Contract Administration – Duties of the CO

Currently I am working on a project to complete an assessment on how well our Procurement Organization is doing in the area of Contract Administration. A simultaneous project is exploring the duties of the COTR. I would love to hear folks best practices and ideas of measuring the effectiveness of Contract Administration by the COs.

Leave a Comment

4 Comments

Leave a Reply

Sterling Whitehead

Cheryl, it may be helpful for us if we know what metrics you already have. Can you attach a file with what data you already have?

Jaime Gracia

Cheryl – I have done several engagements such as this, but usually for measuring the procurement organization as a whole. The COs, COTRs, PMs, etc. all play a part, as the organization needs to have the contracting mission as a strategic part of the organization. Most agencies due not have this view. I usually recommend starting with GAO Report Assessing The Acquisition Function at Federal Agencies(GAO-05-218G). I have used this model before successfully on past engagements with federal agencies.

Cheryl M Rose

Currently we have no measures directly linked to Contract Administration. Areas I am looking at include: Deobligations, Contract Closeouts, Past Due Interest Paid. I also have our Policy Division looking at any audit info we might use. At this point we are setting a benchmark so are open to suggestions on other metrics.

Cheryl M Rose

Thank you Mr. Wax — Rest assured we are not only looking at the CO responsibilities, but are also looking at the COTR and PM responsibilities — cradle to grave — in Contract Administration. The FAR is the starting point for the entire review.

I welcome additional input from Federal agencies around best practices, additional GAO reports, organizational structures, and metrics that help agencies understand how well they are doing at fulfilling the FAR requirement in Contract Administration.