Defense Contracting: DOD's Use of Class Justifications for Sole-Source Contracts
Abstract
The DOD class justifications included in our sample were used primarily for the acquisition of weapon systems or related subsystems and components. About 77 percent (50 of 65) covered specific weapon system development, production, sustainment, or modernization efforts; about 14 percent (9 of 65) covered logistics support of multiple weapon systems or training systems, and the remaining 9 percent (6 of 65) covered other requirements. Because weapon systems are typically used for many years, DOD officials told us class justifications provided an administrative efficiency by allowing one justification for multiple contracts that would essentially require the same justification. Most of the class justifications in our sample had a total value of over $85.5 million and required approval at the highest level the senior procurement executive of the DOD component. About 90 percent (59 of 65) of the class justifications in our sample cited only one responsible source as the exception to competition, generally because the contractor s ownership of proprietary technical data or expertise prevented the ability to compete the contract.3 The class justifications we reviewed generally cited the publication of notices of proposed contract actions on the Federal Business Opportunities website or market research to identify other qualified sources, neither of which identified other contractors that could meet the requirements. About 17 percent (11 of 63) of the class justifications identified plans to compete future requirements. For example, three cited plans to acquire technical data to enable future competition and two cited efforts to break out some portion of the requirement for competition.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 16, 2014
- Accession Number
- ADA599382
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office