these contractors that the draft requests for proposals will be sent, seeking the input and eventual participation. In awarding the contract, the contracting officer will follow the evaluation criteria. When the final list is prepared for evaluation, the choice of the contractor to be awarded the contract will be done based on the evaluation criteria outlined in the draft request for proposals (Curry, 2010).Common Compliance Issues Some of the common compliance issues include unallowable costs, excessive cost transfers, insufficient monitoring of sub recipients, noncompliance with the assurances issued in the terms and conditions of the award of the contract and delinquent reporting during the closing of the contract. In order to ensure that there is compliance with the terms of the contract, it is recommended that actions are instituted both from within and without the firm. One of the recommendations for the firm is to perform periodic audit oversights. These audit oversights are meant to ensure that there are administrative compliances within the firm. They are also meant to identify and stamp out the potential issues highlighted above. From without the firm, it is recommended to engage in targeted site reviews. The intent of this recommendation is to ascertain the state of affairs with regards to the delivery of the terms of the contract. Additionally, this activity will provide information from which further analysis on compliance. Finally, it is recommended that the firm undertakes proactive compliance site visits. Rather than wait for issues to crop, this activity seeks to prevent compliance issues (Koprince, 2012).

References

Curry, W. (2010). Government Contracting: Promises and Perils. Boca Raton. CRC Press
Koprince, S. J. (2012). The Small-Business Guide to Government Contracts: How to Comply with the Key Rules and Regulations and Avoid Terminated Agreements, Fines, or Worse. New York: AMACOM.
Office of the Federal Register. (1989). The Code of Federal Regulations of the United States of America. Washington. U.S. Government Printing Office.