Attachment 4 Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP).pdf

Attachment 4 – Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan

Attachment 4 – Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan

1. Purpose

This contract is on behalf of the Customer Assistance, Relationships and Education (CARE) organization within the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Wage and Investment Division to provide both desktop, web-based and self- preparer electronic tax preparation and transmission software and support. The software supports IRS tax assistance programs that include the IRS Employees (Employee electronic file), Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE), and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA). This is a fixed price, contract with a period of performance of one year with 4 one-year option periods. All product and services required under this contract are ordered through the issuance of delivery orders

The purpose of the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) is to describe the methods the IRS will use and to identify the documentation and resources the IRS will employ to monitor the Contractor’s performance under this contract. The plan will define the roles and responsibilities of all members of the project team, identify the performance objectives, define the methodologies used to monitor and evaluate the Contractor’s performance, describe quality assurance documentation requirements, and describe the analysis of quality assurance monitoring results.

The QASP provides a means for evaluating whether the Contractor is meeting the performance standards and quality levels identified in the statement of work and ensures that the government pays only for the level of services it receives.

2. Authority

The authority for the issuance of the QASP is provided under FAR 46.4, Government Contract Quality Assurance, which requires the Government shall be performed as necessary to make determinations if supplies or services conform to contract requirements.

3. Scope

The Contractor is responsible for the quality of all work performed. The Contractor measures that quality through the Contractor’s own quality control program. Quality control is work output, not workers, and therefore includes all work performed under this contract regardless of whether the work is performed by Contractor employees or by sub-contractors.

Attachment 4 – Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan

The government representative(s) will monitor performance to determine how the Contractor is performing against communicated performance objectives. The government will make a determination regarding incentives based on performance measurement metric data and notify the Contractor of those decisions.

The Contractor will be responsible for making required changes in processes and practices to ensure performance is managed effectively.

4. Roles and Responsibilities

4.1 Contracting Officer – TBD

The Contracting Officer (CO) is responsible for monitoring contract compliance and contract administration. The CO is also responsible for resolving any differences between the observations documented by the Contracting Officer's representative (COR) and the Contractor. The CO will designate one full-time COR as the government authority for performance management; however, the CO is ultimately responsible for the final determination of the adequacy of the Contractor’s performance.

4.2 Contracting Officer’s Representative – TBD

The Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) has been designated in writing by the CO to act as his or her authorized representative to assist in administering the contract. The COR is responsible for technical administration of the project and ensures proper government surveillance of the Contractor’s performance.

The COR is not empowered to make any contractual commitments or to authorize any contractual changes on the government’s behalf. Any changes that the Contractor deems may affect contract price, terms, or conditions shall be referred to the CO for action. The COR will have the responsibility for completing Quality Assurance (QA) monitoring forms used to document the inspection and evaluation of the Contractor’s work performance.

4.3 Program Manager – TBD

The Program Manager (PM) has been designated by the IRS Wage and Investment Division to manage the program for the IRS. The PM is responsible for providing resources to implement the QASP and utilizing the surveillance results as a program decision tool. The PM is also the central point of contact for the user community and the IRS executive management staff and will provide feedback to and from those parties to the CO and COR.

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4.4 Contracting Specialist – See section 4.1 above.

5. Performance Standards

Performance Standards define desired outcome levels for products or services. The IRS will perform surveillance to determine if the Contractor exceeds, meets or does not meet these standards. The Performance Requirements Summary (PRS) Matrix in Section 10 of this QASP sets forth the performance standards for this contract and establishes the Acceptable Quality Levels (AQL) for each standard. The IRS shall use these standards to monitor Contractor performance by comparing actual performance to the AQLs.

6. Acceptable Quality Levels

The acceptable quality levels (AQLs) included in the PRS Matrix are structured to allow the Contractor to manage how the work is performed while providing negative incentives for performance shortfalls. Levels of performance are keyed to the relative importance of the task to the overall mission performance.

7. Incentives

If the Contractor meets the required service or performance levels, he will be paid the full amount set forth in the contract delivery order and will receive positive past performance ratings. Failure to meet the required service or performance levels will result in a deduction from the delivery order the amount for the defective work/services (until the work/services are corrected to an acceptable level) or negative past performance ratings or both.

8. Methodologies to Monitor of QA Surveillance

The following methods of surveillance shall be used by the COR in the technical administration of this

QASP.

8.1 Surveillance Techniques

To ensure the vendor is adhering to the contract, the government is utilizing the following measures below to evaluate Contractor performance. The primary methods of surveillance are:

• COR Monitoring

• Inspection

• Testing

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• Random Sampling

• Reports

• Validated User/Customer Complaints and Observations

9. Documentation

The COR will provide reports to the CO in accordance with Section 12.2 below documenting the performance of the Contractor in meeting the performance standards. The COR will maintain a complete Quality Assurance file. The file will contain copies of all reports, evaluations, recommendations, and any actions related to the Government’s performance of the quality assurance function. All such records will be maintained for the life of the contract. The COR shall forward these records to the CO at termination or completion of the contract.

10. Performance Requirements Summary Matrix

The Performance Requirements Summary Matrix below sets forth the performance standards, acceptable quality levels, methods of surveillance and impact for the identified products and services provided by the Contractor.

Performance Requirements Summary Matrix

Required Services/Tasks

Performance Standards Method of Surveillance

(Q/A)

AQL Deduction

Overall Contract

Management, Including Timeliness

Contractor maintains high level of quality assurance, Deliverables;

CORs and Contracting Officer monitoring and verification of

COR makes no more than 2 valid complaints

(1) Negative impact on past performance rating; possible termination

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Required Services/Tasks

Performance Standards Method of Surveillance

(Q/A)

AQL Deduction responsiveness to the COR and Contracting Specialist/Officer, reliability, completeness of tasks; contacts the

COR/CO

immediately with any issues or problems; meets time frames in the delivery schedule.

accuracy and quality during each contract period. No more than a two-week delay in agreed upon schedule.

Mandatory Software Requirements

The software provided (desktop, web-based and self-preparer) shall be capable of accurately processing tax payer data in accordance with the functional and technical requirements in accordance with the requirements of the SOW.

Software inspection, testing, random sampling, periodic reports, validated user/customer complaints and observations

99% of tax returns processed monthly

(1) Negative impact on past performance rating; possible termination

Performance and Reliability

The Web-based software must be available 99% of the time, 7 days a week, 24 hours per day (Excludes weekly scheduled maintenance) in accordance with the requirements of the SOW.

COR monitoring, and validated user/customer complaints and observations

99% availability per week (Based on a 168-hour week and excluding weekly scheduled maintenance)

(1) Negative impact on past performance rating; possible termination

Management Reports

The Contractor will provide weekly management reports in

COR monitoring and other

(1) Negative impact on past performance

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Required Services/Tasks

Performance Standards Method of Surveillance

(Q/A)

AQL Deduction accordance with the requirements of the SOW.

High-quality written materials are produced.

reviewers’ comments on draft and final products;

validated user/customer complaints and observations

99% of reports provided timely per month

Successful review by

COR/CO; minimal rewriting or editing required.

rating; possible termination

Help Desk Support

Each caller must receive a successful resolution to his problem while on the initial call 95% of the time during each performance year of the contract year (Feb to Feb), in accordance with the requirements of the SOW.

Periodic reports and validated user/customer complaints and observations

95% of callers per month

(1) Negative impact on past performance rating; possible termination

Help Desk Support

Each caller will provide first-level e-mail-based customer service, with an answer to the problem within 1 business day of receipt of the e-mail. This e-mail will address the problem reported by the user, in accordance with the requirements of the

SOW.

Periodic reports and validated user/customer complaints

95% of e-mails per month

(1) Negative impact on past performance rating; possible termination

11. Monitoring Forms

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The government’s QA surveillance, accomplished by the COR, will be reported using the monitoring form in Attachment 1. The forms, when completed, will document the government’s assessment of the Contractor’s performance under the contract to ensure that the required results are being achieved. The COR will retain a copy of all completed QA surveillance forms.

12. Analysis of Quality Assurance Assessment

12.1 Determining Performance

Government shall use the monitoring methods cited in the PRS Matrix to determine whether the performance standards/AQLs have been met. If the Contractor has not met the minimum requirements, he may be asked to develop a corrective action plan to show how and by what date it intends to bring performance up to the required levels. Failure to meet the AQL may result in termination, a negative past performance rating or both.

12.2 Reporting

Performance will be monitored in 2 phases. The first phase will commence on January 1st and end on April 30th and the second phase will begin on May 1st and end on December 31st. The COR will prepare 4 written reports annually for the CO summarizing the overall results of the quality assurance surveillance of the Contractor’s performance. The first report will be due at the end of the 1st monitoring phase on April 30th and for the remaining reports will be due on June 30th, September 30th and December 31st respectively.

These written reports, which will include the completed quality assurance monitoring form, will become part of the QA documentation. It will enable the government to assess whether the Contractor is meeting the stated objectives and/or performance standards.

12.3 Implementation

The IRS shall make progress payments for the software purchased for the upcoming tax season commencing on January 1st of each year under this contract until. After the Contractor’s software has been delivered; contract performance will be based on the performance assessment. If the Contractor fails to meet any of the required AQLs under the established performance standards, the Contractor’s past performance can be negatively affected in the interim reporting. During Phase 2 of the monitoring period, the Contractor’s performance will be assessed on the dates indicated in Section 12.2 to determine the Contractor’s past performance rating. Any negative performance information resulting from the performance assessment will be reported in the Contractor Performance Assessment and Reporting System (CPARS). Further any performance issues documented under Phase 1 or that result from the Contractor’s inability to fulfill any other terms or conditions of the contract that are not included in the PRS Matrix may also be reported in CPARS.

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12.4. Reviews and Resolution

The IRS may require the Contractor’s project manager, or a designated alternate, to meet with the team members identified in Section 4 to discuss the performance evaluation. The meetings may be scheduled at regular intervals or on an “as needed” basis only or at the request of the Contractor. These meetings will mainly consist of performance reviews. The agenda may include:

• Performance assessment data and trend analysis

• Issues and concerns of both parties

• Projected outlook for upcoming months and progress against expected trends, including a corrective action plan analysis

• Recommendations for improved efficiency and/or effectiveness

• Issues arising from the performance monitoring process

The team must coordinate and communicate with the Contractor to resolve issues and concerns regarding marginal or unacceptable performance. The team and the Contractor should jointly formulate tactical and long-term courses of action to improve performance. Any changes to the QASP that result from these meetings must be incorporated through the issuance of a modification to the contract.

Attachment 4 – Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan

QUALITY ASSURANCE MONITORING FORM

SERVICE or STANDARD:

MONITORING PERIOD:

SURVEILLANCE METHOD (Check):

COR Monitoring Inspection Testing Random Sampling Report User/Customer Observations/Complaints

LEVEL OF SURVEILLANCE (Check):

Weekly Monthly Quarterly As needed

CRITERIA/DOCUMENTATION USED FOR SAMPLE:

ANALYSIS OF RESULTS:

Contractor’s Performance Measurement Rate: %

Contractor’s Performance (Check): Meets Standards

Does Not Meet Standards

Narrative of Performance During Survey Period:

PREPARED BY: DATE: