TSS_QASP.pdf

ATTACHMENT 3 – H92241-13-R-0012

QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVEILLANCE PLAN

For H92241-13-R-0012

INTRODUCTION

The Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) has been developed pursuant to the requirements of the Statement of Work and is designed to provide an effective surveillance method of monitoring contractor performance. The plan sets forth procedures and guidelines that the United States Government (Gov’t) will use in evaluating the technical performance of the contractor. A copy of this plan will be furnished to the contractor so that the contractor will be aware of the methods that the Gov’t will employ in evaluating performance on this contract and address any concerns that the contractor may have prior to initiating work.

PURPOSE OF THE QASP

The QASP is intended to accomplish the following:

- Define the roles and responsibilities of participating Gov’t officials;

- Define the types of work to be performed with required end results;

- Describe the evaluation methods that will be employed by the Gov’t in assessing the contractor’s performance;

- Provide copies of the quality assurance monitoring forms that will be used by the Government in documenting and evaluating the contractor’s performance; and

- Describe the process of performance documentation.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS

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

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

The KO has overall responsibility for overseeing the contractor’s performance. S/he will also be responsible for the day-to-day monitoring of the contractor’s performance in the areas of contract compliance, contract administration, cost control and property control; reviewing the COR’s assessment of the contractor’s performance; and resolving all differences between the COR’s version and the contractor’s version. The KO may call upon the expertise of other Government individuals as required. The KO’s procurement authorities include the following:

- FINAL authority for any decisions which produce an increase or decrease in the scope of the contract;

- FINAL authority for any actions subject to the “Changes” clause;

- FINAL authority for any decision to be rendered under the “Disputes” clause;

- FINAL authority for negotiation and determination of indirect rates to be applied to the contract;

- FINAL authority to approve the contractor’s invoices for payment, subject to the

Limitation of Costs clause and the Limitation of Funds clause;

- FINAL authority to monitor and enforce Department of Labor promulgated labor requirements;

- Authority to arrange for and supervise Quality Assurance activities under this contract;

- FINAL authority to approve the contractor’s Quality Control Program;

- Signatory authority for the issuance of all modifications to the contract.

Project Officer - The Project Officer is responsible for technical administration of the project and assures proper Government surveillance of the Contractor’s performance. The Project Officer 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 KO for action.

Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) – The COR provides detailed technical oversight of the Contractor’s performance and reports his or her findings to the Project Officer in a timely, complete and impartial fashion to support the Project Officer’s technical administration activities as scheduled in Table 1, Contract Surveillance and Performance Schedule, on Page 6. While the Technical Monitor may serve as a direct conduit to provide Government guidance and feedback to the Contractor on technical matters, s/he 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 KO for action. The COR will be responsible for monitoring, assessing, recording, and reporting on the technical performance of the contractor on a day-to-day basis. S/he will have the primary responsibility for completing “Quality Assurance Monitoring Forms” which s/he will use to document the inspection and evaluation of the contractor’s work performance. It is extremely important for the COR to establish and maintain a team-oriented line of communication with the contractor’s project manager (PM) and the PM’s office staff in order to perform her/his monitoring functions. The COR, KO, and PO must work together as a team to ensure that required work is accomplished in an efficient and proper manner. Meetings should be held on a regular basis in order to resolve serious problems. Less serious problems should be discussed and resolved on an impromptu basis.

IDENTIFICATION OF THE TYPES OF WORK TO BE PERFORMED

The effort includes professional technical, analytical, and logistics services to support modernization and sustainment of select aircraft and associated equipment and mission planning systems. The contractor personnel are required to interact and cooperate with various agencies or entities in the design, testing, simulation, and deployment of assorted aircraft as well as mission planning software, and must possess a broad understanding of the fundamentals of systems acquisition and resource management consistent with statutory requirements. Task orders will be in support of aircraft, aircraft modifications, unmanned systems, simulation, communications, battlefield data networking, avionics to include Aircraft Survivability Equipment

METHODOLOGIES TO BE USED TO MONITOR THE CONTRACTOR’S

PERFORMANCE

The below listed methods of surveillance shall be used in the administration of this QASP. In addition to specific instructions that may be mentioned, the appropriate and standardized form that is to be used for documentation of QA surveillance is the Surveillance Activity Checklist.

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 Project Officer. The Project Officer shall maintain a summary log of all formally received customer complaints as well as a copy of each complaint in a documentation file. The Project Officer shall also keep the tabulated results of all customer satisfaction surveys on file and shall enter the summary results into the Surveillance Activity Checklist.

Periodic Inspection - Periodic inspections shall be conducted if and when specified in individual task orders. For the potential tasks that have been identified so far and included in this QASP, the appropriate Technical Monitor performs the periodic inspection on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis as applicable.

Random Monitoring - Random monitoring shall be conducted if and when specified in individual task orders. For the potential tasks that have been identified so far and included in this QASP, the random monitoring shall be performed by the Project Officer or by the appropriate designated Technical Monitor.

QUALITY ASSURANCE REPORTING FORMS

The COR will use Form 1, Quality Assurance Report Surveillance Activity Checklist, on page 6, to document and evaluate the contractor’s performance under this contract. The form, when completed, will document the COR’s understanding of contractor requirements, what was actually completed, and the impact or consequences of what was not completed. Monthly reports required in table 1.

The COR will evaluate each event in accordance with the following definitions of contractor performance:

Superior — a level of performance which exceeds the minimum standards of performance;

Acceptable — a level of performance which meets the minimum standards of performance; or

Unacceptable — a level of performance which is not acceptable and which fails to meet the minimum standards of performance.

The COR must substantiate all tasks which s/he judges to be indicative of “superior” or “unacceptable” performance. Performance at the “acceptable” level is expected from the contractor. Performance at all three (3) levels will be evaluated.

If a situation occurs whereby an event, process, or material is determined to be less than acceptable, the contractor will document the occurrence in writing and present the written report to the COR. The contractor will then have 72 hours to detail a course of action to correct the discrepancy. The contractor will have 30 days to close the discrepancy unless the Government is notified in writing of any delay. The contractor must submit a plan to correct recurring deficiencies. This plan must be approved by the contracting officer.

The COR will forward copies of all forms to the KO and contractor by the close of business on the days the forms were prepared. The contractor is required to respond in writing to any negative QA monitoring form(s) within 5 working days after receipt of the form(s).

ANALYSIS OF SURVEILLANCE RESULTS

The CO and PO will review each QA monitoring form prepared by the COR. When appropriate, the CO may investigate the event further to determine if all the facts and circumstances surrounding the event were considered in the COR opinions outlined on the forms. The CO and PO will immediately discuss every event receiving a substandard rating with the contractor to assure that corrective action is promptly initiated.

CONTRACT SURVEILLANCE & PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

TABLE 1

Task Method of Surveillance Acceptable Performance Unacceptable Performance Identify contract issues Invoicing and billing Error free invoicing and billing Errors in invoicing and billing

Ensure proper contract resourcing

Annual report - Review of qualified right sized staffing with provisions for rapid replacement based on customer feedback

Detailed rationale for recommended annual staffing level adjustments.

Timely response to employee replacement in the event of loss (as mutually agreed at time of notification).

Failure to provide sound recommendations in annual report, or failure to replace departing employees within agreed upon timelines.

Customer Satisfaction Customer Feedback No more than 1 verified significant negative performance or personnel issue annually.

More than 1 verified significant complaint/discrepancy annually.

Risk/problem/concern identification and reporting

Ensure effective identification and reporting on real or perceived risks, issues, problems, or concerns.

Monthly reports and any special task reports – 100% timely submission. No OCI or security violations.

Less than 100% timely submission of monthly reports and any special task reports. One or more OCI or security violations.

Track timeliness & accuracy of work Customer feedback Timely and accurate work in support of

Government objectives. Untimely and/or inaccurate work

Travel Monthly Financial Report – 100%

100% Timely submission of all monthly reports. Travel costs documented properly in invoices.

Less than 100% timely submission of monthly reports, or incomplete vouchers

Travel

Travel Cost Mitigation Report - Define methods for reducing overall travel costs with a savings objective of no more than 10% increase over the planned travel budget awarded at the beginning of the POP.

Travel within planned budget (10%) for the period of performance unless directed otherwise by the government.

Travel increase more than 10% over planned budget for the period of performance unless directed otherwise by the government.

Quality Assurance Report Surveillance Activity Checklist

Form 1

DATE: ______________________________ CLIN: _____________________________________

TASK: ____________________________________________________________________________

SURVEILLANCE METHOD: ________________________________________________________

PERFORMANCE: ACCEPTABLE /// UNACCEPTABLE

DISCREPANCY: __________________________________________________________________

COMMENTS: ____________________________________________________________________

CONTRACTOR’S COMMENTS: ___________________________________________________

CORRECTIVE ACTION: __________________________________________________________

ACTION TAKEN: _________________________________________________________________

DISCREPANCY CORRECTED: _____________________________________________________

CONTRACTING OFFICER’S REPRESENTATIVE (COR): _____________________________