Congressman Quie's Request for Comments on Constituent's Proposal for Improving Labor Cost Estimates

Gao ID: PSAD-77-12 November 30, 1976

A constituent's proposal for improving labor cost estimates involved techniques for improving technical evaluations of contractors' noncompetitive price proposals, with emphasis on estimating direct labor costs. Information gathered in reviewing technical evaluations of 40 fixed price noncompetitive proposals submitted to the Department of Defense (DOD) was used to appraise the situation.

DOD has repeatedly concluded that adopting the proposal was not warranted. For many years the Air Force has been using the same evaluation techniques proposed by the constituent. It would be unreasonable to pay him up to $1 million dollars to use publicly available techniques. Actions already taken or promised by DOD will improve the performance and reporting of technical evaluations. The constituent used a fictitious example not based on personal experience, as well as invalid projections of cost savings. Further consideration is not warranted.



The Justia Government Accountability Office site republishes public reports retrieved from the U.S. GAO These reports should not be considered official, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Justia.