Attachment_-_CPARS_Notification.pdf

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (December 2015)

1) FAR 42.1502 directs all Federal agencies to collect past performance information on contracts. The Department of the Interior (DOI) has implemented the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) to comply with this regulation.

One or more past performance evaluations will be conducted in order to record your contract performance as required by FAR 42.15.

2) The past performance evaluation process is a totally paperless process using CPARS.

CPARS is a web-based system that allows for electronic processing of the performance evaluation report. Once the report is processed, it is available in the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) for Government use in evaluating past performance as part of a source selection action.

3) We request that you furnish the Contracting Officer (CO) with the name, position title, phone number, and email address for each person designated to have access to your firm's past performance evaluation(s) for the contract no later than 30 days after award.

Each person granted access will have the ability to provide comments in the Contractor portion of the report and state whether or not the Contractor agrees with the evaluation, before returning the report to the Assessing Official (AO). Information in the report must be protected as source selection sensitive information not releasable to the public.

4) When your Contractor Representative(s) are registered in CPARS, they will receive an automatically generated email with detailed login instructions. Further details, systems requirements, and training information for CPARS is available at https://www.cpars.gov/.

5) Within 60 days after the end of a performance period, the AO will complete an interim or final past performance evaluation, and the report will be accessible at https://www.cpars.gov/.

a) Contractor Representatives may then provide comments in response to the evaluation, or return the evaluation without comment.

b) Your comments should focus on objective facts in the AO's narrative and should provide your views on the causes and ramifications of the assessed performance.

c) All information provided should be reviewed for accuracy prior to submission.

d) If you elect not to provide comments, please acknowledge receipt of the evaluation by indicating "No comment" in the space provided, and then selecting “Accept the Ratings and Close the Evaluation”.

e) Your response is due within 60 calendar days after receipt of the CPAR. On day 15, the evaluation will become available in PPIRS-RC marked as “Pending” with or without comments and whether or not it has been closed.

f) If you do not sign and submit the CPAR within 60 days, it will automatically be returned to the Government and will be annotated: "The report was delivered/received by the contractor on (date). The contractor neither signed nor offered comment in response to this assessment."

6) The following guidelines apply concerning your use of the past performance evaluation:

https://www.acquisition.gov/sites/default/files/current/far/html/Subpart%2042_15.html https://www.acquisition.gov/sites/default/files/current/far/html/Subpart%2042_15.html https://www.acquisition.gov/sites/default/files/current/far/html/Subpart%2042_15.html https://www.cpars.gov/ https://www.cpars.csd.disa.mil/ https://www.cpars.gov/

a) Protect the evaluation as source selection information. After review, transmit the evaluation by completing and submitting the form through CPARS. If for some reason you are unable to view and/or submit the form through CPARS, contact the CO for instructions.

b) Strictly control access to the evaluation within your organization. Ensure the evaluation is never released to persons or entities outside of your control.

c) Prohibit the use of or reference to evaluation data for advertising, promotional material, pre-award surveys, responsibility determinations, production readiness reviews, or other similar purposes.

7) If you wish to discuss a past performance evaluation, you should request a meeting in writing to the CO no later than seven days following your receipt of the evaluation. The meeting will be held in person or via telephone or other means during your 60-day review period.

8) A copy of the completed past performance evaluation will be available in CPARS for your viewing and for Government use supporting source selection actions after it has been finalized.

Roles and Responsibilities for Use and Reporting of Contractor Performance Information

1) Department Point of Contact (DPOC): The analyst in PAM responsible for management and oversight of reporting of DOI contractor performance information in CPARS. The

DPOC conducts compliance and quality assessments of DOI past performance information entered into CPARS and retrieved from PPIRS as part of the PAM

Acquisition Management Review (AMR) process and the Contractor Performance and

Integrity Data Quality Review process.

2) Agency Point of Contact (APOC): Responsible for implementing CPARS within his or her bureau/office, working with the DPOC and BPC to establish the Focal Point structure for the bureau/office, and ensuring Focal Points, Alternative Focal Points and users have access to the system and receive training on the system.

3) Assessing Official (AO): Responsible for completion of past performance evaluations in

CPARS, including review of any contractor comments, and referral to the Reviewing

Official those past performance evaluations in which there is a dispute between DOI and its contractor. The CO for the eligible contract to be evaluated shall be assigned this role.

4) Assessing Official Representative (AOR): Responsible for preparing past performance evaluations as directed by the CO. The CO for an eligible contract may designate the

Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) as the AOR as part of his or her COR responsibilities. In those cases where a COR will be designated as the AOR for a contract, the CO should inform the COR of this responsibility in the COR appointment memorandum.

5) Contracting Officer (CO): Responsible for use and reporting of contractor performance information in accordance with the FAR and this policy. COs are AOs for the purpose of entering past performance information into CPARS. Although the CO may direct the

AOR to prepare and enter past performance evaluations into CPARS, the CO is ultimately responsible for timely and accurate reporting of past performance evaluations.

6) Contractor Representative: Responsible for reviewing DOI past performance evaluations and providing comments on behalf of the contractor. This individual may be identified in the contractor's System for Award Management (SAM) points of contact as "Past

Performance POC" or "Past Performance Alternate POC."

7) Focal Point (FP): System administrators responsible for providing system access to users within the FPs assigned contracting activity, and for registering eligible contracts in

CPARS so that AOs and AORs may prepare past performance evaluations.

8) Reviewing Official (RO): Responsible for resolving a dispute between DOI and its contractor about a past performance evaluation. This individual shall be the Bureau

Procurement Chief or the BPC may choose to delegate this role to at least one supervisory level above the AO.