Attachment C Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan.pdf

Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP)

The contractor will be evaluated in accordance with the following:

1. PURPOSE

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

• What will be monitored.

• How monitoring will take place.

• Who will conduct the monitoring.

• 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.

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 through contract modification. Copies of the original QASP and revisions shall be provided to the contractor and Government officials implementing surveillance activities.

Government Roles and Responsibilities

The following personnel shall oversee and coordinate surveillance activities.

Program Point of Contact (POC) – The POC is responsible for proper Government surveillance of the contractor’s performance. The POC shall keep a quality assurance file. The POC is not empowered to make any contractual commitments or to authorize any contractual changes on the Government’s behalf and will request contract modifications by request to the Contracting Officer.

Performance Standards

The contractor is responsible for performance of ALL terms and conditions of the contract. POCs will provide contract progress reports quarterly to the CO reflecting performance on this plan and all other aspects of the resultant contract. The performance standards outlined in this QASP shall be used to determine the level of contractor performance in the elements defined.

Performance standards define desired services. The Government performs surveillance to determine the level of Contractor performance to these standards.

The Performance Requirements are listed below in Section 6. The Government shall use these standards to determine contractor performance and shall compare contractor performance to the standard and assign a rating. At the end of the performance period, these ratings will be used, in part, to establish the past performance of the contractor on the contract.

Incentives/Deducts

The Government shall use past performance as incentives. Incentives shall be based on ratings received on the performance standards. This contract will not provide any monetary incentives for services rendered at the CMCVAMC.

Methods of QA Surveillance

Various methods exist to monitor performance. The POC shall use the surveillance methods listed below in the administration of this QASP.

• DIRECT OBSERVATION. 100% surveillance by the POC, VEC Program Director or any VA Employee that is employed by the

CMCVAMC.

• PERIODIC INSPECTION. Inspections scheduled and reported quarterly per POC delegation or as needed.

• VALIDATED USER/CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS. All complaints or concerns identified will be reported to the VEC Director, who in turn will notify the POC. The POC will document and report back to the agency for action.

• Verification and/or documentation provided by Contractor.

• The Government shall document positive and/or negative performance. Any report may become a part of the supporting documentation for any contractual action and preparing annual past performance using CONTRACTOR PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

REPORT (CPAR).

• If contractor performance does not meet the Acceptable Quality level, the CO shall inform the contractor. This will normally be in writing unless circumstances necessitate verbal communication. In any case the CO shall document the discussion and place it in the contract file. When the POC and the CO determines formal written communication is required, the POC shall prepare a Contract Discrepancy Report (CDR), and present it to CO. The CO will in turn review and will present to the contractor's program manager for corrective action.

• 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 CO. The Government shall review the contractor's corrective action plan to determine acceptability. The CO shall also assure that the contractor receives impartial, fair, and equitable treatment. The CO is ultimately responsible for the final determination of the adequacy of the contractor’s performance and the acceptability of the Contractor’s corrective action plan.

• Any CDRs may become a part of the supporting documentation for any contractual action deemed necessary by the CO.

• As prescribed in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 42.15, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) evaluates contractor past performance on all contracts that exceed $100,000, and shares those evaluations with other Federal Government contract specialists and procurement officials. The FAR requires that the contractor be provided an opportunity to comment on past performance evaluations prior to each report closing. To fulfill this requirement VA uses an online database, CPARS, which is maintained by the Naval Seal Logistics Center in Portsmouth, Virginia. CPARS has connectivity with the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) database, which is available to all Federal agencies. PPIRS is the system used to collect and retrieve performance assessment reports used in source selection determinations and completed CPARS report cards transferred to PPIRS. CPARS also includes access to the federal awardee performance and integrity information system (FAPIIS). FAPIIS is a web-enabled application accessed via CPARS for contractor responsibility determination information.

• Each contractor whose contract award is estimated to exceed $100,000 is required to register with CPARS database at the following web address: www.cpars.csd.disa.mil. Help in registering can be obtained by contacting Customer Support Desk @ DSN: 684-1690 or COMM: 207-438-1690. Registration should occur no later than thirty days after contract award, and must be kept current should there be any change to the contractor’s registered representative.

http://www.cpars.csd.disa.mil/

• For contracts with a period of one year or less, the contracting officer will perform a single evaluation when the contract is complete.

For contracts exceeding one year, the contracting officer will evaluate the contractor’s performance annually. Interim reports will be filed each year until the last year of the contract, when the final report will be completed. The report shall be assigned in CPARS to the contractor’s designated representative for comment. The contractor representative will have thirty days to submit any comments and re-assign the report to the VA contracting officer.

• Failure to have a current registration in the CPARS database, or to re-assign the report to the VA contracting officer within those thirty days, will result in the Government’s evaluation being placed on file in the database with a statement that the contractor failed to respond.

Performance Measures

Refer to the table titled, QASP – Performance Measures.

QASP – Performance Measures Measures Performance

Requirement Standard Acceptable Quality

Level Surveillance

Method Incentive Disincentive / Deduct

1 - Survey Data Collection

Timeliness in sending surveys and quantifying responses

Task due as described in the Delivery Schedule and timelines set forth by the VEC staff, COR and

CO.

The Survey Data Collection, Analysis, and Reporting accurately reflect objectives and methods specified in the approved protocol.

Direct Observation by VEC Staff and the

COR.

Favorable contractor

CPARS

performance evaluation, higher survey response, lower vendor costs

Unfavorable contractor CPARS performance evaluation, low survey response, higher vendor costs

2 - Summary Reports of

Accurate reporting of responses

Contractor shall deliver this task in accordance

The Summary Report(s) of BFS and results reflect the elements

Direct Observation by

Favorable contractor

CPARS

Unfavorable contractor CPARS

BFS and Results provided by respondents of

BFS

with the VEC approved production schedule and codebook. 100% accuracy in reporting of BFS results.

specified associated with this task. 100% accuracy in reporting of BFS results for responders and non-responders.

VEC Staff and the

COR.

performance evaluation.

performance evaluation.

3 - Maintains licensing, registration , and certificatio n

Updated Licensing, registration and certification will be provided as they are renewed.

Licensing and registration information kept current.

Maintenance of current federal certifications or licensures or certifications required for the organization

Contractor will maintain 100% currency for industry licenses and certifications required for handling and protecting federal sensitive date.

Periodic Sampling and Random Sampling

Favorable contractor

CPARS

performance evaluation.

Unfavorable contractor CPARS performance evaluation

4 - Mandatory Training

Contractor completes all mandatory required training within one week of award.

Contractor will complete all

100% in all assigned TMS, the VA’s Learning Management System, training curricula within one week of award.

100% completion of all training prior to the due-date of the courses and within one week of award.

Contractor to provide documented evidence to maintain competency folders held at

Favorable contractor

CPARS

performance evaluation.

Suspension or termination of all physical and/or electronic access privileges and removal from contract until such time as the training is complete.

required training per VAMC policy.

CMCVAMC, if applicable

5 - Timely Invoicing

Timely submission of invoices, within 14-day of month end.

Within 14 days of the end of each months’ services were provided, as described above, the contractor shall provide accurate and correctly itemized invoice for the one-month period.

Errors and untimely submission of invoices will be logged by the COR which may lead to delays in distributing payment.

Inspection by

COR

Favorable contractor

CPARS

performance evaluation, timely payment

Unfavorable contractor CPARS performance evaluation, delays in payment

6 – Creation of all needed materials

Creation of all mailing materials, survey website, secure drive for uploading materials completed within two weeks of award.

Creation of all mailing materials, survey website, secure drive for uploading materials completed within two weeks of award.

100% completion of materials listed in the VEC protocol with minimal errors/edits needed within two weeks of award.

Direct Observation by VEC Staff and the

COR.

Favorable contractor

CPARS

performance evaluation.

Unfavorable contractor CPARS performance evaluation.

Various methods exist to monitor performance. The POC shall use the surveillance methods listed below in the administration of this QASP.