Attachment 1 - Base QASP FLASH (7 July 2021).docx

QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVEILLANCE PLAN (QASP)

1. INTRODUCTION

0. The QASP has been developed by the requiring activity. It is designed to provide direction to personnel performing contract surveillance activities. Personnel surveying the contract terms and conditions and PWS requirements will periodically review the QASP throughout the life of the contract.

1. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.

0. Contracting Officer Representative (COR). The COR is responsible for quality assurance guidance and to ensure that contract quality requirements, provision, standards, and thresholds are defined, practical, enforceable, necessary, and verifiable.

2.1.1. The COR evaluates and documents Contractor performance in accordance with the QASP and PWS.

2.1.2. The COR notifies the Contracting Officer of any significant performance deficiencies.

2.1.3. The COR maintains surveillance documentation

0. The COR recommends improvements to the QASP and PWS throughout the life of the contract.

0. Contracting Officer (KO). The Contracting Officer is responsible to safeguard the interests of the United States in contractual relationships. Only the Contracting Officer is authorized to bind the Government and then, only to the extent of the authority delegated to them through the issuance of a warrant.

CUI//SSEL

CUI//SSEL

CUI//SSEL

CUI//SSEL

2.2.1. The KO delegates authority for inspection and/or acceptance in accordance with the terms of the contract.

2.2.2. The KO informs the Contractor of the names, duties, and limitations of authority for all quality assurance personnel assigned to the contract.

1. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES

1. Scope of Work. The Contractor shall provide all services, material, subcontracts, travel, and other direct costs in support of fulfillment of the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAGC) Flexible Litigation Augmentation Support for HQDA (FLASH) professional legal services support contract requirements as defined in the PWS. The Contactor shall perform to the standards in the PWS.

1. QUALITY REQUIREMENTS

4.1. Quality Control Program. The Contractor, not the Government, is responsible for management and quality control actions to meet the terms of the contract.

0. The quality control program is the driver for quality. The Contractor is required to develop a comprehensive program of inspections and monitoring actions. The first major step to ensuring a “self-correcting” contract is to ensure that the quality control program, approved at the beginning of the contract, provides the measures needed to lead the Contractor to success.

0. Once the quality control program is accepted, careful application of the process and standards presented in the remainder of this document will ensure a robust quality assurance program.

1. SURVEILLANCE

3. Surveillance Methods. The COR and JAGC eDiscovery Division (EDD) staff will perform periodic surveillance, random sampling, and/or 100% inspection, based on the quality and effectiveness of the Contractor’s service. The COR and EDD will also review all required documentation as outlined in Section 6.0. The documentation shall have all appropriate Confidential Unclassified Information (CUI) markings. The COR will contact the Contractor's Program Manager when a defect is identified and inform the Manager of the specifics of the problem. The COR, when designated, will be responsible for monitoring the contractor’s performance in meeting a specific performance standard.

3. Periodic Surveillance: The following Sections described in the Performance Work Statement (PWS) will be surveilled using periodic surveillance method of surveillance: 5.4.2.1 through 5.4.7.6; 5.4.7.8 through 5.4.8.8; 5.4.9.1 through 5.4.9.3; 5.4.10.1; 5.4.16(b); 5.4.17(a)(5) through 5.4.17(a)(7); 5.4.19.3; and 5.4.20.

3. Random Sampling: The following Sections described in the PWS will be surveilled using the random sampling method of surveillance: 5.4.2.1 through 5.4.7.6; 5.4.7.8 through 5.4.8.8; and 5.4.9.2.

3. 100% Inspection: The following Sections described in the PWS will be surveilled using this method of surveillance: 5.4.7.7; 5.4.8.9 through 5.4.8.12; 5.4.9.4; 5.4.10.2; 5.4.19.1 through 5.4.19.2; 5.4.15.2; 5.4.16(c)(3) through 5.4.16(c)(5); and 5.4.16(c)(7).

5.5 Surveillance Team. The surveillance team consists of the following key players: Contracting Officer Representative, Contracting Officers, Contract Administrators and JAGC EDD.

5.6 Unacceptable Performance. If the number of complaints/defects exceeds the performance threshold for any objective, the COR will determine the possible cause of this unacceptable performance. Government-caused complaints/defects will not be counted against the Contractor. The same applies to any other requirement of the contract when Government-caused complaints/defects are the cause of unacceptable contractor performance. If the Contractor’s performance is judged unacceptable for any requirement by the COR, the COR will document the discrepancy as a non-conformance and inform the Contracting Officer (if needed) for resolution. Significant (major non-conformance) performance deficiencies must be submitted to the Contracting Officer using a Contractor Discrepancy Report and include supporting documentation.

5.7 Revisions. Revisions to this QASP are the joint responsibility of the requiring activity and the contracting office. However, as a result of partnering with the Contractor, surveillance checklists may be revised jointly by COR personnel and Contractor personnel. The Contracting Officer must approve the revisions in writing before being used by COR personnel.

1. DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS.

The Contracting Officer Representative is responsible for maintaining a Surveillance Folder at a designated location. The following information should be contained in the Surveillance Folder:

i. QASP

ii. Contractor’s Quality Control Plan

iii. Activity Log. A chronological log of the actions taken in the accomplishment of quality assurance.

iv. Contract. Applicable portions of the contract and PWS, modifications, and delivery orders.

v. Appointment Letters and Training Certificates of the COR

vi. Certification of Services Documentation

vii. Surveillance Checklists

viii. Quality Assurance Surveillance Schedules

ix. Corrective Action Request Log

x. Corrective Action Requests

xi. Monthly Surveillance Status Reports

xii. Minutes/Memo’s/Miscellaneous Correspondence

7.0 PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY (PRS). This PRS identifies critical success factors for the contract. It identifies both the performance objectives for those factors and the performance threshold required for each performance objective. The Government reserves the right to surveil all services called for in the contract to determine whether or not the performance objectives and goals were met. This PRS:

0. Lists the performance objectives for the required service that the Government will surveil.

0. The absence of any contract requirement from the PRS shall not detract from its enforceability nor limit the rights or remedies of the Government under any other provision of the contract including the clauses entitled “Inspection of Services” and “Default”.

0. Shall be used as the baseline to develop a QASP. The QASP will identify the surveillance methods the Government will use to evaluate the Contractor’s performance.

0. Surveillance methods may include: Periodic Surveillance, Random Sampling, and/or 100% Inspection.

0. Methods of surveillance can change after contract award based on, but not limited to:

Acceptance of a Contractor QC plan, a partnering agreement which established the metrics to be used and Contractor performance.

0. Performance Evaluation. Performance of a service will be evaluated to determine whether or not it meets the performance threshold. Re-performance is the preferred method of correcting any unacceptable performance. The Contractor shall provide the Government written response why the performance threshold was not met, how performance will be returned to acceptable levels, and how recurrence of the cause will be prevented in the future.

PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY

The contractor service requirements are summarized into performance objectives and standards that relate directly to mission essential items. The performance threshold briefly describes the minimum acceptable levels of service required for each requirement. These thresholds are critical to mission success.

(b) The Contractor shall ensure that all sides of all pages that contain information are uniquely numbered, and that procedures are in place to account for all numbers used and for all gaps. A page that has information on both sides must have each side numbered.

(b) The Contractor is responsible for ensuring that all deliverables meet applicable AIIM and ANSI standards, as well as all other contract requirements for resolution, contrast, grey scaling, skew, integrity of phrase label index, and general workmanship, as described in the contract. The Contractor shall certify at the end of each task order for a case that includes image scanning that the image record is complete, the sequence numbering is correct, and that all image products, including hard copy, meet all contract requirements.

(c) Each page of a source document shall be imaged so that each line, character and image on the source documents is clearly legible with the naked eye on paper copies made from the digital image. The reproduction ratio and document orientation shall be such that the entire original page appears on the hard copy page, and such that the image is not unnecessarily reduced. Media with missing lines or characters, or with pages that are not clearly legible due to lack of contrast between the information and the background, will be rejected by the Government where the condition is not due to the quality of the source document provided to the Contractor. Rejected media shall be reimaged by the Contractor at no cost to the Government.

(d) Imaged pages shall be returned in the exact order, collation and condition in which they were received. Batches not properly collated shall be rejected by the Government and re-assembled to the proper pagination and condition by the Contractor at no cost to the Government.

(e) Document Determination and Document Date information, where ordered, must conform to the Contractor’s written guidelines and instructions for identifying this information, as approved by the COR.

(b) The Contractor is responsible for ensuring that all collected media has the necessary labels, barcodes, SKU numbers, or other unique identifiers scanned before it undergoes EFP. The Contractor shall certify at the end of each task order for a case that includes media that the labels are scanned and linked to the source hardcopy box and/or file in which the media was located.

(b) OCR is machine-only. The Contractor shall utilize state-of-the-art OCRing software at all times, in order to optimize the quality of the delivered text. It will not be acceptable simply to run the file through on the fastest setting, and to deliver whatever comes out. The Contractor shall make appropriate use of techniques such as despeckling and de-skewing, as well as software packages which incorporate voting algorithms to produce the best possible interpretation of the image files. Individual batches of documents may have to be run through on a test basis prior to commencing production runs, in order to identify optimal settings for the software. Deliverables must include OCR for all pages in the source population.

(b) Each image shall be blown back so that every line and character in the image appears on the blowback and is clearly legible. Unless otherwise specified by the COR, the reproduction ratio and document orientation should be such that the entire original page appears on the blowback. The COR may require that the image number be printed on the blowback and that it not obscure any document information; or, the COR may require that the image number specifically not be printed on the blowback. The COR may require the "phrase label information" per PWS Section 5.4.7.5. Organization and Indexing of Document Collection, be printed on the blowback in a position that does not overlap or obscure any portion of the image. The image should not be unnecessarily reduced on the page.

(c) Blowbacks with missing lines or characters and blowbacks which are not clearly legible due to lack of contrast between the information and the background shall be rejected by the Government where the condition is not due to the quality of the media. In instances where blowbacks are rejected by the Government, the Contractor shall be responsible for blowing back (or rescanning, if need be) the rejected pages at no additional cost to the Government.

(d) Blowback delivered in an order other than that specified by the COR, and blowback incorrectly reassembled from the media "first/last" markers will be rejected and the work redone at no additional cost to the Government.

(b) Each page shall be reproduced so that every line and character on the original page appears on the reproduced page and is clearly legible. Documents will also be collated and assembled as per originals or special instructions by the COR. Output paper size, quality, and weight shall be the same as the original documents unless otherwise specified by the COR. Copies must be free of wrinkles, folds, tears, or other physical defects.

(c) Reproduced pages with missing lines or characters or pages which are not clearly legible due to lack of contrast between the information and the background will be rejected by the Government when the condition is not due to the quality of the original page. In such instances, the Contractor shall reproduce the rejected pages at no additional cost to the Government. The Government will also reject improperly collated or improperly assembled copies; the Contractor will bear the cost of reassembling the originals and copies to the proper pagination. The Government will also reject copies containing physical defects such as folds, wrinkles, tears, etc.; the Contractor shall bear the cost of recopying all rejected output.

Upon second occurrence below 90%, a 10% reduction of monthly invoice.

(b) All files that require decryption must be accounted for as either successfully decrypted or unsuccessful at decryption, and all cross reference files must accurately match up to the total file count.

(c) All errors (unsuccessful at decryption) must be logged in an electronic report and provided to the Government. Remediation attempts will be specified by the COR.

(b) All load ready files must complete EFP, and all cross reference files must accurately match up text files, metadata files, native format files, and digital image files (where ordered).

(c) All errors upon completion of EFP must be logged in an electronic report and provided to the Government. Remediation attempts will be specified by the COR and may involve receipt of additional load file overlays, replacement files, etc. from the producing client agencies, opposing counsel and/or third parties.

(b) All files must complete EFP, and all cross reference files must accurately match up text files, metadata files, native format files, and image files (where ordered).

(c) All errors upon completion of EFP must be logged in an electronic report and provided to the Government. Remediation attempts will be specified by the COR.

(b) All exports or productions, including output load files, must be complete, and all cross reference files must accurately match up text files, metadata files, coded data, digital images and/or natives, when required.

(b) The Contractor is responsible for ensuring that all digital image files meet applicable AIIM and ANSI standards for images, as well as all other contract requirements for resolution, contrast, grey scaling, skew, and general workmanship, as described in the PWS. The Contractor is also responsible and for ensuring that all image files are delivered and accurately matched up with their other database load files information.

(c) The Contractor shall certify at the end of each task order for a case that includes image file creation or conversion that the image record is complete, the sequence numbering is correct, and that all image products, including hard copy, meet all contract requirements.

(b) All designated tapes and/or tape segments shall be accurately converted to the specified format, including accurate time-stamping, according to the requirements specified by the COR.

Upon second occurrence below 90%, a 10% reduction of monthly invoice.

Upon second occurrence below 90%, a 10% reduction of monthly invoice.

(b) All designated tapes and/or tape segments shall be accurately synchronized with electronic transcript files according to the requirements specified by the COR.

Upon second occurrence below 90%, a 10% reduction of monthly invoice.

Upon second occurrence below 90%, a 10% reduction of monthly invoice.

(b) All delivered documentation must be without typographical errors and must be accurate to the design discussions on which they are based. The Contractor shall deliver finished products to the Government which do not require quality control review, proofreading, editing, spelling corrections, etc. by the Government. Documentation not meeting these requirements shall be returned to the Contractor and corrected at no cost to the Government.

(c) The database as set up must match the design documentation and the Government's standards, as described above and as provided to the Contractor by the COR.

(b) All data files must complete loading and all cross reference files must accurately match up text files, metadata files, digital image files and/or native files (when provided and ordered).

(c) All errors upon completion of loading must be logged in an electronic report and provided to the Government. Remediation attempts will be specified by the COR.

(b) All delivered documentation must be without typographical errors and must be accurate to the design discussions on which they are based. The Contractor shall deliver finished products to the Government which do not require quality control review, proofreading, editing, spelling corrections, etc. by the Government. Documentation not meeting these requirements shall be returned to the Contractor and corrected at no cost to the Government.

(c) The database as set up must match the design documentation and the Government's standards, as described above and as provided to the Contractor by the COR.

Upon second occurrence below 90%, a 10% reduction of monthly invoice.

Upon second occurrence below 90%, a 10% reduction of monthly invoice.

Upon second occurrence below 90%, a 10% reduction of monthly invoice.

Upon second occurrence below 90%, a 10% reduction of monthly invoice.

(b) The output of these services must meet 100% accuracy.

(b) The output of these services must meet 100% accuracy.

(b) The output of these services must meet 100% accuracy.

(b) The output of these services must meet 100% accuracy.

(b) The output of these services must meet 100% accuracy.

(b) The output of these services must meet 100% accuracy.

(b) The output of these services must meet 100% accuracy.

(b) The output of these services must meet 100% accuracy.

(b) The output of these services must meet 100% accuracy.

(b) The output of these services must meet 100% accuracy.

(b) The output of these services must meet 100% accuracy.

(b) The output of these services must meet 100% accuracy.

Upon second occurrence below 90%, a 10% reduction of monthly invoice.

(b) The output of these services must meet 100% accuracy.

Upon second occurrence below 90%, a 10% reduction of monthly invoice.

(b) The output of these services must meet 100% accuracy.

Upon second occurrence below 90%, a 10% reduction of monthly invoice.

(b) The output of these services must meet 100% accuracy.

(b) Expert services must meet 100% accuracy.

(b) The Contractor provided resource shall be prepared to obtain and serve the legal documents in this support service within a maximum of one (1) business day after receipt of a task order.

(c) The Process Server must complete the documentation indicating service was completed within one (1) business day after receipt of a task order.

Upon second occurrence below 90%, a 10% reduction of monthly invoice.

(b) Document review services must meet 100% accuracy.

(b) Document review services must meet 100% accuracy.

(b) The output of these services must meet 100% accuracy.

Upon second occurrence below 90%, a 10% reduction of monthly invoice.

Upon second occurrence below 90%, a 10% reduction of monthly invoice.

(b) The Contractor shall pickup and return designated boxes and files within five (5) business days after receipt of a task order, depending on whether travel CONUS or OCONUS is required.