AVOID BRIDGES TO NOWHERE
action. Te sole-source contract involved a lack of planning, irra- tional reasoning and numerous violations of procurement law and regulations.
REDUCING THE IMPACT OF BRIDGE ACTIONS Bridge actions may be unavoidable, particularly when a protest delays a contract award. However, efforts to overcome the impact of a bridge action should routinely be explored. For example:
1. Focus on the elements that must be maintained until the follow-on action is awarded.
It may not be necessary to extend the full suite of performance requirements that are identified in a performance work statement in order to support the immediate mission requirement. Iden- tify only the mission-essential elements of the work statement that must be maintained without a gap in performance until the follow-on action is awarded.
Once mission-essential elements are identified, calculate the cost and performance term of those essential elements for use in the justification for the bridge action.
2. Reduce the amount of work that must be performed under the bridge action.
Review the contract’s statement of work to reduce or eliminate elements that can be postponed until the follow-on contract is awarded.
3. Divide the requirement and issue separate competitive actions.
Divide the immediate requirement into individual procurement requirements that may be separately issued under full and open competitive procedures until the follow-on action is awarded. Competitive procedures include:
• Small business set-asides under FAR Subpart 19.5. • 8(a) Program set-asides under FAR Subpart 19.8. • Set-asides under the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Procurement Program or Women-Owned Small Busi- ness Program.
• Orders placed under multiple-award task or delivery order contracts pursuant to FAR Subpart 16.5.
• Orders placed under indefinite-quantity contracts.
4. Take advantage of the flexibility permissible by the “Changes” clause.
Identify elements of the requirement that may be executable by operation of that clause to reduce the total impact of the bridge action
Te “Changes” clause ensures flexibility that the government requires during performance of a contract and affords the contracting officer the discretion to order additional work within the scope of the contract without providing for full and open competition.
CONCLUSION Bridge actions endure high-level and persistent scrutiny. Te ratio- nale in the justification must focus on why we need the bridge action in the first place. Do not avoid the fact that we knew the contract would expire when we initially awarded the contract. Justify the proposed period of performance and the estimated cost for the bridge contract. Tell the story, be precise and include dates. Don’t let haste result in impulsive or potentially irrespon- sible actions; don’t proceed in the company of assumptions or predetermined conclusions; and tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
For more information, view the Competition in Army Contract- ing course at
https://go.usa.gov/xvy7z. Tis site is CAC enabled.
DENNIS P. LONGO is the advocate for competition, task and delivery order ombudsman and senior procurement analyst for Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. A member of the Army Acquisition Corps, he holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Baltimore and is Level III certified in contracting. His assignments include acquisition specialist at the Program Manager for Chemical Demilitarization within the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Activity and procurement analyst at U.S. Army Legal Services Agency. He served in the military from 1971 to 1973 at the Southern European Task Force, Italy and was deployed to Iraq as a civilian in 2003. He authored the DAU Continuous Learning DOD Purchase Card Tutorial in 2002 and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Procurement Competition in Army Contracting course in 2019. He has been teaching courses on competition in contracting since 2004. Te first of the author’s On Contracting articles appeared in the Winter 2020 edition of Army AL&T.
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Army AL&T Magazine
Summer 2020
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