This subpart provides policies and procedures for evaluating, maintaining, and releasing contractor performance information under DOL contracts.
DOL contracting officers are required to use or interface with the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS), and specifically the National Institutes of Health's Contractor Performance System. The HCA is responsible for ensuring that a contractor performance evaluation system is generated to meet the requirements of FAR subpart 42.15, including compliance with subcontracting plans. Contracts, task orders, and delivery orders, exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, should be formally evaluated in writing. Interim evaluations should be performed on contracts exceeding one year in duration. This will assist contractors with improving marginal performance and identifying any major deficiencies. It will also facilitate performance evaluations at contract completion, as well as determining whether to exercise contract options, if any.
(a) In accordance with FAR 42.1502, the contracting officer will prepare an interim evaluation of a contractor's performance at least annually for submission to the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS), and specifically the Contractor Performance System maintained by the National Institutes of Health.
(b) The contracting officer, or designee, must determine who will evaluate a contractor's performance. The contracting officer's technical representative, program manager, contract specialists or administrators, and users are candidates likely to be selected to perform the evaluation.
(c) A contractor's performance evaluation should be obtained from a person who monitored contractor performance when that individual's assignment of duties or employment terminates before physical completion of the contract. The areas of performance to be selected for evaluation should be tailored to the type of supplies or services normally acquired by the contracting activities and the type of contract. HCAs must ensure uniformity of the evaluation criteria within their contracting activities.
(d) Release of contractor performance evaluation information.
(1) Requests for performance evaluation information from the public must be processed in accordance with FOIA, as implemented by DOL under 29 CFR part 70.
(2) Release of a contractor's performance evaluation information to other Federal agencies is subject to FAR 42.1502. When the performance evaluation information is released to other federal agencies, it should be provided with a written statement that it is nonpublic information that must be processed under FOIA principles if a request for its disclosure is received.
(e) Even though the retention period for past performance evaluation information is three years ( see FAR 42.1503), the contractor's performance evaluation, any contractor rebuttal, and final decision become a part of the contract file. Therefore, disposal of the contractor's evaluation information must be accomplished in accordance with FAR 4.804.
