QASP - Cable Pulling Installation Services.docx

QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVEILLANCE PLAN (QASP)

CABLE PULL SERVICES

1. INTRODUCTION

This QAE (Quality Assurance Evaluator) Plan has been developed to implement a Cable pull service contract. It is designed to aid the Government's QAE in providing effective and systematic surveillance of all aspects of Cable Pull services. This plan provides for monitoring all contract requirements through a combination of methods.

The below listed methods of surveillance shall be used in the administration of this QASP:

a) Periodic Surveillance by the COR and/or Designated Station Subject Matter Expert (SME) The COR and/or SME periodically observe the areas to verify that the contractor is meeting the goals of the contract; and when COR receives a complaint to necessitate a surveillance.

b) Customer complaint The COR is the point of contact and will collect all customer complaints. The COR will review all complaints and contact the originator to determine the validity of any claims. Customer complaints will become a permanent part of the COR surveillance records.

c) 100% Inspections Complete evaluation of the performance element.

d) Random Sampling Method used to evaluate performance by randomly selecting and inspecting a sample of cases.

· The principal method of surveillance will be the random inspections of the task areas as described in the SOW and in the requests for all cable pulling in various service areas. The SOW has a detailed List of general responsibilities for this contract with areas and buildings to be served. The SOW also includes Requirement for Specific Tasks.

· Tasks not surveyed by random sampling will be covered by daily observation in some cases or by use or periodic checklist inspections. Appropriate checklists are provided for recording observations in this type of surveillance.

· The Objective of this surveillance plan is to evaluate how the Contractor is performing in key areas. We are primarily interested in the final product or service being provided and not in the details of accomplishment.

2. PURPOSE

This quality assurance surveillance plan (QASP) is a government-developed and applied document used to make systematic quality assurance methods used in the administration of the performance-based service acquisition (PBSA) standards included in this contract. The intent is to ensure that the contractor performs in accordance with performance metrics set forth in the contract documents and that the government receives the quality of services called for in the contract.

Authority Authority to issue this QASP is provided under Federal Acquisition Clause (FAR) 52.212-4(a) Inspection and Acceptance, which provided for inspections and acceptance of the articles, services, and documentation called for in the contract to be accomplished by the contracting officer or a duly appointed representative.

Scope The contractor, and not the government, is responsible for management and quality control actions necessary to meet the quality standards set forth by the contract. The QASP is put in place to provide government surveillance oversight of the contractor’s quality control efforts to assure that they are timely, effective, and delivering the results specified in the contract. The QASP is not a part of the contract, nor is it intended to duplicate the contractor’s quality control plan.

3. GOVERNMENT ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Roles The following definitions for government resources are applicable to this plan:

a) Contracting Officer A person duly appointed with the authority to enter into, administer, or terminate contracts and make related determinations and findings on behalf of the government.

b) Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) An individual designated in writing by the contracting officer to act as his or her authorized representative to assist in administering a contract as a technical expert. The source and authority for a COR is from the contracting officer. COR limitations are contained in the written letter of designation.

c) OIT (Office of Information Technology) SME Office of Information Technology (OIT) personnel who support the COR and Program team as Subject Matter Experts (SME) for network and other IT related requirements.

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

a) Contracting Officer The contracting officer ensures performance of all necessary actions for effective contracting and ensures compliance with the terms of the contract and safeguards the interests of the United States in the contractual relationship. It is the contracting officer who assures that the contractor receives impartial, fair, and equitable treatment under the contract. The contracting officer is ultimately responsible for the final determination of the adequacy of the contractor’s performance.

b) COR The COR is responsible for technical administration of the contract and assures 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 contracting officer for action.

4. PROCEDURES

This surveillance plan has been organized to facilitate use by the QAE. It is the QAE's responsibility to develop a daily, weekly, monthly and/or semi-annual schedule for activities based on the surveillance plan's requirements. The daily, weekly, monthly and/or semi-annual schedule will be completed as stated and a copy will be submitted to a CO or other management official for information and review by an assigned workday of the week / month.

· To build the inspection schedule, the QAE will select areas and times for the random sampling using the procedures shown in the surveillance plan. Periodic checklist items to be surveyed during the daily, weekly, monthly and/or semi-annual will be programmed into the schedule to facilitate their accomplishment. This monthly schedule should show what the QAE is monitoring each day of a designated task period. Changes will be posted weekly and copies sent to appropriate officials. The reasons for changes will be fully documented and explained. Actual surveillance activity must be comparable to the schedule. The responsible management official must be able to observe a QAE's performance by using the schedules, as updated. One should be able to conduct a complete audit trail from the schedules by observing the QAE perform sampling or other checklist surveillance, and completion of tally and other checklists. An auditor should be able track from the above items to the management's actions (performance rating deductions or other actions as necessary if contract service is being performed), described on a Contractor Deficiency Report (CDR).

· Monthly tally checklists will be prepared for each sampling guide and will be used to record information on observations and defects. Each observation in the sampling will be recorded on the tally checklists. These documents will then become a formal record for later reference. The tally of observations and defects at the end of each month will be compared to the acceptable number of defects appearing in the relevant sampling guide. Any errors detected during the course of the surveillance, even if not of sufficient degree to render the service unsatisfactory in terms of the AQL parameters, will require corrective action by the Contractor. Errors detected by the QAE in the course of surveillance will be communicated to the Contractor. Notification of errors will take place within 1 working day. Specifics concerning any errors should be recorded on the tally checklist. The Contractor should be asked to initial this record.

· If the sampling guide indicates that the number of defects is too high, the current month's service will be considered unsatisfactory. If performance in any area is judged unsatisfactory, based on random sampling or other criteria as set forth in the Cable Pull service Performance Work Statement, a Contractor will be given a CDR by the COR. When completed and signed, the CDR, along with the tally checklist becomes the documentation supporting an unfavorable performance evaluation for Contractor provided services.

· There are some requirements in a contract which are more conveniently monitored on an individual periodic basis. For example, a Contractor is required to provide continuing training. When these items are checked (quarterly and monthly, for example), the deficiencies will be recorded on the appropriate checklist. When these items are discovered to be unsatisfactory, actions as described above will be taken. For the number of allowable defects, see the Performance Objective in the SOW.

5. Performance Standards Performance standards define desired services. The Government performs surveillance to determine if the contractor exceeds, meets or does not meet these standards.

· The Performance Requirements are listed below. The Government shall use these standards to determine contractor performance and shall compare contractor performance to the Acceptable Quality Level (AQL). Refer to the SOW:

a. Section 4 List of items or services to be installed by contractor per this agreement

Performance Requirements Summary Chart

Disincentive:

Unfavorable contractor performance evaluation

a. Any additional expense cause by contractor delay is borne by the contractor.

b. Delays not approved by the CO/COR may cause Cure Notice action and or termination of the task order.

c. A Contract Discrepancy Report (CDR) may be issued on the first instance of failure to meet delivery requirement.

Incentive – Favorable contractor performance evaluation Disincentive:

Unfavorable contractor performance evaluation

a. Any additional expense cause by contractor delay is borne by the contractor.

b. Delays not approved by the CO/COR may cause Cure Notice action and or termination of the task order.

c. A Contract Discrepancy Report (CDR) may be issued on the first instance of failure to meet delivery requirement.

Incentive – Favorable contractor performance evaluation Disincentive:

Unfavorable contractor performance evaluation

a. Any additional expense cause by contractor delay is borne by the contractor.

b. Delays not approved by the CO/COR may cause Cure Notice action and or termination of the task order.

c. A Contract Discrepancy Report (CDR) may be issued on the first instance of failure to meet delivery requirement.

Incentive – Favorable contractor performance evaluation Disincentive:

Unfavorable contractor performance evaluation

a. Any additional expense cause by contractor delay is borne by the contractor.

b. Delays not approved by the CO/COR may cause Cure Notice action and or termination of the task order.

c. A Contract Discrepancy Report (CDR) may be issued on the first instance of failure to meet delivery requirement.

Incentive – Favorable contractor performance evaluation Disincentive:

Unfavorable contractor performance evaluation

a. Any additional expense cause by contractor delay is borne by the contractor.

b. Delays not approved by the CO/COR may cause Cure Notice action and or termination of the task order.

c. A Contract Discrepancy Report (CDR) may be issued on the first instance of failure to meet delivery requirement.

Incentive – Favorable contractor performance evaluation Disincentive:

Unfavorable contractor performance evaluation

a. Any additional expense cause by contractor delay is borne by the contractor.

b. Delays not approved by the CO/COR may cause Cure Notice action and or termination of the task order.

c. A Contract Discrepancy Report (CDR) may be issued on the first instance of failure to meet delivery requirement.

6. PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY METHOD OF APPLICATION

The Contractor is required to perform all the work specified in the SOW. If the contractor fails to perform a specific element of the work, performance rating for the task in question will be subject to reductions as specified. The purpose of this section is to:

List the contract requirements considered most critical to acceptable contract performance.

Show, where applicable, the maximum allowable degree of deviation from perfect performance for each requirement that shall be allowed by the Government before contract performance is considered unsatisfactory. This is known as the AQL and represents the level of service and quality required.

Explain the quality assurance methods the Government will use to evaluate the Contractor's performance in meeting the contract requirements.

Define the procedure the Government shall use in reducing the Contractor's performance rating if the Contractor does not render satisfactory performance.

The criteria for acceptable and unacceptable performance are as follows:

When the number of deficiencies in the Contractor's performance discovered by the Facility COR exceeds the unacceptable criteria level, the COR with involvement and concurrence of the Contracting Officer (CO) shall be required to complete a CDR (Contract Discrepancy Report). The CDR will require the Contractor to explain in writing to the CO why performance was unacceptable, how performance will be returned to acceptable levels, and how recurrence of the problem will be prevented in the future.

Other Requirements: The criteria for other requirements are the level of performance deemed acceptable to the Government. When the number of defects discovered by the Facility COR exceeds the number shown in the AQL column, a CDR, as described above will be issued.

The Performance Rating of the Contractor will be reduced for unsatisfactory performance. During each month, Contractor performance will be compared to contract standards and acceptable quality levels using the Quality Assurance Plan. If performance in any required service is unsatisfactory for the period of surveillance (monthly, quarterly, etc.) and the poor performance is clearly the fault of the Contractor, a non-favorable rating will be given for the service as stated in the fifth column of the Performance Requirements Summary.

7. CUSTOMER COMPLAINT SERVEILLANCE

The checklist contains those contract requirements that can best be monitored by the individual or activity receiving the service.

At the start of the contract, the QAE shall instruct customers on the requirements of the contract and on the proper method to complete the customer complaint form. A written copy of the specific contract requirement will be provided to each customer. Customers shall be required to submit the complaint form within 1 working day of the discovery of the discrepancy.

Once each quarter, the QAE will contact each customer to assure that there is an understanding of the contract requirements. The QAE will document the annual visits.

When a complaint is received, the QAE will verify the complaint. If the complaint is valid, the QAE will notify the Contractor of VA management whoever is applicable of the defect in writing.

The QAE will retain the complaint form in the files. At the end of each month, all validated complaints will be tabulated to determine satisfactory or unsatisfactory performance, in each are, based on the criteria in the AQL column in the "Performance Requirements Summary."

8. Customer Complaint Record Date/time of complaint:

Source of complaint:

Office:

Individual:

Nature of complaint:

QAE evaluation:

Date/time Contractor or VA informed of complaint:

CPM initials

Action taken by Contractor or VA:

QAE signature _____________________________________________________________