What Every Acquisition Shop Should Know
January 3, 2012
Dan Gordon, former administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, said contract management—or post-award oversight—is essential to ensuring that the government gets exactly what it pays for.
The contracting officer's representative (COR) is a key part of that management. However, after reviewing 20 task orders that were worth about $235.1 million, the Defense Department's inspector general found that contracting officers and their representatives at the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity missed the mark of good oversight.
As a result, the agency had no assurance that it got what it paid for or even that contractors were not overpaid. It's a good bet that the Army office isn't the only place in government where CORs are falling short.