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GAO-16-262R 1 (2016-01-28)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaajoo0001 and id is 1 raw text is: cAO U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 441 G St. N.W. Washington, DC 20548 January 28, 2016 Rebecca E. Weirick Executive Director Army Contracting Command-Redstone Arsenal Army Contracting: Training and Guidance Needed to Ensure Appropriate Use of the Option to Extend Services Clause Dear Ms. Weirick: In October 2015, we reported on agencies' use of bridge contracts, including the use of a Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clause regarding the option to extend services as a way to bridge a potential gap in services.1 In our report, we found that most-20 of 29-of the contracts we reviewed in-depth had used the option to extend services clause to bridge, at least in part, a gap in services. We also found, however, that in 5 of these cases, contracting officials had failed to follow the clause in that they extended the contract's period of performance beyond the terms of the clause. Because several of these instances occurred at the Army Contracting Command's Redstone Arsenal, we are bringing the issue to your attention, along with a recommended action. This correspondence is based on work conducted as a part of our October 2015 review, which was originally requested by members of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. In this correspondence, we examined, for selected Army contracts, how the option to extend services clause was used to bridge a potential gap in services, and the extent to which it was used in accordance with federal regulations. To conduct this work, we relied on the methodology from our October 2015 review. For that report, we selected 29 contracts, including 5 awarded by the Army Contracting Command- Redstone Arsenal, for an in-depth review. These contracts were selected based on several factors, specifically the contract value, our goal of obtaining a mix of contract extensions and stand-alone bridge contracts, and the location of the contract files. To review the Army contracts, we conducted a site visit to Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, where we collected and analyzed contract documentation for the bridge contract, the contract preceding it, and, if awarded at the time of our review, the follow-on contract. We interviewed contracting and program officials to discuss the facts and circumstances related to the award of the bridge contracts and the challenges, if any, related to their use. In addition, we used information in the Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation (FPDS-NG) to identify the value of the contracts. Finally, we reviewed the FAR-in particular, FAR sections 37.111 and 17.208(f), which provide for the use of FAR clause 52.217-8, option to extend services-to better 1GAO, Sole Source Contracting: Defining and Tracking Bridge Contracts Would Help Agencies Manage Their Use, GAO-16-15, (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 14, 2015). GAO-16-262R Army's Use of Contract Extensions Page 1

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