The Government Manager's Guide to The Statement of Work

By Michael G. Martin PMP

This volume offers practical guidance on writing and preparing a description of government requirements, whether the document used is a statement of work (SOW), a performance work statement (PWS), or a statement of objectives (SOO). This description specifies exactly what good and services are being purchased, including their quality, requirements, quantity, and schedule for delivery, and also defines the relationship between the government and the contractor. From an overview of the elements that make a good SOW, to the methods for changing an SOW to meet new conditions, this is a hands-on resource for every government manager who is involved with contracts.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781567264371

Michael G. Martin PMP

Michael G. Martin, PMP, is an internationally recognized consultant, speaker, trainer, and author with extensive experience in portfolio, program, and project management as well as enterprise risk management. He is the author of Federal Statements of Work: A Practical Guide and Delivering Project Excellence with the Statement of Work, Second Edition. He is the past President and Chair of the Atlanta PMI® Chapter, former member of the PMP® exam development committee, and Founding Chair of the PMI® Government Specific Interest Group.

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INDEX

PREFACE

As stewards of the taxpayers’ money, federal managers are responsible for conceiving the full scope of the government’s needs in advance of a contract. Tightly drafted specifications produce efficient, effective results; loosely drawn specifications can set a program back significantly. The statement of work (SOW) is the vehicle used to define this scope.

The specifications of the work described in the SOW often become the heart of the request for proposals (RFP), offerors’ proposals, and the final contract. A description of the work specifies exactly what is being purchased, including its quality, requirements, and quantity, as well as a schedule for its delivery. The SOW also defines the relationship between the government and the contractor, describing who will do what and the standards by which the government will measure a contractor’s compliance with the job requirements.

This volume of The Government Manager’s Essential Library offers practical guidance on writing and preparing a description of government requirements, whether the document used is an SOW, a performance work statement (PWS), or a statement of objectives (SOO). Chapter 1 provides an overview of the SOW, discussing the need for a clear and concise SOW and highlighting the benefits of SOWs. Chapter 2 addresses the format and content of the solicitation and contract and discusses the relationship of the SOW to the RFP. Chapter 3 focuses on issues that must be considered when planning and developing an SOW, including choosing the SOW type and distinguishing between level-of-effort and completion SOWs.

Chapter 4 covers the SOW format, addressing what information is appropriate to include in an SOW, where the information goes in the SOW, and why, as well as the use of SOWs in sealed bidding. Chapter 5 discusses performance-based service contracting, focusing on developing a PWS, conducting a job analysis, developing a quality assurance plan, and offering incentives. Chapter 6 discusses the use of an SOO in service contracting.

Chapter 7 identifies common problems in writing SOWs and provides guidelines for writing a quality SOW. Chapter 8 offers insights into why change management is important and discusses Standard Form 30 to provide perspective on how the change order is used in the federal government.

I sincerely hope that the concepts and techniques described in this book will make managing your contracts and programs more successful, and thus make your professional life as a government manager just a little bit easier.

—Michael G. Martin, PMP

Chapter 1

AN OVERVIEW OF THE STATEMENT OF WORK

Astatement of work (SOW) is the written description of an agency requirement, used in the acquisition of supplies or services. The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)¹ mandates that government requirements be described in a manner that promotes full and open competition to the maximum extent practicable and that restrictive provisions or conditions be used only to the extent necessary to satisfy the needs of the agency or as authorized by law. The FAR² goes on to say that requirements should be stated in terms of the functions to be performed, the performance required, or the essential physical characteristics of the requirements.

WHAT IS A STATEMENT OF WORK?

Although commonly used throughout the government, the term statement of work is not defined in the FAR. The FAR uses the term work statement when discussing research and development (R&D) contracting and the term statements of work in the coverage of performance-based contracting, but no specific definition is provided. For our purposes, statement of work is used to refer to the document that completely describes the contractual work requirement. Unless otherwise noted, the term also encompasses the term performance work statement (PWS) used in performance-based service contracting (PBSC).

To put the term statement of work in the context of the FAR language, the following are some of the terms the FAR uses when discussing the description of a work requirement:

•    Specification. A specification is a description of the technical requirements for a material, product, or service that includes the criteria for determining whether these requirements are met. Specifications state the government’s minimum needs and are designed to promote full and open competition, with due regard to the nature of the supplies or services to be acquired. The two sources of formal government-approved specifications are (1) the General Services Administration Index of Federal Specifications, Standards, and Commercial Item Descriptions, which lists federal specifications and standards that have been implemented for use by all federal agencies, and (2) the Department of Defense Index of Specifications and Standards, which contains unclassified federal and military specifications and standards, related standardization documents, and voluntary standards approved for use by DoD.

•    Standards. Standards are documents that establish engineering and technical limitations and applications of items, materials, processes, methods, designs, and engineering practices. Standards include any related criteria deemed essential to achieve the highest practical degree of uniformity in materials or products, or interchangeability of parts used in these products.

The FAR³ states that agencies shall select existing requirements documents or develop new requirements documents that meet the needs of the agency in accordance with the guidance contained in the Federal Standardization Manual, FSPM-0001; for DoD components, Defense Standardization Program Policies and Procedures, DoD 4120.24-??; and for IT standards and guidance, the Federal Information Processing Standards Publications.

•    Voluntary consensus standards. Voluntary consensus standards are standards established by a private-sector body (other than a private standard of an individual firm) that are available for public use. The FAR⁴ states that in accordance with OM? Circular A-119, Federal Participation in the Development and Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and in Conformity Assessment Activities, and Section 12 (d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995, Pub L. 104-113 (15 U.S.C 272 note), agencies must use voluntary consensus standards in lieu of government-unique standards, except where inconsistent with law or otherwise impractical.

•    Purchase description. A purchase description is a description of the essential physical characteristics and functions required to meet the government’s minimum needs. A purchase description is used when there is no applicable specification that adequately describes the requirement. This term is usually associated with acquisitions using simplified acquisition procedures.

•    Product description. Product description is a generic term for documents such as specifications, standards, and purchase descriptions.

Each of these terms addresses only part of a complete description of a contractual requirement, generally just the technical requirement. A complete description would include what the agency wants to buy; why the agency wants to buy it; where the work is to be performed; when the work is to be performed; what the work is to accomplish; what, how much, and when it is to be delivered; and how the government will determine that the work has been performed satisfactorily. The SOW encompasses all these elements and may, as appropriate, include other documents such as specifications, standards, voluntary consensus standards, and purchase descriptions.

IMPORTANCE OF THE SOW

In the past, the government stressed the use of formal government-approved specifications and standards when describing requirements; however, that is no longer the case. Current policy encourages the acquisition of commercial items (i.e., any item, other than real property, that is of a type customarily used by the general public or by nongovernment entities for purposes other than governmental purposes) or nondevelopment items (i.e., previously developed items or previously developed items that require only minor modifications of a type customarily available in the commercial marketplace). In other words, government agencies now must first consider acquiring supplies or services available in the commercial marketplace rather than using government specifications and standards.

Manager Alert

Government agencies must first consider acquiring supplies or services available in the commercial marketplace.

Agencies are permitted to choose whichever requirements documents they deem to be most suitable. They may use existing requirements documents (federal or DoD specifications and standards), modify or combine existing documents, or create new requirements documents. When creating new requirements documents, the FAR5 cites the following order of precedence:

1.  Documents mandated for use by law

2.  Performance-oriented documents (e.g., performance work statement, statement of objectives)

3.  Detailed, design-oriented documents

4.  Standards, specifications, and related publications issued by the government outside the Defense or federal series for nonrepetitive acquisition of items.

NEED FOR A CLEAR AND CONCISE SOW

An SOW is usually developed by the person responsible for ensuring that an activity’s technical requirements are met, with the support of contracting personnel. Because the SOW describes the contractual work requirements, it is the heart of the procurement action and must include a clear and concise description of the work requirement. Developing the SOW is, without a doubt, the most important step in the procurement process. A poor description of the work requirement is likely to be misunderstood, leading to—if not causing—problems throughout the procurement process and subsequent contract performance. Although a clear and concise description of the work does not guarantee the contract will be successful, it does significantly reduce the likelihood that problems will arise.

Manager Alert

The statement of work is the most important document in the procurement process.

The author of the SOW is usually part of the organization for whom the work will be performed and therefore has a vested interest in the quality of the SOW. If the SOW does not work, the project may fail. Because it usually takes longer to solve a problem than it does to avoid one, it makes sense to take the time to develop the SOW right initially.

A clear and concise SOW is essential both before and after contract award. Before award, contractors must understand the SOW requirements to be able to develop their technical, management, and staffing plans and to price the proposal properly. The SOW in the request for proposals (RFP) is the only official description of the work requirement. Accordingly, it must provide prospective contractors enough information to develop and price the proposal—without the need for further explanation. A clear and concise SOW helps ensure the receipt of a well-written proposal. It also establishes a uniform basis for evaluating proposals (matching the proposed effort to the stated technical requirement) and for comparing prices.

If questions about the SOW arise during the solicitation process, they must be answered. Oral explanations, unless put into writing as an amendment to the SOW, are usually not binding. The questions should be forwarded, along with the appropriate answers, to the contracting officer for an official response.

If deficiencies in the SOW are identified before award, the RFP must be amended to correct the deficiencies immediately and prospective contractors must be given additional time to make appropriate revisions to their proposals. Delaying changes until after award can also make the agency vulnerable to protests from unsuccessful offerors who perceive the delayed changes as favoritism to the successful offeror.

Manager Alert

To avoid costly delays and overruns, it is important to try to identify all deficiencies prior to award of the contract.

After award, the contractor must understand the SOW requirements to be able to perform the work properly. The SOW in the contract is the only description of the requirement that the contractor is legally bound to follow. Accordingly, it must clearly and concisely describe what the agency wants to buy and any special considerations or constraints that apply.

The SOW, as published in the