Understanding a contract is much more complex than just knowing how to perform technically. It is not uncommon for a company new to federal acquisition to find themselves in a contract without an understanding of the full extent of the requirements, which includes contract administration. Failure to fully execute the contract administration side can lead to less than satisfactory performance ratings and negatively impact future work.
Before making the final decision to bid on a solicitation that fits your company’s area of expertise, it is important to understand what administrative obligations are required. A quick review of the evaluation factor for award should capture, aside from technical factors, the key administrative areas important for success. In addition, if it is a DoD solicitation for services there will likely be a Services Summary in the Statement of Work and a Contract Data Requirements List (CDRL) attached. The Services Summary will capture key performance areas that will be monitored for compliance and the CDRL will provide a description of the data deliverables.
After working through these areas, you should have a top-level understanding of the administrative requirements, but you cannot stop there. The contract clauses often contain requirements which are overlooked but that can be significant cost drivers. Be on the lookout for government furnished property, earned value management, and manpower reporting, just to name a few. Most clauses will be incorporated by reference and require offerors to go to the Federal Acquisition Regulations and/or Agency Supplements to view each in its entirety. Do not expect the contracting officer to alert you to all the clauses. The best contractors will know the contract clauses better than the contracting officer. On that note, if your review discovers a clause or an overly restrictive requirement that should not be in a contract, do not hesitate to challenge it during the draft or formal solicitation phase.
After performing your own deep dive into the solicitation, you must attend any pre-proposal conferences or industry day briefings. Companies that choose to forgo these events miss out on information necessary to provide the most comprehensive proposal. Here the contracting officer will normally walk through the contract structure and proposal/evaluation process while the program office discusses the critical aspects of the statement of work. Of course, there will be a question and answer session where, in addition to having your own questions answered, you will see alternative views on the requirement which will only increase your understanding.
Once you have completed this review you should have a fairly good grasp of what is required. So, ask yourself from a contract administrative perspective, ‘does it make sense?’. For example, if there is a $15M cost-type service contract and it appears there will only be a monthly progress report required, it may be worth a second look. A cost-type service contract valued in the millions will normally have many administrative cost drivers. Failure to see this may result in underbidding the administrative cost. If the administrative burden does not appear to fit the contract, reach out to the contracting officer with follow-up questions or seek the assistance of a company that helps businesses navigate the federal acquisition process.
After successfully landing the contract the next opportunity to increase overall understanding is during the contract kickoff meeting. Here you will meet with the Contracting Officer, Contracting Officer Representative, and other team member to go through the contract and government expectations. If anything jumps out as not being what was understood from the solicitation, then speak up; however, do so in a non-combative manner. Now is the time to work out any misconceptions so both sides can start the contract with a common understanding of expectations. With that aside, hopefully there will not be any major surprises during this meeting and the time can be used to begin building a relationship with the government team.
In the end, managing your contract smartly from day one will pay dividends when it comes to past performance ratings and attainment of future work. A contractor with a strong technical team will only be remembered in a positive light if they have an equally strong management team with a thorough understanding of the administrative requirements.