Contract Administration Final Exam 1. You want to solicit bids for a one year contract for concrete to support your roadway construction work. At this time, prices are fluctuating due to high demand and short supply so no supplier is willing to give you a firm fixed price for the entire year. Which type of contract pricing should you use? a. Fixed price incentive b. Cost plus a fixed fee c. Firm fixed price d. Fixed price with escalation Chap. 3, p. 25 2. The Project Manager has been trying to resolve an issue with the Contractor. The next step in the project is the creation of a test instance. The Project Manager believes it is the Contractor s responsibility to create the test instance in the agency s environment so it will be available for testing by end users. The Contractor claims that he does not have the Application Database Administrator on board to do this and believes this to be the responsibility of the agency. If the Contractor brings an Apps DBA on board, there will be additional charges to the agency covering these costs. The Project Manager insists that test instance creation is the responsibility of the Contractor, and as such, the costs are included in the contract. They are 6 months into the contract. What should the Contract Administrator do? a. Review the SOW and see if you can find the issues they are talking about. b. Listen to their issues and concerns, clarify the SOW in writing and amend the contract as needed. Chap. 3 c. Modify the contract just to get along and to keep the project moving forward. d. Terminate the contract for convenience because they are correct, the contract does not address any of their issues. 3. The supply contract has been awarded to the same contractor who has won this contract in the past. The Project Manager vigorously opposed this award, stating that the contractor did not perform satisfactorily on past contracts. When the Contract Administrator asked for the Project Manager s records to support his statements, the Project Manager could not produce them. What should the Project Manager use to avoid a repeat of this problem? a. Contract Administration Plan b. Performance Assessment Plan Chap. 4, P. 40 c. Contract Closeout Checklist d. Surveillance Techniques Contract Administration 1
4. The contract administration phase of a complex turn-key information systems project is in process. The Contractor states that the testing requirements have been met; however, the Project Manager states that the testing requirements have not yet been validated pursuant to the contract. The Contract Administrator is contacted to resolve the issue. What is the first thing that the Contract Administrator should do? a. Request a meeting with the Contractor and the Project Manager to discuss the Contract Administration phase of the project. b. Notify the Contractor that the testing is not complete and that this affects the Performance Assessment Plan (PAP). c. Review the Contract Administration Plan (CAP) to determine any validation requirements and relevant details about testing. Chap. 4 p. 29 d. Suggest that the end-user consider an amendment to the testing section of the scope of work of the contract. 5. The agency has just awarded a contract for cleaning services in the headquarters building. It is very important that the cleaning be done in a professional manner since this is a high visibility area and receives a lot of the senior staff traffic throughout the day. The contract was very detailed as to the standards to be met. What can the Contract Administrator include in the performance assessment plan to ensure compliance with the performance standards? a. Value analysis b. Surveillance techniques Chap. 4, 42 c. Progress meetings d. Final inspections 6. A software description clearly states that it will work on your existing technology platform and accept data from an existing software package your agency uses to collect the necessary data. Unfortunately, you ve installed the software and found that it does not accept the data in the format your existing software package uses. What is the first step to take in seeking a remedy for this situation? a. Notify the contractor that the express warranty has been breached. Chap. 7, pp. 80-81 b. Notify the contractor that the implied warranty has been breached. c. Request administrative relief from the contractor. d. Request injunctive relief from the contractor s attorney. 7. You have a contract to purchase 1,000 3-ring binders for a specific project. The shipment was received and accepted; however, when an employee attempted to use the binders, he found that the rings did not close securely. Which of the following actions is the best to take in this case? a. Reject the binders for patent defects. b. Seek remedy from the contractor for latent defects. Chap. 7, p.78-79 c. Notify your agency s attorney about a possible case of fraud. d. Negotiate with the vendor to get a discount. Contract Administration 2
8. You ve just completed the closeout process for an annual contract for the rental of copiers. Throughout the year you ve kept notes on what issues and problems your agency has experienced. None of the issues and problems has required making any contract changes and has been easily resolved with the contractor. However, you want to ensure that the next time you bid this requirement that you address these issues in the contract. Also, you want to make sure that you are aware of any issues or problems the contractor has had. You ve arranged for a meeting with the contractor and key end-users to discuss the contract and lessons learned. When you finish the current phase of the contract management cycle, what is likely to be the next phase? a. Monitoring performance on the current contract. b. Analysis of the current contract. c. Identifying contract risks and establishing contract goals to manage risks d. Specifying needs for a subsequent solicitation. Chap. 2, p. 9 9. Regarding a service contract you've been administering, the contractor recently presented you with a Request for Equitable Adjustment (REA) for work that was added. Since then, the contractor has not proven to you that he's entitled to an equitable adjustment. What step will you take next? a. Immediately pay the contractor the requested amount because you ve determined that he s entitled to an equitable adjustment. b. Allow the contractor to try to prove the adjustment amount and be prepared to negotiate it. Chap. 8, p. 88 c. Contact the agency's legal staff to arrange for alternative dispute resolution. d. Determine a way to adjust the price downward. 10. In the course of renovating a building, asbestos is discovered. Asbestos was not addressed in the contract. The contractor notified you of this problem and provided a cost estimate for asbestos abatement which the contractor is qualified to perform. You want to make a bilateral modification to the contract to include the abatement work and appropriate insurance coverage. What do you need to do in order to enact this type of modification? a. Put the asbestos abatement project out for competitive bids. b. Verbally notify the contractor to begin the asbestos abatement project. c. Negotiate a price with the contractor and send a summary of the modification to the contractor for review and approval. p. 83-84 d. Prepare a Request for Equitable Adjustment and present it to the contractor. 11. The City just finished negotiations on a $35,000,000 contract for software implementation services. It is expected that it will take three years for the software to be completely installed and accepted. What type of payment mechanism would be the most appropriate? a. Progress payments b. Partial payments c. Milestone payments Chap. 12 d. Completion payment Contract Administration 3
12. The city has had a term contract in place for two years. The original term of the contract was for up to three years. Usage of the contract has declined to almost nothing. The city purchasing manager has decided to cancel the contract. Which of the following methods best addresses this action? a. Termination for default b. Issue a show cause notice c. Termination for convenience Chap. 13, p. 147 d. Issue notice of suspension 13. A janitorial firm has repeatedly failed to satisfactorily clean according to the detailed schedule in the contract for the City Hall Annex. The city may terminate the contract for default but it is more interested in motivating contract compliance and performance. What is the city s next step? a. Issue Notice of Termination for Default b. Issue Cure Notice Chap. 13, pp. 142-143 c. Issue Request for liquidated damages d. Notify the contractor of rights to appeal 14. Currently the contractor for janitorial services has not been performing up to the quality standard required under the contract s specification. The Contract Administrator has been working with the project manager to improve the contractor s performance to meet the stated contractual quality standard. The contractor has consistently failed to meet specifications. The Contract Administrator is now ready to terminate for default or breach of contract. He believes that the first step towards termination for default has been met: reasonable grounds. What is the Contract Administrator s next step towards terminating for default? a. Compliance with procedural notification requirements Chap. 13 p. 141 b. Punitive action and stop deliveries c. Stop receiving goods or services and notify the authorities d. A cure notice or a notice of termination 15. A contract has just been completed for maintenance work on the main runway of the County s general aviation airport. The contract required closure of the runway which affected the County s revenue stream. The project was delayed because of inclement weather and a change order was issued extending the term. In addition to the inclement weather, the contractor fell behind for other reasons, and was assessed liquidated damages because the runway was not opened pursuant to the contract. The Contract Administrator is performing contract closeout activities. What is the final step in the contract management cycle for the runway project? a. Prepare a contract compliance statement b. Include the change order documentation in the central file c. Conduct an analysis of the contract administration process Chap. 14, p. 154 d. Verify and document that the assessment of liquidated damages was appropriately handled Contract Administration 4
16 At the first meeting of the Contract Administration Committee, a conflict of interest form was signed off by all members of the team. During an evaluation session, the Contracting Officer noticed that the Project Manager continued to score and discuss one submission excessively and was always trying to convince the other members to change their scores. The Contracting Officer met with the Project Manager and discussed the situation. It was discovered that the Project Manager was an employee of the company for two years before coming to the government agency. What steps would you take as the Contract Officer? a. Declare no conflict of interest and continue with the evaluation b. Declare an 'actual conflict of interest' and take immediate action by removing the Project Manager from the evaluation team c. Declare an 'appearance of conflict of interest' and take immediate action by removing the Project Manager from the evaluation team Chap. 5, p. 51 d. Declare a 'potential conflict' and continue with the same evaluation team 17. One day after being advised that the lowest priced bid/tender was being recommended for award because it was both compliant and acceptable, the Project Manager tells you that the agency's consultant for the design and contract administration recommends that the award go to the second bidder. The reason stated did not justify rejecting the lowest priced bid. After you contacted them directly, the consultant still failed to provide sufficient information to justify its recommendation. After contacting the references you discover that the lowest priced bidder has an unresolved claim against the consultant firm and another agency. What should you do? a. Reject the consultant recommendation and award to the lowest acceptable bidder. b. Approve the consultant recommendation and award the contract to the second lowest bidder. c. Declare a conflict of interest with the consultant and rebid the requirement. d. Declare an apparent conflict of interest with the consultant and award the contract to the lowest acceptable bidder. Chap. 5, p. 51 18 On the first day of work the contractor reported that the drawings provided in the solicitation are not 'as built' drawings and the method of construction stated in the scope of work is not appropriate. Not long after the contractor mobilized his labor and equipment the project manager issued a stop work order for two weeks to allow time to evaluate the specifications and drawings. After taking down the scaffolding and de-mobilizing the site the contractor issued an invoice for the cost of the mobilization. The project consultant will not approve the associated costs as the work was stopped and is not complete. The contractor has contacted the purchasing officer to resolve the situation. What would you do? a. Advise the consultant to pay the invoice. b. Request a change order for the additional specification work and determine what costs should be paid. Chap. 8 c. Request a change order notice for the work that was completed and accepted. d. Don't make any payments, as the change order was not properly authorized. Contract Administration 5
19 Your entity has just gone through a very complex procurement. You conducted a pre-bid conference, dealt with requirements protests, and successfully closed the solicitation with a total of seven proposers submitting responsive proposals. Your evaluation team has completed the evaluations of all seven proposals and has selected the highest scoring proposal. Your customer concurs that the highest scoring proposal meets the requirements and would like to move forward with the award. What should your next action be? a. Announce the award and schedule debriefs with the unsuccessful proposers. chap. 6, p. 55 b. Announce the award and advise the unsuccessful proposers of their legal rights. c. Develop a performance assessment plan. d. Obtain a conflict of interest statement from each of the evaluators. 20. The final walk through on the project finds many major deficiencies. The Assistant Project Manager calls the Contract Administrator and wants to know what to do first. What should the Contract Administrator advise? a. In the public interest, the government consents to accept the work with an appropriate adjustment in price. b. Terminate the contract and withhold the liquidated damages as a penalty against the contractor. c. Call in the contractor and get the facts on the acceptance and inspection reports. d. Require contractor to without charge, replace or correct defective work found by the government not to conform to the contract requirements. Chap. 7 21. Several large tents were ordered for an outdoor event starting at 6 PM. It is now 4:30, and the Public Affairs Office notifies you that the vendor has not arrived. You immediately contact the vendor who informs you that the tents you requested will not be available in time. The vendor s staff had inadvertently double booked the tents. As the Buyer responsible for this contract, what steps should you take? a. Consider the double booking of the tents as Force Majeure and allow the vendor to deliver the tents as soon as possible. b. Consider the delay as excusable and cancel the contract since the tents won t be delivered on time. c. Try to locate tents from another supplier, if available, and notify the original vendor that the delay is non-excusable. Chap. 10 d. Contact the vendor supplying the tents and inform them that this is considered a compensable delay even though the contract doesn t specifically contain a compensable delay clause. Contract Administration 6
22. A contractor is claiming that he had to spend $1,000 for additional materials not specified in the contract that were necessary for him to complete the contract successfully. The claim letter is dated two months prior and has been sitting inadvertently on the purchasing manager s desk under a pile of papers. Your disputes and appeals administrative process states that all claims and disputes will be decided within 30 days after receipt. This is clearly more than 30 days. How does this affect the claim? a. The contractor can construe the failure to respond as a denial of the claim and proceed with an appeal. Chap. 11 b. The contractor must resubmit the claim within 7 days after the 30-day period expires. c. The purchasing manager is obligated to resolve the claim in the contractor s favor as a result of the delay. d. The contractor is required to prove that his claim is now two months old prior to taking any further action with regard to the claim. 23. Your agency recently prepared what was believed to be a thorough Request for Proposals (RFP) for a new software program. The RFP was advertised, a pre-proposal conference was held and there appeared to be significant interest from software providers. On the day proposals were due, only one proposal was received. The Purchasing Department was left wondering what went wrong. After contacting several of the companies who attended the pre-proposal conference, it was determined that the main concern dealt with technical data rights. What was the most likely reason that only one proposal was received? a. The IT Department had already decided with whom they wanted to contract. b. The specifications stated that your agency has unlimited data rights. Chap. 9 c. The software companies wanted unlimited access to your agency s technical data. d. The software companies want to provide a complete software system, not just one program module. 24. A construction project to resurface a runway and taxiway at the municipal airport experienced significant delays for a various number of reasons. The contractor is blaming the city and is seeking additional construction days added to the contract, as well as additional compensation. The contractor is threatening to file a lawsuit if the demands are not met. Documentation supports the city s position that it bears no blame for the delays. As the contracts administrator, what should you do? a. Let the contractor know that there is no basis for the claim and to go ahead and file a lawsuit. b. Consent to allowing for additional contract days and increase the contract amount to allow for additional compensation. c. Agree to arbitration and stipulate that both parties will be bound by the decision of a third party. Chap. 11 d. Negotiate with the contractor and give them additional work at the airport if they will withdraw their demands. Contract Administration 7
25. Your agency has awarded a software contract to I.T. Go Home Software, Inc. Given the complexity of the new software system, it will require 18 months to complete the installation. You have been assigned as the Contracts Administrator for this project. You received and have reviewed the schedule and milestones. This is a large dollar, high visibility project with a critical completion date deadline. What should you do? a. Rely on the software vendor s installation schedule because it shows milestones and a completion date which is within the contract completion deadline. b. Schedule a site visit to the software vendor s facility, with follow-up visits to other existing users of the software. c. Assign a staff member to assist with the installation process. d. Ensure that the monthly progress reports are submitted and the watch list and action items are addressed. Chap. 9 Contract Administration 8