[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 58 (Tuesday, March 26, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18342-18343]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-06919]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
[OMB Control No. 9000-0026; Docket 2012-0076; Sequence 18]
Federal Acquisition Regulation; Submission for OMB Review; Change
Order Accounting
AGENCY: Department of Defense (DOD), General Services Administration
(GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
ACTION: Notice of request for public comments regarding an extension to
an existing OMB clearance.
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SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the
Regulatory Secretariat will be submitting to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a
previously approved information collection requirement concerning
change order accounting. A notice was published in the Federal Register
at 77 FR 51804, on August 27, 2012. One comment was received.
Public comments are particularly invited on: Whether this
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of
functions of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), and whether it
will have practical utility; whether our estimate of the public burden
of this collection of information is accurate, and based on valid
assumptions and methodology; ways to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be collected; and ways in which we can
minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are
to respond, through the use of appropriate technological collection
techniques or other forms of information technology.
DATES: Submit comments on or before April 25, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments identified by Information Collection 9000-
0026, Change Order Accounting, by any of the following methods:
Regulations.gov: http://www.regulations.gov.
Submit comments via the Federal eRulemaking portal by inputting
``Information Collection 9000-0026, Change Order Accounting'' under the
heading ``Enter Keyword or ID'' and selecting ``Search''. Select the
link ``Submit a Comment'' that corresponds with ``Information 9000-
0026, Change Order Accounting''. Follow the instructions provided at
the ``Submit a Comment'' screen. Please include your name, company name
(if any), and ``Information Collection 9000-0026, Change Order
Accounting'' on your attached document.
Fax: 202-501-4067.
Mail: General Services Administration, Regulatory
Secretariat (MVCB), 1275 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20417. ATTN:
Hada Flowers/IC 9000-0026, Change Order Accounting.
Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite Information
Collection 9000-0026, Change Order Accounting, in all correspondence
related to this collection. All comments received will be posted
without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal
and/or business confidential information provided.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Michael O. Jackson, Procurement
Analyst, Office of Governmentwide Acquisition Policy, GSA, (202) 208-
4949, or email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Purpose
FAR 43.205 allows a contracting officer, whenever the estimated
cost of a change or series of related changes under a contract exceeds
$100,000, to assert the right in the clause at FAR 52.243-6, Change
Order Accounting, to require the contractor to maintain separate
accounts for each change or series of related changes. Each account
shall record all incurred segregable, direct costs (less allocable
credits) of work, changed and unchanged, allocable to the change. These
accounts are to be maintained until the parties agree to an equitable
adjustment for the changes or until the matter is conclusively disposed
of under the Disputes clause. This requirement is necessary in order to
be able to account properly for costs associated with changes in supply
and research and development contracts that are technically complex and
incur numerous changes.
[[Page 18343]]
B. Discussion and Analysis
One respondent submitted public comments on the extension of the
previously approved information collection. The analysis of the public
comments is summarized as follows:
Comment: The respondent commented that the extension of the
information collection would violate the fundamental purposes of the
Paperwork Reduction Act because of the burden it puts on the entity
submitting the information and the agency collecting the information.
The respondent opposes granting the extension of the information
collection requirement.
Response: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA),
agencies can request an OMB approval of an existing information
collection. The PRA requires that agencies use the Federal Register
notice and comment process, to extend the OMB's approval, at least
every three years. This extension, to a previously approved information
collection, pertains to FAR 43.205 which allows a contracting officer,
whenever the estimated cost of a change or series of related changes
under a contract exceeds $100,000, to assert the right in the clause at
FAR 52.243-6, Change Order Accounting, to require the contractor to
maintain separate accounts for each change or a series of related
changes. Each account shall record all incurred segregable, direct
costs (less allocable credits) of work, changed and unchanged,
allocable to the change. These accounts are to be maintained until the
parties agree to an equitable adjustment for the changes or until the
matter is conclusively disposed of under the Disputes clause. Not
granting this extension would consequently eliminate FAR clauses that
provide a benefit to the public and the agency collecting the
information.
Comment: The respondent commented that the agency did not
accurately estimate the public burden challenging that the agency's
methodology for calculating it is insufficient and inadequate and does
not reflect the total burden. For this reason, the respondent provided
that the agency should reassess the estimated total burden hours and
revise the estimate upwards to be more accurate, as was done in FAR
Case 2007-006. The same respondent also provided that the burden of
compliance with the information collection requirement greatly exceeds
the agency's estimate and outweighs any potential utility of the
extension.
Response: Serious consideration is given, during the open comment
period, to all comments received and adjustments are made to the
paperwork burden estimate based on reasonable considerations provided
by the public. This is evidenced, as the respondent notes, in FAR Case
2007-006 where an adjustment was made from the total preparation hours
from three to 60. This change was made considering particularly the
hours that would be required for review within the company, prior to
release to the Government.
The burden is prepared taking into consideration the necessary
criteria in OMB guidance for estimating the paperwork burden put on the
entity submitting the information. For example, consideration is given
to an entity reviewing instructions; using technology to collect,
process, and disclose information; adjusting existing practices to
comply with requirements; searching data sources; completing and
reviewing the response; and transmitting or disclosing information. The
estimated burden hours for a collection are based on an average between
the hours that a simple disclosure by a very small business might
require and the much higher numbers that might be required for a very
complex disclosure by a major corporation. Also, the estimated burden
hours should only include projected hours for those actions which a
company would not undertake in the normal course of business. Careful
consideration went into assessing the burden for this collection and
adjustments were made. However, at any point, members of the public may
submit comments for further consideration, and are encouraged to
provide data to support their request for an adjustment.
C. Annual Reporting Burden
The estimated number of respondents has increased from 200 to
10,636, based on information retrieved from the Federal Procurement
Data System--Next Generation (FPDS-NG). For Fiscal Year 2012, 21,272
contractors were awarded modifications over $100,000 on fixed-price
type contracts, which are applicable to this information collection. It
is estimated that only about half of these contractors would be
required to submit the information under this collection, or 10,636
because of the improvement in Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
(GAAP), the use of FAR cost principles (FAR subpart 31.2), and expanded
use of Cost Accounting Standards (CAS). These procedures, in most
cases, enable the Government to account for the cost of changes without
having to resort to change order accounting. Submission to the
Government remains the same at 12, based on an estimated monthly
submission, or 12 times a year. The estimated hours per response time
of .5, or 30 minutes, is increased to 1 hour. This change is based on a
reassessment of the estimated time required to gather and report the
accounting information in the format specific to this information
collection.
Respondents: 10,636.
Responses per Respondent: 12.
Annual Responses: 127,632.
Hours per Response: 1.
Total Burden Hours: 127,632.
Obtaining Copies of Proposals: Requesters may obtain a copy of the
information collection documents from the General Services
Administration, Regulatory Secretariat (MVCB), 1275 First Street NE.,
Washington, DC 20417, telephone (202) 501-4755. Please cite OMB Control
No. 9000-0026, Change Order Accounting, in all correspondence.
Dated: March 21, 2013.
William Clark,
Acting Director, Federal Acquisition Policy Division, Office of
Governmentwide Acquisition Policy, Office of Acquisition Policy, Office
of Governmentwide Policy.
[FR Doc. 2013-06919 Filed 3-25-13; 8:45 am]
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