1305M323RNFFT0006 Attachment 5 QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVEILLANCE PLAN AND MATRIX.pdf

Attachment 5

DRAFT QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVEILLANCE PLAN AND MATRIX (for informational/solicitation purposes)

1.0 PURPOSE

This Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) is a Government developed and applied document used to make sure that systematic quality assurance methods are used in the administration of the Performance Based Service Contract (PBSC) standards included in this contract. The intent is to ensure that the Contractor performs in accordance with performance metrics set forth in the contract documents, that the Government receives the quality of services called for in the contract and that the Government only pays for the acceptable level of services received.

2.0 AUTHORITY

Authority for issuance of this QASP is provided under FAR 52-212-4(a), Inspection/Acceptance, which provides for inspections and acceptance of the articles, services, and documentation called for in the contract to be accomplished by the Contracting Officer or their duly authorized representative.

3.0 SCOPE

The Contractor, and not the Government, is responsible for management and quality control actions necessary to meet quality standards set forth by the contract. The QASP is put in place to provide Government surveillance oversight of the Contractor’s quality control efforts to assure that they are timely, effective and are delivering the results specified in the contract. The QASP is not a part of the contract nor is it intended to duplicate the Contractor’s Quality Control Program. The Government may provide the Contractor an information copy of the QASP as an Attachment to the solicitation to support the Contractor’s efforts in developing its plan for maintaining the levels of quality anticipated to be delivered under the terms of the contract.

4.0 RESPONSIBILITIES

The Government resources shall have responsibilities for the implementation of this QASP as follows:

Contracting Officer – The Contracting Officer ensures performance of all necessary actions for effective contracting, ensures compliance with the terms of the contract and safeguards the interests of the United States in the contractual relationship. It is the Contracting Officer that assures the Contractor receives impartial, fair and equitable treatment under the contract. The Contracting Officer is ultimately responsible for the final determination of the adequacy of the Contractor’s performance.

Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) – An individual designated in writing by the Contracting Officer to act as his authorized representative to assist in administering a contract. The source and authority for the COR is the Contracting Officer. COR limitations are contained in the written letter of appointment.

5.0 METHODS OF QA SURVEILLANCE

The below listed methods of surveillance shall be used in the administration of this QASP. The QASP Matrix describes the methods of surveillance that may be used to monitor the services and deliverables to be provided under the contract.

Customer Feedback – Customer feedback may be obtained either from the results of formal customer satisfaction surveys or from random customer complaints. Customer complaints, to be considered valid, must set forth clearly and in writing the detailed nature of the complaint, must be signed and must be forwarded to the Contractor. The Contractor shall maintain a summary log of all formally received customer complaints as well as a copy of each complaint in a documentation file.

Random Checks/Inspections – Random checks will be conducted to ensure compliance with the PWS.

The CO or COR will conduct the random monitoring.

6.0 IDENTIFIED QA SURVEILLANCE ITEMS

The PBSC items that have been identified for surveillance are identified in the PWS.

7.0 DOCUMENTATION

The COR will maintain a complete Quality Assurance Surveillance file. The file shall contain such documents as copies of all receiving reports, evaluations, recommendations, and any other actions related to the Government’s performance of the quality assurance function. All such records will be retained for the life of this contract. At a minimum, the Quality Assurance Surveillance file shall contain:

Copies of letters of appointment for the COR A copy of the contract and all modifications A copy of the QASP and all subsequent revisions The names and titles of individuals on the contract administration team A record of all accepted receiving reports, required documentation with the submission of each receiving report and reviews.

Memoranda for the record or minutes of any pre-performance meetings or conferences.

Memoranda for the record or minutes of any meetings or discussions with the contractor, or others, pertaining to the contract or contract performance or changes to the PWS.

8.0 ANALYSIS OF CONTRACTOR PERFORMANCE

The analysis of contractor performance shall be conducted at the end of each month and serves to provide a summary of the Contractor’s performance to the Contracting Officer and the Contractor. Overall performance is important in determining whether to increase, decrease or maintain the current level of surveillance and/or whether to initiate corrective action to bring the Contractor’s work up to the standards of the specification.

The Government, through it’s COR, will be monitoring the contractor’s standards of performance on each task order(s) awarded on a continuing basis over the contract performance period. The volume of task order(s) performed by the contractor may make technical inspections of every order and step impractical.

Accordingly, the Government will use a quality-assurance review process, to monitor the contractor’s performance under the contract and subsequent task order(s). The contractor’s performance standards will be evaluated by the COR as specified for each element in the performance standards noted above.

The Government will contact the contractor to discuss any "Unsatisfactory" rating received during any of the quality-assurance review rating areas prior to making a final determination on that element of contract performance. The contractor may respond in writing to each "Unsatisfactory" rating within five (5) working days after the discussion, and the Government will consider such responses before making a final rating determination. Performance at the "Satisfactory" level is expected from the Contractor and may not be documented in detail.

In general, the work will be evaluated in terms of how well the requirements of the individual task order(s) are satisfied, the extent to which the contractor independently performs, generation of high quality deliverable(s), the timeliness of scheduled task(s) accomplishment, and the meeting of the fleet coverages.

Outcome Required Services Minimum Performance Standard

Monitoring Method by

COR

Acceptable Quality Level

Successful delivery of data collected during a specific vessel trip

Successful delivery of the data from observed sea days includes:(1) data delivery from California to Honolulu within one week;

(2) data entry within one

(1) week of receiving data from California; and (3) Data entry from trips that arrive in Honolulu must be entered within one week.

Data from trips that arrive in California are entered within two weeks; Data from trips that arrive in Honolulu are entered within one

(1) week

100 % Monitoring

Excellent = < Two

(2) trips not in compliance

Satisfactory = < Four (4) trips not in compliance

Unsatisfactory = > Four (4) trips not in compliance

Data is of acceptable quality

Trips with complete data which is defined as: every set and haul is observed with data recorded on required collection forms;

Data is correctly recorded, and species identification is accurate.

Unacceptable data quality from trips are determined on a case by case basis considering the percentage of the trip observed and the total number of sets within the trip.

100 % Monitoring

Excellent = < Two

(2) trips not in compliance

Satisfactory = < Four (4) trips not in compliance

Unsatisfactory = > Four (4) trips not in

Performance Standard

Monitoring Method by

COR

Acceptable Quality Level

To be considered acceptable data quality, the data evaluation score must be below 250 for each of the first three (3) trips and below 100 after the observer completes their 3rd trip.

compliance

Common Access Card (CAC) Management

The contractor must manage CACs issued to each observer by tracking the expiration date to ensure observers have a valid CAC at all times, and ensure observers have access to their CAC PIN.

A valid CAC is defined as observers having an unexpired CAC, as well as remembering or having access to their CAC PIN numbers at all times.

100%

Excellent = < Three

(3) CAC waivers issued

Satisfactory = < Five

(5) CAC waivers issued

Unsatisfactory = > Five (5) CAC waivers issued

Contractor shall comply with Hawaii Deep-set Longline Observer Coverage Requirements (Annual)

Contractor shall maintain a qualified pool of available observers to obtain the minimum observer coverage for the total fleet effort during the performance year.

Contractor provides 20% observer coverage annually of the total fleet effort for the Hawaii Deep-set Fishery;

Quarterly Monitoring

Excellent = ≥20% - ≤21% coverage

Satisfactory = >21%

- ≤23%

Unsatisfactory = <20% or >23%

Compliance with Fleet Coverage Requirements (Quarterly)

Observer coverage for the Hawaii Deep-set Longline fishery is maintained per quarter.

Quarterly observer coverage for the Hawaii Deep-set Fishery is maintained at a recommended minimum of 15% per quarter. The

Quarterly Monitoring

Excellent= ≥15% coverage per quarter.

Satisfactory = ≥ 13%

- <15% coverage per quarter.

Unsatisfactory

Performance Standard

Monitoring Method by

COR

Acceptable Quality Level quarters will end on March 31st, June 30th, September 30th, and December 31st

= <13% coverage per quarter.

Contractor shall comply with Hawaii Shallow-set Longline Observer Coverage Requirements (Annual)

Contractor shall maintain a qualified pool of available observers to obtain the minimum observer coverage for the total fleet effort during the performance year.

Contractor provides 100% observer coverage annually of the total fleet effort for the Hawaii Shallow-set Fishery.

Quarterly Monitoring

100% observer coverage for the Shallow-set Fishery.

Compliance with vessel placement Safety Checklist

Contractor shall ensure that the vessel meets the minimum standards on the vessel placement checklist.

When the observer or Port Coordinator finds a safety deficiency on a vessel they are to document this on the placement checklist; if the vessel fixes the deficiency and the observer departs on the trip the correction must be added to the vessel checklist

100 %

Excellent = <5% of Trips

Satisfactory = < 10% of Trips

Unsatisfactory = > 10% of Trips