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The Defense Department has completed significantly more contractor performance assessments in recent years, in terms of both number and percentage, a report from the Government Accountability Office says.
The department completed more than 33,000 performance assessments in fiscal 2012, compared to about 20,000 the previous year and 16,000 the year before that. As of April 2013, DoD had submitted 74 percent of required assessments, up from 56 percent in October 2011. Required assessments have a period of performance during the prior 3 years and meet the dollar threshold for reporting.
The GAO report, released June 27, credits the improvements to several efforts, including expanded training. In 2012, DoD trained more than 7,000 officials to assess contractor past performance, compared to about 3,600 in 2011 and 3,100 in 2010. Some training was through in-person classes, and some happened online with instructors. More recently, DoD added automated online courses, the report says.
The department also developed metrics to track assessments, which officials told GAO “has greatly improved the ability to effectively oversee and manage compliance, and has also improved accountability for completing assessments,” the report says. Officials also said that contractor past performance is now discussed regularly at senior-level acquisition meetings. Most assessments are still completed late though, the report notes. In fiscals 2010 through 2012, most completed assessments took more than 120 days, the standard for timeliness. GAO says this may be because of a focus on eliminating the backlog of overdue assessments.
Also, officials can’t finalize their assessments until contractors have a chance to provide comments or rebuttals, which they’re allowed at least 30 days to do. They can also request a meeting with their assessing official to discuss the draft assessment. Contractors commented on more than 80 percent of draft assessments during fiscals 2010 through 2012, the report says. For more, download the report, GAO-13-589 (.pdf)