For Recovery Act funds, DOT has several different competition strategies.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is using existing contract vehicles for approximately $112 million of the Recovery Act funds in order to expedite the obligation of funds. When awarded, these contracts were competitively selected. They will be primarily for elevator replacements, chiller modernizations, parking lot repairs, power system upgrades and navigation and landing equipment. The remaining $88 million, which will be used to replace airport towers and navigation and landing systems, will be new competitive contracts.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) anticipates two contract awards using Recovery Act funds. Both of these contract awards will be competed, so 100 percent of FRA Recovery Act funds will be competed.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has a significant small business outreach program. Accordingly, where possible, FHWA will compete its Recovery Act contracts among small businesses as much as possible, which may include sole-source awards to Small Business Act Section 8(a) contracts per Federal Acquisitions Regulation Subpart 19.8.
Overall, in fiscal year 2009, DOT anticipates its competition rate to meet or exceed the 82% rate achieved in fiscal year 2008, including Recovery Act activity.
Contract Type
DOT has a preference for fixed-price contracts and emphasizes the importance of acquisition planning and requirements development, which facilitate the use of these contracts. As Contracting Officers, Contracting Officers Technical Representatives (COTRs), and Program Managers are trained and certified under the Federal Acquisition Certification program, they will be better positioned with the skills needed to effect fixed-price contracts. DOT has a robust certification program for these three types of acquisition professionals.
DOT also emphasizes that there are many different contract types available and the contracting professionals must understand the best and most effective use for these various contract types. For fiscal year 2009, The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) plans to use:
- Firm fixed-price contracts for $150 million of its Recovery Act contracts.
- For the remaining $50 million, FAA will award task orders through existing time and materials contracts that contain “not to exceed” amounts and savings incentives clauses that enhance vendor performance. These task orders will have a guaranteed maximum price.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) anticipates two contract awards using Recovery Act funds. Both of these contract awards will be fixed-price, so 100% of FRA Recovery Act funds will be fixed-price.
For fiscal year 2009, the FHWA plans to reinforce the regulatory preference for fixed-price contracts through added acquisition and program office staff training, with an emphasis on maximizing fixed-price Recovery Act awards where it is practical to do so. Overall, the FHWA plans to maintain its achievement of 77% of contracts being awarded as fixed-price in fiscal year 2009, which includes Recovery Act contracts. This will likely represent an increase in $29 million in fixed-price contracts for fiscal year 2009 over fiscal year 2008 for the FHWA.
