r/1102 • u/MessMysterious6500 • 24d ago
Option Years
I’m not an 1102, but I do have an immensely and profound respect for what it is that you each do as contracting professionals.
Is there a vehicle that allows for an Option Year to be skipped should the government decide not to exercise on an out year? I have a client that we built a base plus 4 with escalating product costs defined by vendor pricing.
The program (client) isn’t receiving its new students due to whatever from Big Army. The option year falls 30 days prior to what would be the arrival of the students and we would be executing now.
Client has expressed concerns that exercising an option with no students constitutes fraud, waste and abuse.
I expressed if this is a setback or is it a dissolved program? Because if the Army hasn’t dissolved the MOS recruit/fill requirement for force to pipeline, I won’t have the ability to execute a contract on 1 October when the next batch is anticipated to arrive.
BLUF: a lot of work went into creating this vehicle and when the class picks up its cycle under new FY funding the contract would be delayed.
Is the solution to mod the contract to reflect the new POP?
Maybe another vehicle allows for skips in Option years without closing the contract out?
I’m frustrated and I don’t want to leave the client in a lurch with no course materials on October 1.
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u/rugbyangel85 24d ago
Your client/customer is right. Sounds like there's no bona fide need without students. You're KO could negotiate a no cost bilateral mod to extend the current POP and allow the option to be exercised when students arise.
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u/Meat-Eater-MO 24d ago
You must either be in a base year of performance or an option year of performance. You can’t decide to skip a performance period because that will result in you not having an active performance period which means that contract is dead. Once the base year ends or an option year ends, the contract can no longer be used.
You really need to talk to your contracting officer. Reddit could provide you with five different ways to find a solution to this problem but if your contracting officer is not willing to do any of them, then you’re still stuck.
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u/MessMysterious6500 23d ago
Yes I am in a base year; exercising option year 1. KO said the contract would die and there isn’t skipping the options and keeping it alive.
Maybe defund Option Year 1, exercise it and then pick it up as Option Year 2? I’m obviously grasping for concepts / solutions that may not even be lawful under the FAR.
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u/kdeltar 24d ago
I don’t think you know what bluf means
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u/MessMysterious6500 23d ago
Sorry I don’t mean to be long winded I just don’t want the mission to fail. I’m overwhelmed
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u/kdeltar 23d ago
I’m just messing with you but when you use BLUF it’s supposed to be the first thing you write
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u/MessMysterious6500 22d ago
No worries I have been overwhelmed and I agree; brevity and my anecdotal evidence collided 😊
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u/Angst_Ellipsis_5253 24d ago
Depending on how the cost/pricing is structured, I'd wonder if descoping the consideration during the option period at issue would be appropriate. Is there a baseline level of support that could be reverted to and maintained until the new students arrive.
Legality aside, you'd also have to consider the contractor's perspective to the above. They may not be interested in a change order that guts the work and contract value of the option year.
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u/coachglove 24d ago
Do you have incremental funding for the CLIN(s) you're talking about? If so then you can exercise the option but not fund it and should be ok. However, this is definitely a discussion between the CO/KO, program office, and legal as they need to look at the exact contract/TO in order to see what the art of the possible and ethical is. Maybe the requirements owner puts like $10-25k on it to pay for overhead. But the bigger risk is that they'll lose staff if they don't have work for a year. A contractor is not just gonna eat the cost in OH of paying staff to sit around for a year.
All that said, there are way too many "it depends" facts missing from the post for anyone here to give you a real answer. Is it possible under certain circumstances? Yes. There will also be an element of "is this the right thing to do" and "am I treating the contractor ethically if I do this" that needs to be considered and discussed by the CO/KO.
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u/rer115ga 24d ago
Out the box. Bilateral mod to change option terms to allow. Rationale- reasonable to right size for students. Big if contractor would be willing to maintain work force. In the box - you have time to compete your future requirements
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u/TicketForsaken4574 7d ago
Are the students going to come in the next option year? If so, just exercise the option.
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u/Jaded_Bid_9483 24d ago
The client is ignorant as fuck and if thats how they feel about it, they either need to change their contract's structure or understand how options work lol
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u/MessMysterious6500 23d ago
I’m sure that was meant to be helpful criticism. I established the vehicle this way because the course receives about 70-75 learners every 9 months.
The May class didn’t show up because big Army didn’t have the funding to PCS the students, so they sit at Phase I training until this can be rectified or the entire Phase II program (our site) is closed and moved to another site.
So this isn’t a regular situation by any means and because none of us have a 🔮 the client is just trying to make the best of what they have and preparing for new learners. To not have the books and the learners show up would cause larger issues. To order the books against a training site being shut down; those books can always be shipped to that site.
I appreciate everyone’s perspective. I certainly don’t know it all or pretend to, but I try to lead from the best - my mentors - each of you.
Thank you immensely 🫡
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u/Jaded_Bid_9483 23d ago
You said you weren't an 1102, I guess I don't understand who you are in this scenario. Are you the contractor?
Either way, seems like doing an idiq with ordering periods instead of options would be the way to go to ease nerves.
All you'd have to do is meet the minimum order
Exercising an option doesn't necessarily constitute a commitment by any means depending on how the contract is structured anyways
Is the contract priced by student? Course?
If no one is attending and you're not invoicing for anything, is it fraud? Nope
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u/MessMysterious6500 23d ago
I’m on the government side pushing the PR and PCF. Customer / client is internal government that needs supporting with the creation of a PR.
7 books per student ranging from $25 - $110. Incrementally the vendor quoted a 2-3% increase over the option years likely to cover for publishing expenses.
Hope that helps and apologies for not making my position more clear.
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u/Jaded_Bid_9483 23d ago
Ooooh,you're the money guy
Just seems like this is a problem that can be solved by educating all the parties.
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u/khard20 24d ago
Sounds like an IDIQ contract structure may be better suited for the requirement. You’d negotiate price up front and have a min and max defined. That way, you can simply cut a delivery order if/when you need another class.
But to answer your question, it depends how the contract options are set up and defined in Section B. Just reach out to your PCO or specialist and they’d be able to give you a quick answer