CPS - Contractor Information - Frequently Asked Questions

The Contractor Module allows contractors to participate over the Internet in completing government performance evaluations in the NIH CPS. A contractor, undergoing performance evaluation, receives notification of an evaluation via e-mail. The contractor then accesses the evaluation, reviews, and submits comments (if required) via the Internet. The automated review process includes interaction between the contractor and the CO as well as between the government project officer/COTR (PO) and the CO. Once the evaluation is finalized, it is set into the CPS as “completed” and is available for all our authorized subscribing acquisition personnel to review in the Federal contract award process. The contractor receives electronic access to the “completed” evaluation.

Contractors without Internet access will continue to receive the performance evaluations as in the past – by U.S. mail.

In order for the contractor to participate the contractor should complete the registration form available at http://cps.od.nih.gov. Information from the registration form will be uploaded to the CPS for cross-referencing purposes. To contact the NIH CPS staff, please send a message to the following email address: CPSACCESS@od.nih.gov.

If the contractor representative has registered – the CO must know (1) primary contractor representative’s name, e-mail address, telephone number, and unique identifier (ID) and (2) the alternate contractor representative’s name, e-mail address, and telephone number. (NOTE - the CO must enter these fields on the evaluation with the exact same information the contractor representative registered to ensure that the CO provides access to the correct person).

If the contractor representative has not registered – the CO should ask the contractor representative to register using the registration URL listed above and supply them (the CO) with that information.

In the future all Requests for Proposals will be amended to include instructions on requirements for accessing the evaluations on-line.

The unique identifier is a 7-10 character password created by the contractor representative. It is used once, to obtain a PIN (a temporary password) which is used by the contractor’s representative within the 30 day period to review the evaluation and enter the contractor’s comments. The contractor representative’s unique identifier should be kept closely and confidentially. This identifier must be provided for incorporation into the CPS prior to evaluations being electronically sent to the contractor. This identifier will add another security level making it more difficult for unauthorized persons to access the contractor’s evaluations.

The secondary (alternate) contractor representative is sent an informational e-mail for each evaluation “in progress” at the same time an e-mail is sent to the primary contractor representative. The role of the alternate contractor representative is to alert the cognizant CO when it is perceived that the primary person is not able to review and comment within the thirty-day review period. The CO can reset the thirty-day clock or generate a new PIN for a new primary contractor representative.

An e-mail is generated automatically by the CPS when the CO refers an evaluation in progress to the contractor representative for review and comment. The e-mail will contain instructions for the contractor’s representative to login and work on this specific evaluation. At the login screen the contractor representative is asked for: (1) contract number; (2) task/delivery order number [if applicable]; (3) beginning date of reporting period; (4) e-mail address and (5) unique identifier. Once this information has been entered on the screen the contractor representative should click the “Submit” button. If the information matches the information the CO has entered on the evaluation the contractor representative will see a second screen. This screen will show the contractor representative the PIN that has been assigned to access their evaluation. If the information the contractor representative enters does not match what the CO entered on the evaluation the contractor representative will receive an error and must notify the CO to figure out what information is in error (usually the Unique identifier). Once the correct information is entered the contractor representative will see the second screen with the PIN.

The contractor representative should print the screen that shows their PIN number or write it down as he/she will need it for the next screen. To continue, the contractor representative should click on the URL located near the bottom of the “PIN” screen. A third screen will appear asking the contractor representative for: (1) contract number; (2) task/delivery order number [if applicable]; (3) beginning date of reporting period; (4) e-mail address and (5) PIN. After entering this information the contractor representative should click on the “Submit” button. If the information is correct the evaluation will appear. If the information is not correct or the contractor representative cannot remember or has misplaced the PIN he/she must contact the CO. Once the evaluation is reviewed and comments submitted for incorporation in the CPS evaluation, the PIN is deactivated.

The PIN is a temporary password issued for a single specific task. When the task is completed, the PIN is inactivated. At later stages in the life cycle of an evaluation, a new PIN can be created to allow work on a new task.

The contractor must contact the cognizant CO and request that a new PIN be generated.

Computer Based Training will be available in July 2000 on the Internet at http://cps.od.nih.gov.

Electronic Process: The contractor has thirty (30) days to submit comments (FAR 42.15). The CPS starts counting the days from the date the first e-mail on an evaluation is sent to the contractor. If no comments are received during that thirty-day period, the CPS will automatically set the evaluation to “completed” status and will incorporate a statement to the effect that no comments were received within the thirty day time limit. If the contractor cannot complete the review in thirty days, the cognizant CO must be notified in order to reset the thirty-day clock.

Manual Process: The contractor has thirty (30) days to submit comments (FAR 42.15). The CPS starts counting the days from the date the evaluation is sent to the contractor. However, the CPS will NOT automatically set the evaluation to “completed” status. The CO must intercede in the non-electronic process. The Contractor module expects comments to be entered. The CO, acting for the contractor, must then enter the contractor’s comments him/herself. Once this is done, the evaluation is submitted and set into the database as “completed.”

The Contractor’s Representative has access to the specifically assigned evaluation for the duration of the assigned task (review and comment). The Contractor Representative has the ability to save the evaluation in "draft" mode until ready to actually submit the comments to the CPS. This allows the work to be completed with deliberation in multiple steps. As long as the contractor representative saves the evaluation in “draft” mode he/she has unlimited access to the evaluation within the thirty-day period . When the task ends, (the Contractor’s Representative submits the comments for incorporation into the evaluation), the access ends.

The contractor has one-time access to view and print the completed report. The contractor has thirty days to view the report. At day thirty-one the access will be revoked.

Currently, the contractor has one-time access to the completed evaluations. However, in a future version of the CPS, the contractor will have the ability to view all of their own completed evaluations and to, also, download them to an internal database.

Yes. All reports may be printed using the Print function of the Internet browser.

Once the CO has determined that no agreement can be reached, the CO may provide the reviewing official read-only access to the performance evaluation. The reviewing official is able to review both the contractor and government comments on the same screen. Once the reviewing official has made a determination, he/she contacts the CO. The CO is then responsible for revising the comments as directed by the reviewing official. The contractor is provided a copy of the “completed” evaluation.

The evaluation is “locked” from the time the e-mail is sent until the contractor submits comments to the database or until the thirty-day review period has expired. This means that the entire evaluation is “locked” to modification by the government except in the case of a CO entering the contractor representative’s comments. In other words the evaluation cannot be altered in any way while the contractor representative is reviewing the evaluation.

When the contractor submits comments into the CPS electronically, only the contractor may change those comments. Once the contractor’s comments are reviewed by the CO, and after discussion with the Project Officer/COTR and the contractor, the CO may provide the contractor access to the comments for revision.

When the contractor submits a hardcopy (non-electronic) of their comments, the CO, acting as the contractor’s agent, must enter those comments into the CPS and must provide the contractor a copy of the evaluation with the comments entered.

This feature will not be available in the first release of the contractor module. Included in a future release will be the provision for downloading the evaluations to a contractor’s internal database system as well as for accessing all evaluations identified as belonging to the contractor. Contractors will be invited to participate in the development of this feature. The difficulty in implementing this feature is the identification of the person(s) within the contractor’s organization who will have the authority to access the CPS. Security is of the utmost concern.

At the discretion of the CO, the Project Officer/COTR will receive e-mail notification when a contractor’s comments are available for review and the Project Officer/COTR will be able to review these comments via the Internet. However, the comments will be placed in a "read-only" mode. All changes to the government’s comments must be made by the CO following discussions with the Project Officer/COTR.

(1) provide electronic access of the evaluation to the contractor representative for review and comment,

(2) act as the contractor’s agent and input the contractor’s comments him/herself (non-electronic) or

· The CO may also provide electronic read-only access of the evaluation to the Project Officer/COTR after the contractor has submitted comments and to the Agency Reviewer when no resolution can be reached between the CO and the contractor on a rating.

· The CO is responsible for administrative functions such as: regenerating the contractor’s PIN if necessary; resetting the thirty-day clock with justification, etc.

· A NEW Tool is available for CO’s to manage their evaluations: the Evaluations Status Page indicates the location of every evaluation that is in process. The CO is able to perform specific functions using action buttons on this page: regenerate PIN, update, etc.

· Some changes have been made to the Insert/Update forms. The checkbox indicating that the evaluation process has been completed is moved. The area in RED is also removed. Both of these areas are now automated.

· The CO must identify the Alternate Contractor Representative and associated fields.

· The contractor is able to view, submit comments, and print the comments using the Internet while the evaluation is in progress.

· The contractor is able to view and print the completed evaluation when the evaluation process is completed.

Sponsored by:
Office of Acquisition Management and Policy
Office of the Director
National Institutes of Health, DHHS

Developed by:
Center for Information Technology
National Institutes of Health, DHHS

Friday, October 25, 2002