20140228_QASP_Career_Mapping.pdf

Defense Security Service (DSS) Human Capital Management Office (HCMO)

Career Mapping Services.

Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan

HS0021-14-R-0044

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Subject para

1. Overview 1

2. Description of Services 1

3. Roles and Responsibilities 1

4. Contract Quality Requirements 2

5. Government Surveillance 2

6. Non-Conforming Performance 3

7. Data Analysis 4

8. Acceptance of Services 4

9. Monthly COR Activity Report 4

10. Contractor Manpower Reporting (CMR) 4

11. Quality Assurance Surveillance File 4

12. Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) 5

13. Record Retention 5

14. QASP Changes 5

1. OVERVIEW

1.1 Purpose. The purpose of this plan is to identify the methods and procedures the Government will use to ensure it receives the services/products under this contract as identified in the Performance Work Statement (PWS).

1.2 Intent. The intent of this plan is to hold the Contractor accountable for quality control and to encourage the contractor to take appropriate steps to control and improve quality. Contractor is responsible to develop an efficient methodology to ensure they meet and/or exceed the required thresholds of service as outlined in this acquisition. The Government intends to perform surveillance on this contract in accordance with this Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP), but reserves the right to monitor the contract in any manner necessary, at any times necessary, and at all places necessary to ensure that the rendered services conform to contract requirements. The Government reserves the right to perform quality assurance at the subcontract level and perform quality assurance at the contractor's place of business, if applicable. Non-conforming services discovered with subcontractors will be addressed with the prime contractor for resolution.

2. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES

2.1 Scope of Work. The Contractor shall conduct an analysis of an estimated 21% of the existing DSS workforce to ensure competency gaps are identified for critical skills competencies. An assessment shall also be conducted to project trends in the workforce that include losses due to retirement and other attrition. The contractor shall develop the appropriate career paths for the workforce identified in the

PWS.

2.2 Contract. This is a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contract with the basic FAR 52.246-4 Inspection of Services contract clause. 52.246-4 requires the contractor maintain a Quality Control Inspection system which is acceptable to the Government.

3. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.

Contracting Officer (CO) - A person duly appointed with the authority to enter into, administer and terminate contracts on behalf of the Government. The CO is the only person who can legally commit the Government and only the CO, as the Government’s agent, can modify the contract/order. The CO is the final authority for determining the adequacy of the Contractor’s performance. CO decisions arising under or relating to the contact are final.

Contract Administrator – Is a Contracting Officer who is responsible for the Administration of contracts. The CO duties are the same as the aforementioned Contracting Officer’s.

Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) – An individual designated in writing by the CO to perform specific technical and administrative functions within the scope and limitations of their written appointment (e.g., surveillance of Contractor’s performance, accept services). The COR is not empowered to make any contractual commitments or authorize any changes to the order/contract or in any way obligate additional funds by the Government; such authority rests solely with the CO.

4. CONTRACT QUALITY REQUIREMENTS

4.1. Quality Control Program. The Contractor's Quality Control Program requirements are defined in Part 1.5.1. of the PWS. The Contractor shall develop, maintain, enforce and document a Quality Control Plan (QCP) which complies with the requirements of this contract and outlines how they will ensure the Government will receive all the services required by the contract at the specified quality level.

4.2. Government Quality Assurance. The Government will perform Quality Assurance oversight of the Contractor and Contractor’s QCP IAW with this QASP to ensure acceptable levels of contract performance are achieved and that the contractor is performing acceptable levels of Quality Control to ensure fully acceptable services are provided.

5. GOVERNMENT SURVIELLANCE

5.1. Methods of Surveillance include but are not limited to:

• 100% Inspection - Reserved for the highest risk areas where consequence of failure is high (i.e.

life or limb are threatened) or there is likelihood of mission failure.

• Random Sampling - When a service is performed relatively frequently and a statistically valid sample can be selected for audit. The most appropriate method for frequently recurring tasks.

• Periodic Sampling - Planned sampling of a service at specific predetermined dates and times.

May be appropriate for tasks that occur infrequently.

• Customer Feedback – Not necessarily a valid method of surveillance but a good indicator for areas surveillance should be conducted or intensified.

5.2. Monthly Surveillance Schedule. The COR will develop a monthly schedule of surveillance activities based on the Performance Standards as outlined in the Performance Requirements Summary (PRS) as well as any other critical contractual requirements determined to be higher risk requiring oversight. The surveillance outlined in the monthly schedule will be as detailed and in-depth as necessary to provide the Government with the objective quality evidence required to support acceptance of the services provided by the Contractor. The schedule will provide planned periodic surveillance during all required hours of the Contractor’s operation. The schedule is “FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY” and is not releasable to anyone other than authorized Government personnel. The schedule will identify the method of surveillance, the date of inspection, place of inspection, activity to be monitored, and who will conduct the surveillance (dates and times can be altered without a formal change to the schedule as long as all inspections are performed). The monthly schedule will be completed no later than seven calendar days prior to the beginning of the period it covers and a copy forwarded to the CO for information and review with the COR monthly report.

5.3. Inspection instructions/checklists. The COR will develop inspection instructions/checklists for all planned inspections which may require special instructions on how to perform the inspection, what observations should be made with specific details of what to look for acceptable performance.

5.4. Documentation of Inspections. All inspections/observations will be documented and will include as a minimum date and time, who performed the inspection, what was inspected, to what standard and the results. Successful or exceptional performance will be documented as well as deficiencies in Contractor performance. Documentation will be maintained for future reference, audit, proof of inspection and past performance documentation.

6. Non-Conforming Performance. The COR will notify the Contractor, in person, each time an unacceptable observation has been recorded and ask the Contractor to correct the problem or re-accomplish the service. All valid non-conformances observed by the Government will be documented! Minor nonconformance means a nonconformance that is not likely to materially reduce the usability of the supplies or services for their intended purpose, or is a departure from established standards having little bearing on the effective use or operation of the supplies or services. Major nonconformance means a nonconformance, other than critical, that is likely to result in failure of the supplies or services, or to materially reduce the usability of the supplies or services for their intended purpose. Critical nonconformance means a nonconformance that is likely to result in hazardous or unsafe conditions for individuals using, maintaining, or depending upon the supplies or services; or is likely to prevent performance of a vital agency mission. The COR will record the contract requirement, the specific deficiency to the requirement, the date and time it was discovered, and have the Contractor initial the entry. The Contractor will be given a time line after notification to correct the deficiency in accordance with requirements of the contract. Deficiencies that cannot be corrected within the indentified time line will be reported to the Contracting Officer.

6.1. Customer Feedback.. Customer feedback can be in any form, verbal or written but no matter the format the COR will maintain a record of the feedback positive or negative.

a. If immediate response to a complaint is required, the COR will provide the response to the requester as soon as practical.

b. The COR will conduct an investigation to determine the validity of any negative comments received.

c. If the negative comment is determined not to be valid, if possible, the COR will inform customer of the reason(s) as soon as practical.

d. For validated negative comments that are true contractual non-conformances see paragraph 6. If this non-conformance is a more serious (systemic in nature) deficiency or recurring deficiency that could indicate a trend the COR should see paragraph 6.2.

e. The COR will follow up with the customer of the corrective action taken by the contractor, if applicable.

6.2. Contract Discrepancy Reports. The COR will report more serious (systemic in nature) deficiencies or recurring deficiencies that could indicate a trend in a memo to the CO. The Contract Discrepancy Report will identify the contract requirement, the specific contract reference and the specific violation (s) to the requirement. The COR will forward copies of Contract Discrepancy Reports to the CO within one working day. The CO will notify the Contractor and request corrective action to the specific non-conformance, identification of the root cause and corrective action for the root cause with a required suspense date. The CO may require the Contractor to re-perform any services that do not meet contract requirements at no additional cost to the Government. The Contractor will acknowledge reciept of the written request to repreform the requested services by signing the document and providing it back to the the CO with their Corrective Action Plan (CAP) for review. Which will be approved or rejected for rework until it is approved and then inclused in the contract/order file. The CO should include the COR in the review of the CAP and re-inspection of services that were found deficient to ensure the CAP included adequate root cause analysis, corrective action for the root cause and that it was accomplished in the timeframe agreed upon. The CO and COR will not consider the CDR closed until all deficiencies have been corrected and all agreed upon actions of the CAP have been completed. Contractor’s failure to follow through and complete corrective actions will be reported immediately to the CO for further action.

(Note: if the COR has to repeatedly perform re-inspection (no more than 3x per occurrence) there could be a Government re-inspection cost (10% off invoice for the month) which could be recovered from the Contractor). The COR will also follow-up after the Contractor has completed the corrective action to ensure that the Contractor’s corrective action was sufficient to preclude recurrence.

7. Data Analysis. COR shall perform and document analysis of available data monthly and make adjustments to surveillance schedule as required based on results of analysis. Analysis shall be used to look for and document trends in performance which may indicate shifts in performance risk that could result in increased or reduced surveillance. Data can be based on Government observations or Contractor observations. Negative trends noted using Government observations could result in issuing Contractor a Contract Deficiency Report (CDR). Trends noted using Contractor data should never result in a CDR unless the Contractor is not addressing the negative trend. Documentation of data analysis will be in the Monthly COR Activity Report.

8. Acceptance of Services. When all services have been deemed acceptable and there is documented objective quality evidence to support acceptable performance the COR will accept the services provided and authorize payment upon satisfactory completion of the work. This is done by approving the Contractor’s invoice in Wide Area Workflow https://wawf.eb.mil/.

9. Monthly COR Activity Report. The COR will submit a brief monthly activity report to the CO which will include the next months surveillance schedule, summary of inspections performed with results, summary of customer complaints with analysis, summary of contract discrepancies, results of data analysis, recommended adjustments to surveillance, invoices accepted and any other pertinent contract activities. This report will be submitted via the Contracting Officer Representative Tracking (CORT Tool) website https://wawf.eb.mil/notice.xhtml.

10. Contractor Manpower Reporting. The COR shall verify Contactor has complied with the required contractor manpower reporting and document any observations.

11. Quality Assurance Surveillance File: The official COR Quality Assurance Surveillance File will be maintained in the on-line CORT Tool https://wawf.eb.mil/notice.xhtml. The Quality Assurance, or COR Surveillance file shall contain the following as applicable:

a. Copy of the COR designation letter from the CO, any changes to that letter, and any termination letters.

b. Training Certifications for COR and refresher training.

c. Copy of the contract and all contract modifications.

d. Copy of the applicable Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP).

e. Copy of the contractor’s Quality Control Plan (QCP).

f. All correspondence initiated by authorized representatives (Contractor or Government) concerning performance of the contract.

g. Names, position titles and contact information of all key personnel assigned to this contract both Government and Contractor.

h. Monthly surveillance schedules.

i. Surveillance Checklists

j. Records of all inspections performed and the results.

https://wawf.eb.mil/ https://wawf.eb.mil/notice.xhtml

k. Customer Feedback.

l. Memoranda for record of minutes of any meeting, telephone conversations and discussions with the contractor or others pertaining to the contract or contract performance.

m. Documentation pertaining to acceptance of services, reports or data.

n. AT Level I Training Certificates IAW paragraph 1.5.11. of the PWS.

12. Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) Documented surveillance data IAW this QASP will be used as objective data to support CPARS ratings. The inclusion of detailed documented inspection results provides objectivity to CPARS reporting. CPARS will be accomplished annually or at the end of a Task Order whichever occurs first.

13. Record Retention. All records will be retained for the life of this contract. The COR will forward these records to the CO upon completion of the contract/order.

14. QASP Changes. The QASP is a living document and, as such, may be changed as needed. However, the CO must approve changes. The COR will submit recommended changes to the CO for approval.