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GAO-18-246R 1 (2018-08-01)

handle is hein.gao/gaobacpol0001 and id is 1 raw text is: cGAO U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 441 G St. N.W. Washington, DC 20548 August 1, 2018 Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty Administrator National Nuclear Security Administration Management Report: Actions Needed to Improve National Nuclear Security Administration Contract Document Management Dear Administrator Gordon-Hagerty: In fiscal year 2016, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)-a semiautonomous agency within the Department of Energy (DOE)-spent more than $11 billion on management and operating (M&O) contracts.1 NNSA relies extensively on M&O contracts to manage and operate federally owned sites that perform the work necessary to fulfill DOE's diverse missions, including conducting scientific research and maintaining the nation's arsenal of nuclear weapons. In order to perform timely oversight of M&O contracts, agency officials need ready access to M&O contract documents. DOE's Office of Inspector General has previously reported on contract document management issues at DOE and NNSA. For example, in 2014, the Inspector General issued a report that found that missing contract-related documentation resulted in NNSA accepting nuclear weapons components from a contractor that did not meet the agency's technical specifications, resulting in a 1 year delay in nuclear weapons construction and additional costs of $20 to $25 million.2 The Federal Acquisition Regulation states that contract documents should be readily accessible to principal users during the life of a contract, from the pre-award period through at least 6 years after final payment is made to the contractor, even if contract document storage is decentralized to various organizational elements or to outside offices.3 Documentation is also an important aspect of federal standards for internal control. Under these standards, agencies should design control activities to achieve program objectives and respond to risks, including by clearly 1M&O contracts are agreements under which the government contracts forthe operation, maintenance, or support, on its behalf, of a government-owned or -controlled research, development, special production, or testing establishment wholly or principally devoted to one or more of the major programs of the contracting agency. See 48 C.F.R. § 17.601. 2Department of Energy Office of Inspector General, National Nuclear Security Administration Nuclear Weapons Systems Configuration Management Audit Report, DOE/IG-0902 (Washington, D.C.: March 2014). 348 C.F.R. § 4.802, § 4.802(c)(2), § 4.805. Contract documentation includes documents required to manage a contract. Under the Federal Acquisition Regulation, if contract files or file segments are decentralized, agencies should establish a central control and, if needed, a locator system to ensure the ability to locate promptly any contract files. An example of a principal user is NNSA's Office of Acquisition and Project Management. GAO-1 8-246R NNSA Contract Document Management Page 1

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