In dealing with the Department of Defense, you will also see a reference to the Federal Defense Procurement Regulation Supplements (DFARS). DFARS describes the specific requirements for awarding contracts to the Ministry of Defence. Note that DFARS clauses may appear in addition to FAR clauses in your contract. The FAR and DFARS clauses of your contract are the points that each organization must scrutinize and respect. And in both cases, they can refer to other regulations within the government, such as .B other sections of the Code of Federal Regulations. All of these requirements as a whole are a maze of regulations that can be quite confusing for a new winner. The DCMA was previously called Defense Contract Management Command (DCMC), but its name was changed to the Defense Contract Management Agency in March 2000 when it was created independently of the Defense Logistics Agency. The DCMA currently employs about 12,000 people – mostly civilians – working in contractors` offices and facilities around the world. Add to this alphabetical soup a few more actors you may encounter on the government side. The customer`s technical representative or COTR can also be called the technical contact or TPOC. These individuals are the technical program managers of the contract. Their purpose is to ensure that the final product or service meets the contractual technical requirements. The wording of the contract emphasises that these technical counterparties are not allowed to modify or waive the contractual requirements.

They must notify the contract agent, who is the only one empowered to initiate and amend the contract on behalf of the government. Now let`s go back to the types of contracts. The government also uses refundable contracts for many of the services it purchases, and in particular for research and development. Refundable contracts are most often used by the DoD with the Phase II SBIR allocation. In this situation, the government assumes a greater share of the risk, so it wants to have more control to ensure that the expenses invoiced are valid and eligible and to counter the risk of exceeding the contractual cost targets. They want to avoid the cost overrun stories we hear from time to time. As a result, the government has put in place controls to avoid similar results. With repayable contracts, the risk to the government is greater, which is why accountants are more interested in your accounting system and how it works. With that in mind, let`s move on to a discussion about audits – the occasions when the government sends a DCAA auditor to spend time at your institution to review your accounting and record-keeping systems.

DCMA works directly with contractors. The organization`s primary responsibility is to ensure that the government receives the highest quality supplies and services on time and at the best value for money. The DCMA is active both in the period prior to the award and throughout the period of performance of the contract. The director of the agency is Lt. Gen. David G. Bassett of the U.S. Army, who took the lead on June 4, 2020. In addition to these responsibilities, DCMA representatives regularly visit contractors – both prior to contract award and throughout its duration – to ensure that contracts meet government standards and needs, identify potential risks, and verify that all contractual conditions are met. The contract management process was reviewed in 1989. Citing persistent problems with how services managed contracts, a Defence Management Review Decision (DMRD) Decision 916 recommended the creation of a joint defence contract management command to ensure consistent policies and standards are applied to the defence procurement process. DcMC was established in February 1990 as a command within the Defense Logistics Agency to respond to the results of DMRD 916.

To achieve these objectives, the DCMA has developed a set of policies and procedures that allow its auditors to determine compliance with two guidelines – one for the identification of shipments and the other for the identification of assets. Standards have also been established to assess a contractor`s systems and processes to manage its mission requirements for unique identifier (UID) and radio frequency identification (RFID). In addition, the DCMA uses a score of 14 points to ensure that high-quality calendars are created and tracked to improve the chances of success. For the small business innovation research (SBIR) program, entrepreneurs should focus on contractual clauses derived from Parts 16, 27, 31 and 42 of the FAR and DFAR. Part 16 discusses the types of contracts and implements the billing and costing techniques that a contractor must follow. Part 27 describes data and intellectual property rights, important issues for companies funded by SBIR/STTR. Part 31 provides a general framework for an adequate accounting system and the formulation of rules on the admissibility of costs for a list of typical expenses. Part 42 defines roles and responsibilities for the management of government contracts. Again, there are hyperlinks in the Links section that will take you directly to these sections.

The Defense Contract Management Agency and the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) emerged from the DoD and focus on assisting the Department of Defense in its contracting activities; However, the two agencies have different responsibilities. .