New to Fed Contracting

Stealth said:

What are the most important sections of the FAR that you think I should study?

To an extent, the most important sections of FAR for you may be driven by what immediate type contracting you will be focused on i.e., sealed bidding, commercial items, simplified acquisitions,negotiated procurement, etc. I suggest a simplified overview first, if you haven't already. No jest, but I recommend you consider Federal Acquisition Regulations (Wikipedia) (and links there to other material), and (no offense), FAR for Dummies handbooks. Also, there are many internet introductions. Perhaps you can give more details about what you think you will be doing initially.

I would start here: https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc503280/m1/1/high_res_d/R42826_2015Feb03.pdf

When you're done, come back and I'll recommend more.

A side suggestion.  After the deep dive into the FAR remember agencies like HHS have their supplement to the FAR so perusing the HHS supplement might be beneficial as well.   https://www.acquisition.gov/hhsar

On 12/29/2020 at 3:53 PM, Neil Roberts said:

To an extent, the most important sections of FAR for you may be driven by what immediate type contracting you will be focused on i.e., sealed bidding, commercial items, simplified acquisitions,negotiated procurement, etc. I suggest a simplified overview first, if you haven't already. No jest, but I recommend you consider Federal Acquisition Regulations (Wikipedia) (and links there to other material), and (no offense), FAR for Dummies handbooks. Also, there are many internet introductions. Perhaps you can give more details about what you think you will be doing initially.

I started on Monday. The branch chief told me that You will want to focus on FAR parts 5, 6, 12, 13, 15 and 19. Our acquisitions run the gambit, although we don’t see sealed bidding and true R&D is rare, particularly for this team.

On 12/30/2020 at 4:23 PM, Don Mansfield said:

I would start here: https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc503280/m1/1/high_res_d/R42826_2015Feb03.pdf

When you're done, come back and I'll recommend more.

With the moving, it has been crazy trying to get myself ahead of the curve, but I have read some of this already. I'll let you know when I'm done.

Before you plunge into the FAR, consider buying Government Contracts in a Nutshell, 6th ed. (2015), by Steven Feldman, $58 for paperback, $38 for Kindle. It takes you through the FAR part-by-part and provides an overview. You can preview the table of contents via Amazon. From the preface:

"The Government Contracts Nutshell, Sixth Edition, is intended to highlight the essential elements and principles of government contracting regarding both contract formation and contract administration. It provides the reader with a foundation for understanding how government procurement works in formal and informal ways. Ideally, this treatment will enable students and practitioners to become familiar with the fundamentals of government contracting in a relatively short time."

Add FAR part 16 to your supervisor's list. I would also suggest a a deep dive into the different policies and procedures between 13 and 15. There are a lot of freedoms in 13 that you won't find in 15. Don't get them mixed up.

On 2/3/2021 at 6:35 AM, Vern Edwards said:

👆👆👆

Never thought I'd say this, but we may need one of those "Blue Check-mark" things...

I'm not very media-smart. Is a blue check-mark a good thing?

On 2/4/2021 at 9:39 AM, Vern Edwards said:

I'm not very media-smart. Is a blue check-mark a good thing?

Social media outlets (such as Twitter) confirms the identities of high-profile members. They give them a check-mark. Just saying.

Go to beta.SAM.gov and look at random solicitations and you can see how FAR 13, 14, and 15 look like in practice, at least the public facing parts of those.

Thanks everyone for all your advice.

Government Contracts in a Nutshell, 6th ed. (2015), by Steven Feldman is a good read so far. The FCN 101 with FAI/DAU seems to also help a bit. I don't have a formal internal training program so I wish there was a good checklist for things I need to do. A FAR matrix is good but only insofar as much as knowing how to use it.

Stealth said:

I don't have a formal internal training program so I wish there was a good checklist for things I need to do.

Make one. An opportunity to demonstrate leadership.

On 4/2/2021 at 3:58 PM, Stealth said:

I wish there was a good checklist for things I need to do.

Do you mean things you need to learn?

@Stealth,

Are you in the 1102 series at HHS?  If so, I think all 1102s get enrolled in a formal training program for FAC certification.  The program also includes other than just straight contracting courses.  https://oalm.od.nih.gov/sites/all/themes/custom/oalm/files/HHS.Handbook.2010.wpd.pdf