The GSA has a rigorous process for closing out government contracts, which are detailed in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). In carrying out this process, acquisitions professionals will pore over written contracts with a fine tooth comb.
Now I don’t know how many of you are contracting in the overseas market, especially in what’s called OCO environments (overseas contingency operations). One of the dilemmas of this kind of contracting is that very often the circumstances are highly urgent.
Increasingly, the military is using contractors to “plug the gaps” during these OCOs. No longer do you see, as in the movies, the SeaBees and engineers come in and “build the airstrip” – what they do nowadays is contract that out to someone who does it faster, better, and according to specs, and who specializes in airstrips so knows what works and what doesn’t.
Plus of course it doesn’t hurt that the wheels of commerce (us contractors), get the work and pay our employees.
Contractors are expected to act, even if only on a contracting officer’s word. As we learned recently when working with some agencies regarding contract closeouts from the original overseas actions, you’re going to have some problems if you have no written specific authorizations for what was done during the OCO.
You MUST follow up and get it in writing.
Even when things are urgent, even when actions are done under fire, of course first off follow directions, get the job done, and listen to your customer, but then follow-up and get it in writing. Otherwise they could come back and say, “You weren’t authorized to do that, why did you spend that money?”
You can try saying, “Well, Joe the contracting officer told me to do it,” but if you don’t have it in writing you can get into serious trouble. The problem is, Joe may be gone or not accessible, or have a slightly different memory of what was asked for. Or even a really different memory, clouded by time, and by the same urgency you both experienced.
