Attachment 1 - Quality Assurance Surveillance (QASP).docx

QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVEILLANCE PLAN

FOR

REPAIR AND RETURN MANAGEMENT SERVICES

1. PURPOSE.

This Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) provides a systematic method to evaluate performance for the stated program. This QASP explains the following:

· Who will conduct the monitoring?

· What will be monitored?

· How monitoring will take place.

· How monitoring efforts and results will be documented.

This QASP does not detail how the contractor accomplishes the work. Rather, the QASP is created with the premise that the contractor is responsible for management and quality control actions to meet the terms of the contract. It is the Government’s responsibility to be objective, fair, and consistent in evaluating performance. In addition, the QASP should recognize that unforeseen and uncontrollable situations may occur.

This QASP is a “living document” and the Government may review and revise it on a regular basis. However, the Government shall coordinate changes with the contractor. Updates shall ensure that the QASP remains a valid, useful, and enforceable document. Copies of the original QASP and revisions shall be provided to the contractor and Government officials implementing surveillance activities.

2. GOVERNMENT ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.

The following personnel shall oversee and coordinate surveillance activities.

a. Procuring Contracting Officer (PCO) - The PCO shall ensure performance of all necessary actions for effective contracting, ensure compliance with the contract terms, and shall safeguard the interests of the United States in the contractual relationship. The PCO shall also assure that the contractor receives impartial, fair, and equitable treatment under this contract. The PCO is ultimately responsible for the final determination of the adequacy of the contractor’s performance.

b. Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) - The COR is responsible for technical administration of the contract and shall assure proper Government surveillance of the contractor’s performance. The COR shall keep a quality assurance file and provide monthly reports in the Virtual Contracting Enterprise (VCE) system. At the conclusion of the contract or when requested by the PCO, the COR shall provide documentation to the PCO. The COR is not empowered to make any contractual commitments or to authorize any contractual changes on the Government’s behalf. The contractor shall refer any changes they deem may affect contract price, terms, or conditions to the PCO for action.

c. Technical Monitor (TM) – The TM shall monitor and verify the contractor’s performance of the technical requirements of the contract in accordance with the contract terms, conditions, and specifications. Emphasis should be placed on adherence to contract quality provisions and to the contractor’s quality control program. Notify the COR of deficiencies observed during surveillance. The COR will direct appropriate action to effect correction and verify that the contractor has corrected all deficiencies. Record and report to the COR incidents of faulty or non-conforming work, delays, or problems. Provide the COR with information so he/she can appropriately report within the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS). Assist COR in reviewing contractor’s technical proposals and provide specific comments as to adequacy of the proposals in response to the tasks issued.

3. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES.

Repair and Return (R&R) of standard and non-standard military and commercial assets owned by Army Security Assistance Enterprise (ASAE) Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. This encompasses repair, maintenance, system modifications, inspections, calibrations, tests and evaluations, engineering design and analyses, and return to the customer as well as program management, material management, financial administration, planning monitoring, expediting, tracking and reporting into a webbased information system and by other means, as necessary, to assist with program management.

4. QUALITY REQUIREMENTS

The contractor, not the government, is responsible for management, quality control program and control actions to meet the terms of the contract.

The quality control program is the driver for quality. The contractor is required to develop a comprehensive program of inspections and monitoring actions. The first major step to ensuring a “self-correcting” contract is to ensure that the quality control program, approved at the beginning of the contract, provides the measures needed to lead the contractor to success.

Once the quality control program is accepted, careful application of the process and standards presented in the remainder of this document will ensure a robust quality assurance program.

5. PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.

Performance standards define desired services. The Government performs surveillance to determine if the contractor exceeds, meets or does not meet these standards. The following lists the performance requirements. The Government reserves the sole right and discretion to increase or change the below method of surveillance for any reason.

Within 45 days of request

Within 180 days, of receipt at SOR

6. SURVEILLANCE

Surveillance Schedule. The Contracting Officer Representative (COR) will develop a surveillance schedule. Copies of the schedule shall be sent to the contract administrator five calendar days prior to the start of the month. The schedule shall be marked “FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY”. Changes to the surveillance schedule will be posted and copies sent to the contract administrator. Include documentation regarding reason for changes. Various methods exist to monitor performance. Regardless of the surveillance method, the COR shall always contact the contractor's program manager when a problem is identified and inform them of the specifics of the problem. The COR shall be responsible for monitoring the contractor’s performance in meeting a specific performance standard. The COR shall use the surveillance methods listed below in the administration of this QASP.

Surveillance Methods. This QASP will incorporate periodic inspections conducted by the COR or designee as one of the methods of approach to ensure the contractor complies with the PWS requirements. Customer feedback and validated customer complaints may be obtained from quarterly teleconferences 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 COR. The COR will maintain a summary log of all formally received customer complaints as well as a copy of each complaint in a documentation file. The COR will also keep the results of all customer satisfaction surveys on file.

Anyone who observes unacceptable services, either incomplete or not performed, should immediately contact the COR. The COR will conduct an investigation to determine the validity of the complaint. If the COR determines the complaint to be valid, the COR will document the findings and notify the customer and the contractor. The COR will retain the annotated copy of the written complaint for the government’s files. If the complaint is valid, the contractor will be given fourteen days to take corrective action.

The COR should inform the customer the approximate time the defect will be corrected and advise the customer to contact the COR if the defect is not corrected. The COR will consider the customer complaint resolved unless notified otherwise by the customer.

The contractor shall return the written customer complaint document to the COR, completed with the actions taken to correct the defect. The government will retain this document to ensure the contractor has taken appropriate action(s) to prevent the recurrence of defects. The COR will retain and file the complaint

7. RATINGS.

Metrics and methods are designed to determine if performance exceeds, meets, or does not meet a given standard and acceptable quality level. A rating scale shall be used to determine a positive, neutral, or negative outcome. The following ratings shall be used:

8. DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS.

The Contracting Officer Representative is responsible for maintaining a Surveillance Folder at a designated location. The following information should be contained in the Surveillance Folder:

· QASP

· Contractor’s Quality Control Plan

· A chronological activity log of the actions taken in the accomplishment of quality assurance.

· Applicable portions of the contract and modifications.

· Appointment Letters and Training Certificates of the COR

· Certification of Services Documentation

· Quality Assurance Surveillance Schedules and Checklists

· Corrective Action Requests and Log

· Monthly Surveillance Status Reports

· Minutes/Memo’s/Miscellaneous Correspondence

9. DOCUMENTING PERFORMANCE.

a. Acceptable Performance.

The Government shall document positive performance. Any report may become a part of the supporting documentation for past performance information or other actions.

b. Unacceptable Performance.

When unacceptable performance occurs, the COR shall inform the contractor. This will normally be in writing unless circumstances necessitate verbal communication. In any case the COR shall document the discussion and place it in the COR file.

When the COR determines formal written communication is required, the COR shall prepare a Contract Discrepancy Report (CDR), and present it to the contractor's task manager or on-site representative. The contractor shall acknowledge receipt of the CDR in writing. The CDR will specify if the contractor is required to prepare a corrective action plan to document how the contractor shall correct the unacceptable performance and avoid a recurrence. The CDR will also state how long after receipt the contractor has to present this corrective action plan to the COR. The Government shall review the contractor's corrective action plan to determine acceptability. Re-performance is the preferred method of correcting any unacceptable performance. Any CDRs may become a part of the supporting documentation for contract payment deductions as applicable.