Procurement For Administrative Assistants & Support Staff

A special three-day upward mobility course in Government contracts for dedicated support personnel.

This is an introductory but comprehensive course with no prerequisite course or length of service requirements.

The purpose of this course is to provide administrative assistants and support staff who are working in procurement - either for the Government or industry - with knowledge of the substantive and professional elements of that field. Instruction will include the key overall features of the Government procurement process, and the specific areas with which the procurement officials whom they support are customarily concerned: contract awards, changes, delays, inspections, costs, termination, disputes. These subjects will be taught from both the standpoint of what they are and how they relate to the more effective performance of administrative tasks. We think that - if all contract professionals better understand the wide procurement world in which they function-not merely limited corners of that world-their value, both to their employers and themselves, will be immeasurably increased.

The Course Curriculum

The Arena

Introduction
1. Scope of Procurement
2. Diversity of Procurement
3. The Two Worlds
  1. Govt/industry similarities
  2. Govt/industry differences
  3. Meeting and blending
Some Basics
The Contractual Relationship
1. Procurement Offices
2. Lines of Authority
  1. Head of Contracting Activity
  2. Contracting Officer
  3. Ordering Officer
  4. Purchasing Agent
3. The Procurement Team
4. Standard Functions
5. Delegation of Responsibilities
6. Upward Mobility
Ethics
1. Basic Standards of Conduct
2. Conflicts of Interest
3. Personal Loyalty vs. Organizational Loyalty
The Literature
1. Sources
  1. Procurement Statutes
  2. The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)
  3. Agency Acquisition Regulations
  4. Deviations from FAR
2. Comptroller General
3. Boards and Courts
4. Administrator Responsibility
  1. "Knowing" the Literature
  2. Making it available
  3. Keeping it current
  4. Locating reference material
The Language
1. A Special Dialect
  1. Jargon
  2. Common Terms and Definitions
  3. Dealing with public
2. Acronyms and Abbreviations
Procurement Process
How The Government Buys
1. Genesis
  1. Establishing the need
  2. Funding the procurement
  3. The purchase request
  4. Specifications and standards
2. Bread and Butter Buying
  1. Sources of supply
  2. Open market purchases
3. Small Purchase System
4. Policy and Procedures
  1. General
  2. Competition and price reasonableness
  3. Solicitation and evaluation
  4. Legal effect of quotations
  5. Purchase order
  6. Unpriced purchase order
  7. Blanket purchase agreement
5. Socio-Economic Conditions
  1. Small business policies
  2. Labor surplus area policies
  3. The Buy American Act
6. Industry's Understanding
Selling to the Government
1. General
2. Schedules
3. On-line sources
4. Getting On Solicitation Mailing List
5. Obtaining Solicitations
6. Inside Tracks
7. The "Preferred" Source
8. Responding to Solicitations
9. The Small Business Concern
Contract Formation
Contract Elements
1. Capacity to Contract
2. Legality
3. Offer
4. Acceptance
5. Consideration
Types of Contracts
1. Introduction
2. Fixed Price
  1. Firm fixed price
  2. Fixed price escalation
  3. Fixed price incentive
3. Cost Reimbursement
  1. Cost
  2. Cost Sharing
  3. Cost plus fixed fee
  4. Cost plus incentive fee
  5. Cost plus award fee
4. Other
  1. Best efforts
  2. Time and material
  3. Labor-hour
  4. Letter
  5. Indefinite
  6. Architect-Engineer (A-E)
  7. Construction
  8. Building Services
  9. Research and Development (R&D)
  10. Service Contracts
  11. Consulting services
5. Selecting Contract Type
6. Risks Involved
Competition Requirements
1. Background
2. Full and Open Competition
  1. General
  2. Sealed Bids
  3. Exclusions
3. Other Than Full and Open Competition
  1. General
  2. Permissive circumstances
4. Competition Advocates
Sealed Bidding
1. Background
2. What It Is
3. Preparing the Solicitation
4. Required Steps
  1. Essentials
  2. Date, hour and place of opening
  3. Specifications/purchase description
  4. Delivery schedule
  5. Terms and conditions
  6. Options
  7. Type of Contract
  8. Bid envelopes
5. Publicizing Procurements
  1. Solicitation mailing lists
  2. Commerce Business Daily
  3. Presolicitation notices
  4. R&D advance notices
  5. Pre-bid conference
6. Submission of Bids
  1. Amendments before opening
  2. Sealed bid cancellations
  3. Safeguarding bids
  4. Telegraphic bids
  5. Modifications
  6. Withdrawal requests
  7. Unidentified bids
  8. Bid samples
7. Bid Opening Procedure
8. Late Bid Rules
9. Bid Evaluation
  1. Responsiveness
  2. Responsibility
  3. Impartiality to bidders
  4. Pre-award surveys
  5. Rejection of bids
10. Dealing With Mistakes
  1. Before award
  2. After award
11. Protests Against Award to GAO
  1. Filing the protest
  2. Who may protest
  3. What may be protested
  4. Where to protest
  5. Form of protest
  6. Timeliness
  7. Determining timeliness
  8. Processing of protest
  9. Conference
  10. Effect of protest on award/performance
  11. Comptroller General decision
Two-Step Sealed Bidding
1. When Used
2. Conditions
3. Step One
4. Step Two
5. Picking the Winner
Negotiated Procurement
1. Definition
2. Essential Elements
3. Determination and Findings
4. Solicitation Package
5. Presolicitation Conference
6. Request for Quotations/Proposals
  1. Elements of competition
  2. Proposal conference
  3. Receipt of proposals
  4. Unsolicited proposals
  5. Written or oral discussions
  6. Competitive range
  7. Best and Final offers
7. Sole Source Buying
8. Technical Proposal Evaluation
  1. Routine procurements
  2. Complex procurements
  3. Information required
9. Management Proposal Evaluation
  1. Responsibility
  2. Certificate of competency
  3. Make-or-buy evaluation
  4. Contractor purchase system
10. Source Evaluation/Source Selection Boards
11. Cost and Price Analysis
  1. When Required
  2. Public Law 87-653
  3. Cost and Pricing Data
  4. Defective pricing rules
  5. Exceptions
  6. Should cost
12. Cost Realism-A Methodology
The Negotiation Process
1. Preparation
2. Nature of Requirement
3. Fact Finding
4. Strategy
5. Human Behavior
6. Agreement and Award
7. Notification of Offerors
8. Debriefing
Contract Performance
Understanding Costs
1. Allowable Costs
2. Unallowable Costs
  1. Unreasonable
  2. Unallocables
  3. Barred by contract
  4. Improper accounting
3. Pre-Incurred Costs
4. Advance Understanding
Some Useful Guidance
1. The Source Selection Organization
2. Evaluation of R&D Proposals
3. Evaluation of Production Proposals
  1. Understanding the technical data package
  2. Manufacturing capabilities
  3. Facilities
  4. Technical experience and past performance
  5. Quality assurance and reliability
4. Evaluation of Service Contracts
5. Evaluation of Sealed Bidding
  1. Price escalation
  2. Transportation costs
  3. Prices for options
  4. Bid samples
  5. Descriptive literature
Contract Modifications
1. Need For Modifications
2. Authority For Modifications
3. Changes Clause
  1. What can be changed
  2. What cannot be changed
  3. Who can order changes
  4. Equitable adjustments
  5. Continued performance
  6. Constructive changes
  7. Supplemental agreements
4. Delays
  1. Contractor fault
  2. Govt fault
  3. Beyond parties control
5. Agreement of Parties
6. Modification vs. New Buy
7. Impossibility of Performance
  1. The Occurrence
  2. Government assumption of risk
8. Novation and Change-Of-Name Agreement
Quality Assurance
1. Quality Assurance
  1. Contractor responsibility
  2. Govt review
2. Inspection Process
  1. What is inspected
  2. When and Where
  3. Types of inspection
3. Remedies For Defects
  1. Correction
  2. Replacement
  3. Price Reduction
4. Acceptance
  1. Forms
  2. Legal effect
5. Liability After Acceptance
  1. Latent defects
  2. Fraud
  3. Gross mistake
  4. Warranties
Contract Termination
Default Termination
1. Default Clause
2. Factors Considered
3. Basis For Termination
4. Procedure
  1. Cure notice
  2. Show cause letter
5. Excuses
  1. Excusable
  2. Subcontractors
  3. Inexcusable
  4. Attributable to Government
  5. Other
6. Government Remedies
  1. Reprocurement costs
  2. Liquidated damages
  3. Consequential damages
7. Waiver of Due Date
8. Consequences
Convenience Termination
1. Convenience Clause
2. Objectives
3. Factors Considered
4. Notice of Termination
5. Duties of Contractor
6. Duties of Government
7. Termination Claims
8. Settlement Proposal
9. Matter of Profit
10. Settlement Expenses
11. Subcontractor Claims
Contract Fights
Claims
1. Definition
2. Recognizing Them
  1. Overruns
  2. Inflation
3. GAO Review
4. Extraordinary Relief
5. Prompt Payment Act
Disputes
1. Areas of Disagreement
  1. Scope of work
  2. Money
  3. Performance
2. The Disputes Process
3. Contracting Officer Decision
  1. Findings of Fact
  2. Determination
4. Contractor's Appeal
5. Contract Appeal Boards
  1. How They Function
  2. Small Claims
  3. Accelerated Procedures
  4. Regular Procedures
6. The Courts
  1. Appeals from boards
  2. Direct appeals
7. Payment of Interest
The End
Contract Close Out
1. The Files
  1. Maintenance
  2. Retention
2. Final Delivery
3. Final Reports
4. Final Payment
5. Disposition of Property
6. Release of Claims

The Course Faculty

Jonathan H. Kosarin&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Deputy Counsel, Special Projects Division, U.S. Navy Office of General Counsel. Previously served as Associate Counsel of the Naval Supply Systems Command; Associate General Counsel and Director of Procurement Law, Federal Home Loan Bank Board; European Trial Attorney and Attorney Advisor at the U.S. Army Headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany; Trial Attorney, U.S. Army Contract Appeals Division. Serves as Adjunct Professor of Contract Law, Army Judge Advocate General’s School in Charlottesville, VA; Adjunct Instructor of Procurement and Contracting, University of VA. Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, Syracuse University; Juris Doctor degree, Brooklyn Law School; Master of Laws degree in Government Procurement Law, George Washington National Law Center.

Louis A. Chiarella&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp is an attorney in the Washington, DC area with more than ten years experience specializing in government procurement law. In addition to his current position, he has previously served as Professor of Contract and Fiscal Law, Army Judge Advocate General's School, Charlottesville, Virginia; Chief of Administrative and Civil Law, Fort Carson, Colorado; Trial Attorney, US Army Contract Appeals Division, Arlington, Virginia. Serves as Adjunct Professor of Contract and Fiscal law, Army Judge Advocate General's School, Charlottesville, Virginia; Board of Directors, Hawaii Procurement Institute. Bachelors of Arts degree, University of Notre Dame; Juris Doctor degree, State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo; Master of Arts degree, Catholic University of America; Masters of Laws degree, Army Judge Advocate General's School.

Michael A. Killham is a Senior Counsel in the Office of General Counsel of Raytheon Company, a large U.S. defense contractor. He is responsible for legal aspects of government and commercial contracting, subcontracting, export-import compliance, and litigation management. Before joining Raytheon, he was the General Counsel & Secretary of Thales-Raytheon Systems Company LLC, and Division Counsel for two operating divisions of Litton Industries, Inc. He has served as a Trial Attorney in the Civil Division (Procurement Fraud Branch), U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.; as Senior Professor of Contract and Fiscal Law on the faculty of the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s School, Charlottesville, Virginia; as a Trial Attorney for the U.S. Army Contract Appeals Division, Arlington, Virginia; and as a Criminal Prosecutor in Germany. Mr. Killham received a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point, a Juris Doctor degree from Notre Dame Law School, and a Master of Laws degree (with emphasis on U.S. Government Procurement) from The Judge Advocate General’s School. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Infantry Officer’s Basic Course, Ranger School, Airborne School, and Command and General Staff College, and has served in several positions as a company grade infantry officer in the 82d Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.

Kenneth J. Allen Formerly Command Counsel for Programs, Acquisition and Litigation, U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, and counsel for the Department of Defense's Joint Vaccine Acquisition Program. Mr. Allen has practiced government law for over 28 years, and he lectures frequently on government contract and fiscal law for Defense agencies, the American Society of Military Comptrollers, and the Army War College. His previous assignments have included acquisition counsel for the Army and Defense Information Systems Commands, legal advisor on fiscal law to the Defense Business Management University, administrative and labor lawyer for the U.S. Army in Europe and the Federal Labor Relations Authority, and several assignments as an active duty judge advocate. He is a graduate of the Brandeis School of Law, University of Louisville, the Army JAG School resident basic and advanced courses, the Army Management Staff College, National Defense University, and the Army War College.