The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center expects by September to begin implementing new procedures to hold contractors responsible for poor performance.
The Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act required SMC Commander Lt. Gen. John Thompson to determine procedures for placing underperforming companies on a "contractor responsibility watch list." Appearing on the list could limit a contractor's ability to compete for major research and development and acquisition programs.
SMC spokesman Donald Traud told Inside Defense Aug. 28 the procedures should be completed by the end of September and, once approved, the command will begin to implement them.
In July, the Air Force released a draft of the implementation procedures, which spell out the criteria for adding and removing contractors from the watch list and for pursuing exceptions to contracting restrictions. Traud said SMC would not publicly release the names of contractors included on the list.
The FY-18 NDAA lays out the following criteria for a contractor to be placed on the watch list: poor performance or award fee scores below 50 percent, financial concerns, felony convictions or civil judgments, or security or foreign ownership and control issues.
SMC is prohibited from soliciting offers from prime contractors on the watch list and can't award contracts, engineering change proposals or contract options on any program that has a prime contractor on the list unless the SMC commander approves it. Further, prime contractors -- regardless of whether they are on the list -- may not select subcontractors included on the watch list for contracts worth more than $3 million or 5 percent of the contract, whichever is a lower amount, without approval from the SMC commander.
The draft procedures document notes the SMC commander will send written rationale to companies placed on the watch list and will determine whether to place an entire company or just a division of that company on the list. Contractors can request to be removed from the list based on performance improvements.
The watch list will not apply to operations and maintenance contracts, professional services contracts or other transaction agreements.