9000-0011 Supporting Statement 2020

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

FOR PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSION

OMB CONTROL NO.9000-0011

Preaward Survey Forms (Standard Forms 1403, 1404, 1405, 1406, 1407, and 1408)

FAR sections affected: SFs 1403, 1404, 1405, 1406, 1407, and 1408

A. Justification.

1. Administrative requirements. Contracting officers, prior to award, must make an affirmative determination that the prospective contractor is responsible, i.e., capable of performing the contract. Before making such a determination, the contracting officer must have or obtain sufficient information to establish that the prospective contractor: (i) has adequate financial resources; or the ability to obtain such resources; (ii) is able to comply with required delivery schedule; (iii) has a satisfactory record of performance; (iv) has a satisfactory record of integrity; and (v) is otherwise qualified and eligible to receive an award under appropriate laws and regulations. If such information is not readily available to the contracting officer, it is obtained through a preaward survey conducted by the contract administration office or another organization designated by the agency to conduct the surveys. The necessary data is collected from available data or through plant visits, phone calls, and correspondence in detail commensurate with the dollar value and complexity of the procurement. This clearance covers the information that prospective contractors must provide to ensure proper completion of the following preaward survey forms prescribed by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR):

• Standard Form 1403 Preaward Survey of Prospective Contractor (General)

• Standard Form 1404 Preaward Survey of Prospective Contractor (Technical)

• Standard Form 1405 Preaward Survey of Prospective Contractor (Production)

• Standard Form 1406 Preaward Survey of Prospective Contractor (Quality Assurance)

• Standard Form 1407 Preaward Survey of Prospective Contractor (Financial Capability)

• Standard Form 1408 Preaward Survey of Prospective Contractor (Accounting System)

2. Uses of information. The contracting officer uses the information to determine whether a prospective contractor is responsible.

3. Consideration of information technology. We use improved information technology to the maximum extent practicable. Where both the Government agency and contractors are capable of electronic interchange, the contractors may submit this information collection requirement electronically.

4. Efforts to identify duplication. These requirements are issued under the FAR, which has been developed to standardize Federal procurement practices and eliminate unnecessary duplication.

5. If the collection of information impacts small businesses or other entities, describe methods used to minimize burden. The burden applied to small businesses is the minimum consistent with applicable laws, Executive orders, regulations, and prudent business practices. The FAR also provides conditions under which preaward surveys are to be accomplished that minimize the information collection burden on small businesses. These conditions include:

• FAR subpart 9.1 provides a number of potential sources of information to use in determining the responsibility of a prospective Government contractor. Specifically, FAR 9.105-1 lists sources other than preaward surveys as preferred sources of contractor responsibility data.

• Although preaward surveys may be conducted on large and small business entities, as determined appropriate, the surveys are discouraged for fixed priced contracts at or below the simplified acquisition threshold and for contracts involving the acquisition of commercial items, unless circumstances justify the survey’s cost. Actions at or below the simplified acquisition threshold are totally set aside for small business, thereby minimizing the circumstances under which preaward surveys would be conducted on small business entities.

• FAR 9.106-4(b) requires that a contract administration office/surveying activity consult the appropriate Small Business Administration field office before making an affirmative recommendation regarding a contractor’s responsibility or nonresponsibility when that small business has received preferential treatment on an ongoing contract under Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637) or has received a Certificate of Competency from the Small Business Administration during the last 12 months.

6. Describe consequence to Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently. Collection of information on a basis other than solicitation-by-solicitation is not practical.

7. Special circumstances for collection. Collection is consistent with guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.6.

8. Efforts to consult with persons outside the agency.

1. A 60-day notice was published in the Federal Register at 85 FR 55290 on September 4, 2020. No comments were received.

2. A 30-day notice was published in the Federal Register at 85 FR 71653, on November 10, 2020.

9. Explanation of any decision to provide any payment or gift to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees. Not applicable.

10. Describe assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents. This information is disclosed only to the extent consistent with prudent business practices, current regulations, and statutory requirements.

11. Additional justification for questions of a sensitive nature. No sensitive questions are involved.

12 & 13. Estimated total annual public hour and cost burden.

There are no Governmentwide systems for collecting the number of preaward surveys completed in a fiscal year as preaward surveys are only required in limited circumstances where information for the prospective contractor cannot be obtained by the contracting officer to make an affirmative statement of responsibility.

A preaward survey would be needed only if the firm had not previously been a Government contractor and therefore had no record of past performance. The data from the Federal Procurement Data System for FY 2019 showed a total of 702 contracts awarded by the General Services Administration (GSA) that were over the simplified acquisition threshold ($250,000), and for which commercial acquisition procedures were not used. The estimate for preaward surveys is 15% of the total or 105 (15% of 702). Of the six Standard Forms, we estimated that Standard Form 1403 is used most frequently because it is a general form and accounts for 30 percent or 32 times, Standard Forms 1404 and 1407 account for 15 percent or 16 times, Standard Form 1408 accounts for 20 percent or 21 times, and Standard Forms 1405 and 1406 account 10 percent or 11 times.

After consultation with subject matter experts, it was determined that the time required to prepare and complete the Standard Forms is estimated at 24 hours per response. Because preaward survey data is generally used for multiple contracts awarded within a 12 month period, it is estimated that only one (1) response would be reported annually per respondent per form.

General Services Administration

Standard Form	1403	1404	1405	1406	1407	1408	Total
Estimated respondents/yr	32	16	11	11	16	21	107
Responses annually	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Total annual responses	32	16	11	11	16	21	107
Estimated hrs/response	24	24	24	24	24	24	24
Estimated total burden hrs	768	384	264	264	384	504	2568
Hourly rate ($)*	57	57	57	57	57	57	57
Estimated cost to public	$ 43,776	$ 21,888	$ 15,048	$ 15,048	$ 21,888	$ 28,728	$ 146,376

Estimated Cost to the public $ 146,376

* Based on the OPM GS-12/step 5 salary ($41.66 an hour) plus 36.25% fringe and overhead burden rate, the one mandated by OMB memorandum M-08-13 for use in public-private competition, rounded to the nearest dollar, or $57 an hour. Reference Salary Table 2020-RUS, Effective January 2020, found at www.opm.gov.

14. Estimated cost to the Government. Time required for Government-wide review is estimated at 48 hours per response.

General Services Administration

Total annual responses............................... 107

Review time per response (hours).................... x 48

Review time per year (hours)........................ 5,136

Hourly rate*....................................... x $57

Estimated Government Cost ........................$ 292,752

15. Explain reasons for program changes or adjustments reported in Item 13 or 14. The decrease of responses from 3,720 to 107 and the associated decrease in estimated burden hours from 89,280 to 2,568 are because the reported burden-

a) Accounts only for GSA. This information collection is being converted into a common form. GSA is the sponsor agency of this common form. All executive agencies covered by the FAR will use this common form, and report their agency burden separately; and

b) Was adjusted using the most current data available.

16. Outline plans for published results of information collections. Results will not be tabulated or published.

17. Approval not to display expiration date. Not applicable.

18. Explanation of exception to certification statement. Not applicable.

B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods.

Statistical methods are not used in this information collection.

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