Compliance With Subcontracting Plan Requirements

GAO discussed the General Services Administration's (GSA), Department of Energy's (DOE), and Department of the Navy's public utility contracts and their compliance with the statutory requirement that large federal contracts contain subcontracting plans for small and small disadvantaged businesses. GAO found that: (1) of the 918 large GSA contracts examined, 11 did not have small business plans; (2) of the 457 DOE contracts examined, 15 did not have plans; (3) of the 627 Navy contracts examined, 272 did not have plans; (4) the average small business goal for GSA, DOE, and the Navy was 23 percent, 39 percent, and 40 percent, respectively; and (5) the average small-disadvantaged-business goals were 2 percent, 7 percent, and 3 percent, respectively. GAO also found that: (1) all of the GSA utility contracts contained subcontracting plans; (2) six utility companies declined to enter into contracts with DOE due to objections with the plan requirement, while three signed contracts but removed the requirement from the contracts; and (3) some Department of Defense utility contracts did not contain subcontracting plans, since contracting officers used outdated guidelines or were not aware of the requirement.