The following HTML text is provided to enhance online
readability. Many aspects of typography translate only awkwardly to HTML.
Please use the page image
as the authoritative form to ensure accuracy.
ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION CONTRACTING: (Summary of a Symposium)
ESTABLISHING CONTRACTOR PERFORMANCE CRITERIA AND MEASURING RESULTS—THE MOST CHALLENGING TASKS IN ANY ENVIRONMENTAL PROCUREMENT
Dwight A. Beranek
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
OUTLINE
Introduction—The challenge
Setting criteria—Knowing what we want
Measuring performance—Getting what we want
Summary—Meeting the challenge
THE CHALLENGE
Environmental Remediation is a Tough Ballgame:
Conditions are generated over time
Discovery is often spontaneous
Extent of damage/danger is unknown
Health/safety issues predominate
There are more laws/rules than you can shake a stick at—And they vary by state/locale
Personal and contractor liability is risky
Issues become visible and politicized
Technical Requirements are Hard to Define:
Site assessment takes time and money —uncertainties often remain
Subsurface conditions often predominate
Technical solutions vary widely in process, price, and time
Matching problem and solution has inherent risks
Defining acceptable final conditions is judgmental
Placing a Value on Contractor Performance is Difficult:
Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole. Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 12
ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION CONTRACTING: (Summary of a Symposium)
ESTABLISHING CONTRACTOR PERFORMANCE CRITERIA AND MEASURING RESULTS —THE MOST CHALLENGING TASKS IN ANY ENVIRONMENTAL PROCUREMENT
Dwight A. Beranek
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
OUTLINE
Introduction—The challenge
Setting criteria—Knowing what we want
Measuring performance—Getting what we want
Summary—Meeting the challenge
THE CHALLENGE
Environmental Remediation is a Tough Ballgame:
Conditions are generated over time
Discovery is often spontaneous
Extent of damage/danger is unknown
Health/safety issues predominate
There are more laws/rules than you can shake a stick at—And they vary by state/locale
Personal and contractor liability is risky
Issues become visible and politicized
Technical Requirements are Hard to Define:
Site assessment takes time and money —uncertainties often remain
Subsurface conditions often predominate
Technical solutions vary widely in process, price, and time
Matching problem and solution has inherent risks
Defining acceptable final conditions is judgmental
Placing a Value on Contractor Performance is Difficult:
How much are we willing to pay for speed?
OCR for page 13
ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION CONTRACTING: (Summary of a Symposium)
How much are we willing to pay for level of remediation?
How much are we willing to pay for good management?
How much are we willing to pay for cost reduction?
How much are we willing to pay for good documentation?
Procurement Process Makes Life Interesting:
We can't relinquish sovereign responsibilities to contractors
We must comply with the norms of federal procurement—equity, fairness, integrity, consistency, accountability
Must be smart in the selection of the procurement vehicles to suit programmatic norms—risk management, performance, time, cost
Setting Criteria - Knowing What We Want:
Most important step in the process
Careful planning effort
Customer driven requirement
Risk management approach
learn all we can
within constraints
determine risk of uncertainties
assign risks between government and contractor
KNOWING WHAT WE WANT:
Acquisition planning
Conducted by a technical, procurement, and customer team—determines technical performance criteria, cost, and time targets
selects the appropriate contracting type
determines the scope of work
performs preaward evaluation
Determine desired end state
review applicable environmental regulations
consult closely with regulatory authority
Apply requirements carefully to site
Establish parameters necessary to achieve compliance
Determine constraints
time
health/safety
OCR for page 14
ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION CONTRACTING: (Summary of a Symposium)
funds
political
Assess present conditions
analyze site data
define conditions in regulated parameters
determine deficient areas—where possible
qualify potential deficiencies—assign probabilities
Determine certainty of technical performance, cost, and time criteria
Select contracting type based upon this analysis, for example:
low uncertainty/risk—firm fixed price
uncertain site conditions but known value of technical performance, cost, and time criteria—cost plus incentive fee
uncertain conditions and unknown or changing value of criteria—cost plus award fee
MEASURING RESULTS - GETTING WHAT WE WANT:
Must translate criteria/needs to clear/binding contractual requirements
Must rely on contractor profit motive
Must structure contract to incentivize contractor in high value (to government) areas
Must foster a businesslike climate between parties
Must establish an oversight process commensurate with government's responsibilities
GETTING WHAT WE WANT (WHEN THE VALUE OF CRITERIA IS KNOWN AND CONSTANT):
Determine the most important technical performance criteria
Describe minimum, target, and optimum performance levels
Determine the value to the government for achieving performance above the minimum criteria level
Determine the “sharing ration” between government and contractor
Build the formula into the contract in the fee determination process —in the OK or during negotiations
Perform the same analysis for cost and time criteria
Determine the relative values of trading off one criteria for another i.e., Increase technical performance at the expense of cost
Document the trade-offs in fee determination table, curves, or nomographs
Tie into contract
OCR for page 15
ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION CONTRACTING: (Summary of a Symposium)
WHEN VALUE OF PERFORMANCE CRITERIA IS UNCERTAIN AND/OR CHANGES DURING CONTRACT:
Use award fee contracting approach
More subjective approach in fee determination
Contractor involved in approach
Government serves as final fee authority
Establishing a businesslike environment is crucial
Have an unambiguous contract
Enter a partnership to establish productive relationship (trust)
Understand respective motivations
Sign up to project related goals
Foster consistent and clear communications
Face and solve problems early
GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT ROLES (STATED IN CONTRACT):
Fee Determination Official (FDO) — Provides equitable judgment on fee—high official
Performance Evaluation Boards (PEB)
Evaluates performance, cost, time reports
Recommends fee to FDO
Performance Monitors (PM) — Collect data—prepare reports for PEB
RULES OF THUMB:
Express requirement accurately = convey performance expectations
Emphasize reward-based incentives = reward successful performance
Motivate performance excellence = let the contractor manage and do the job
Cultivate communication and feedback = share agreements and differences
Keep it as simple as possible = be declarative and unambiguous
SUMMARY - MEETING THE CHALLENGE:
Government has a sovereign obligation to know what we want and get what we want for the taxpayer — government agents must perform the tasks that will ensure compliance with environmental regulations
We must do our homework
setting criteria
structuring the procurement action
determining risks and tradeoffs
We must be accountable and professional
OCR for page 16
ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION CONTRACTING: (Summary of a Symposium)
We must appreciate the contractor's world
We must not relent until the job is done.
Items in cart [4]
