Past Performance

The Defense Department had the highest compliance rate with a congressional past performance reporting requirement compared to other Cabinet agencies, according to a new Government Accountability Office report.

The GAO report, issued today, shows DOD having had an 83 percent compliance rate as of April 2014, up from 76 percent at the same time the previous year. The department with the next-highest compliance rate was Treasury, with 71 percent in April 2014 compared to 47 percent in 2013.

"Having complete, timely, and accurate information on contractor performance allows officials responsible for awarding new federal contracts to make informed decisions," the report reads. "Agencies generally are required to document contractor performance on contracts or orders exceeding certain dollar thresholds."

The fiscal year 2013 Defense Authorization Act "required the development of a strategy to ensure that timely, accurate, and complete information on contractor performance is included in past performance databases. The act also required a change to the timeframes allowed for contractors to provide comments, rebuttals, or additional information pertaining to past performance information," according to GAO.