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Wednesday, September 7, 2011
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small business federal government contracting http://formspring.me/smalltofeds
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Thursday, September 1, 2011
SMALL BUSINESS FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CONTRACT DISPUTES AND APPEALS
{EAV_BLOG_VER:6910f8d5b926de89}
REQUESTS
FOR EQUITABLE ADJUSTMENT (REA)
ALTERNATIVE
DISPUTE RESOLUTION (ADR)
AND
CLAIMS
I.  INTRODUCTION
The Federal Acquisition
Regulation (FAR) contains provisions for contractors and the government to
resolve contract disputes.  Such matters
arise due to events during performance, many times surfacing weaknesses in the
original contract work  definition, technical
parameters, schedule factors or related terms and conditions that can lead to change
implications effecting cost, schedule and delivery.
In short, when the
understanding the parties thought they had at negotiation and execution of the
contract is in dispute, there must be a resolution.
Such conditions open
the baseline of the contract to further clarification and negotiation. The FAR recognizes
that a fair and equitable process is necessary to settle such matters and
re-establish a mutually agreeable contract baseline.
II.
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
As we
have conveyed earlier in discussions on contract terminations, certain
conditions are usually present when a disputed contract is on the horizon.
Contract
baseline management has been discussed previously in the following article:
http://www.smalltofeds.com/2009/08/contract-baseline-management-in-small.html
The above
article offers six (6) rules of thumb:
1. KNOW -
The contract value and its ceiling amount
2. KNOW -
The incurred cost to date and commitments
3. KNOW -
The scope of work and whether or not your current efforts are supporting it or
some other objectives
4. KNOW -
The estimated cost at completion based on where you are at today
5. KNOW -
Your customer and who among the customer population is prone to direct out of
scope effort.
6. KNOW -
WHEN TO SAY "NO" to "Scope Creep" and say it officially in
writing to the contracting officer specified in your contract.
The remainder of this
article will discuss the three most common processes that contract disputes
undergo and selecting the best method considering the circumstances that exist
on the contract.
III.
REQUESTS FOR EQUITABLE ADJUSTMENT (REA)
An REA is
most often the first and the least formal step undertaken by a contractor when
there has been a clear and recognizable departure from the contract baseline in
terms of events that warrant cost, schedule, technical performance or terms and
conditions parameter modification.  It
does not start the formal claims process under FAR with associated interest
implications