83 FR 42651 - Information Collection; Subcontract Consent and Contractors' Purchasing System Review

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 164 (August 23, 2018)

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, the FAR Council invites the public to comment upon a renewal concerning consent to subcontract, advance notification, and Contractors' purchasing system review.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 164 (Thursday, August 23, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42651-42653]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-18280]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[OMB Control No. 9000-0149; Docket No. 2018-0003; Sequence No. 16]


Information Collection; Subcontract Consent and Contractors' 
Purchasing System Review

AGENCY:  Department of Defense (DOD), General Services Administration 
(GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, the FAR Council 
invites the public to comment upon a renewal concerning consent to 
subcontract, advance notification, and Contractors' purchasing system 
review.

DATES: Submit comments on or before October 22, 2018.

ADDRESSES: The FAR Council invites interested persons to submit 
comments on this collection by either of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: This website provides the 
ability to type

[[Page 42652]]

short comments directly into the comment field or attach a file for 
lengthier comments. Go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow the 
instructions on the site.
     Mail: General Services Administration, Regulatory 
Secretariat Division (MVCB), 1800 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20405. 
ATTN: Ms. Mandell/IC 9000-0149, Subcontract Consent and Contractors' 
Purchasing System Review.
    Instructions: All items submitted must cite Information Collection 
9000-0149, Subcontract Consent and Contractors' Purchasing System 
Review. Comments received in response to this docket will be made 
available for public inspection and posted without change, including 
any personal information, at http://www.regulations.gov.
    Comments received generally will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal and/or business 
confidential information provided. To confirm receipt of your 
comment(s), please check www.regulations.gov, approximately two to 
three days after submission to verify posting (except allow 30 days for 
posting of comments submitted by mail). This information collection is 
pending at the FAR Council. The Council will submit it to OMB within 60 
days from the date of this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Zenaida Delgado, Procurement 
Analyst, at telephone 202-969-7207, or email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Overview of Information Collection

Description of the Information Collection

    1. Type of Information Collection: Revision/Renewal of a currently 
approved collection.
    2. Title of the Collection: Subcontract Consent and Contractors' 
Purchasing System Review.
    3. Agency Form Number, If Any: N/A.

Solicitation of Public Comment

    Written comments and suggestions from the public should address one 
or more of the following four points:
    (1) Evaluate whether the collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including 
whether the information will have practical utility;
    (2) Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of 
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
    (3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and
    (4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those 
who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submission of responses.

B. Purpose

    This information collection requirement, OMB Control No. 9000-0149, 
currently titled ``Subcontract Consent,'' is proposed to be retitled 
``Subcontract Consent and Contractors' Purchasing System Review,'' due 
to consolidation with currently approved information collection 
requirement OMB Control No. 9000-0132, Contractors' Purchasing System 
Review.
    This clearance covers the information that a contractor must submit 
to comply with the requirements in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 
52.244-2, Subcontracts, regarding consent to subcontract, advance 
notification, and Contractors' purchasing system review as follows:
    1. Consent to subcontract. This is the contracting officer's 
written consent for the prime contractor to enter into a particular 
subcontract. In order for the contracting officer responsible for 
consent to make an informed decision, the prime contractor must submit 
adequate information to ensure that the proposed subcontract is 
appropriate for the risks involved and consistent with current policy 
and sound business judgment. The review allows the Government to 
determine whether the contractor's purchasing policies and practices 
are efficient and adequately protect the Government's interests.
    If the contractor has an approved purchasing system, consent is 
required for subcontracts specifically identified by the contracting 
officer in the subcontracts clause of the contract. The contracting 
officer may require consent to subcontract if the contracting officer 
has determined that an individual consent action is required to protect 
the Government adequately because of the subcontract type, complexity, 
or value, or because the subcontract needs special surveillance. These 
can be subcontracts for critical systems, subsystems, components, or 
services.
    If the contractor does not have an approved purchasing system, 
consent to subcontract is required for cost-reimbursement, time-and-
materials, labor-hour, or letter contracts, and also for unpriced 
actions under fixed-price contracts that exceed the simplified 
acquisition threshold.
    2. Advance notification. Prime contractors must provide contracting 
officers notification before the award of any cost-plus-fixed-fee 
subcontract, or certain fixed-price subcontracts. This requirement for 
advance notification is driven by statutory requirements in 10 U.S.C. 
2306 and 41 U.S.C. 3905.
    3. Contractors' Purchasing System Review. The objective of a 
contractor purchasing system review (CPSR), is to evaluate the 
efficiency and effectiveness with which a contractor spends Government 
funds and complies with Government policy when subcontracting.
    Paragraph (i) of FAR clause 52.244-2 specifies that the Government 
reserves the right to review the contractor's purchasing system as set 
forth in FAR subpart 44.3. FAR 44.302 requires the administrative 
contracting officer (ACO) to determine the need for a CPSR based on, 
but not limited to, the past performance of the contractor, and the 
volume, complexity and dollar value of subcontracts. If a contractor's 
sales to the Government (excluding competitively awarded firm-fixed-
price and competitively awarded fixed-price with economic price 
adjustment contracts and sales of commercial items pursuant to Part 12) 
are expected to exceed $25 million during the next 12 months, the ACO 
will perform a review to determine if a CPSR is needed. Sales include 
those represented by prime contracts, subcontracts under Government 
prime contracts, and modifications. Generally, a CPSR is not performed 
for a specific contract. The head of the agency responsible for 
contract administration may raise or lower the $25 million review level 
if it is considered to be in the Government's best interest. Once an 
initial determination has been made to conduct a review, at least every 
three years the ACO shall determine whether a purchasing system review 
is necessary. If necessary, the cognizant contract administration 
office will conduct a purchasing system review.
    A CPSR provides the administrative contracting officer (ACO) a 
basis for granting, withholding, or withdrawing approval of a 
contractor's purchasing system. An approved purchasing system allows 
the contractor more autonomy in subcontracting actions. Without an 
approved purchasing system more Government oversight is necessary, and 
Government consent to subcontract is required. Generally, a CPSR is not 
performed for a specific contract. Rather, CPSRs are conducted on 
contractors based on the factors

[[Page 42653]]

identified above. For example, the Defense Contract Management Agency 
(DCMA) Contractor Purchasing System Review Group is a group dedicated 
to conducting CPSRs for the Department of Defense. As of June 2014 the 
group's review workload included more than 700 contractors worldwide.
    The cognizant ACO is responsible for granting, withholding, or 
withdrawing approval of a contractor's purchasing system and for 
promptly notifying the contractor of same (FAR 44.305-1).
    Related administrative requirements are as follows: FAR 44.305-2(c) 
requires that when recommendations are made for improvement of an 
approved system, the contractor shall be requested to reply within 15 
days with a position regarding the recommendations. FAR 44.305-3(b) 
requires when approval of the contractor's purchasing system is 
withheld or withdrawn, the ACO shall within 10 days after completing 
the in-plant review (1) inform the contractor in writing, (2) specify 
the deficiencies that must be corrected to qualify the system for 
approval, and (3) request the contractor to furnish within 15 days a 
plan for accomplishing the necessary actions. If the plan is accepted, 
the ACO shall make a follow-up review as soon as the contractor 
notifies the ACO that the deficiencies have been corrected.

C. Annual Reporting Burden

1. Consent to Subcontract
    Respondents: 2,578.
    Responses per Respondent: 3.
    Total Annual Responses: 7,734.
    Hours per Response: 3.
    Total Burden Hours: 23,202.
2. Advance Notification
    Respondents: 1,861.
    Responses per Respondent: 3.
    Total Annual Responses: 5,583.
    Hours per Response: 0.25.
    Total Burden Hours: 1,396.
3. Contractors' Purchasing System Review
    Respondents: 1,050.
    Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Total Annual Responses: 1,050.
    Hours per Response: 25.
    Total Burden Hours: 26,250.
4. Summary
    Respondents: 5,489.
    Total Annual Responses: 14,367.
    Total Burden Hours: 50,848.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit and not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Obtaining Copies: Requesters may obtain a copy of the information 
collection documents from the General Services Administration, 
Regulatory Secretariat Division (MVCB), 1800 F Street NW, Washington, 
DC 20405, telephone 202-501-4755. Please cite OMB Control No. 9000-
0149, Subcontract Consent and Contractors' Purchasing System Review, in 
all correspondence.

    Dated: August 20, 2018.
William Clark,
Director, Office of Governmentwide Acquisition Policy, Office of 
Acquisition Policy, Office of Governmentwide Policy.
[FR Doc. 2018-18280 Filed 8-22-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6820-EP-P