PERT Review – DOE’s Purchasing System Approval Process

The Procurement Evaluation and Re-engineering Team (PERT) Program is the Department of Energy’s (DOE) version of Contractor Purchasing System Reviews (CPSR) and peer reviews of DOE contractors.

The main differences, highlighted below, are in how a PERT review is conducted.  The documentation requirements, on the other hand, are very similar, which is why SpendLogic has been implemented successfully by both DoD and DOE contractors.

In addition to a PERT review, DOE officials have additional operational tools at their disposal for assessing their systems in conjunction with the PERT Review which include the following:

• Reliance on Contractor Assurance Processes
• Assessment of Contractors Balanced Scorecard Objectives or other Performance Measurements (Balanced Scorecard Program | Department of Energy)
• Day-to-day operational awareness and oversight by CO
• Risk Assessment Survey Tool for Contractors
• DOE Contracting Officer Risk Assessment Tool

Objective of a PERT Review

The objective of a PERT review is to evaluate whether a Contactor purchasing system complies with applicable contractual requirements which aids COs when deciding whether to grant approval of a Contractor’s purchasing system.

Unlike DCMA’s DoD CPSR review team, the DOE PERT Review Team consists of:

• Dual Team Leads – one Federal and one Contractor;
• Core Resource Team members (pool of high-level Federal and Contractor acquisition professionals);
• Volunteer Resource Team Members (selected as part of professional development);
• Purchase Card-Agency Program Coordinator for the purchase card assessment; and
• Senior Advisor (Federal personnel).

All team members are required to undergo PERT Review Training prior to a PERT Review getting underway.

PERT Review Handbook

The PERT review team will utilize the DOE Contractor Purchasing System Evaluation Criteria, referred to as Attachment K and K-1 contained in the PERT Contractor Purchasing Systems Independent Peer Review Program Handbook. Attachment K is the customary evaluation criteria used for Management and Operating (M&O) and Facility Management Contractor (FMC) sites and Attachment K-1 is for Non-M&O/FMC Contractors.  In principle and application, the PERT’s Contractor System Evaluation Criteria is based on the 11 basic tenants in FAR 44.303, all of which should be included in a Contractor’s policies, procedures, and performance under their system.

The PERT Review Handbook defines a finding as “the result from a process that evaluates evidence and compares it against the criteria.”  Findings can show that criteria are either exceeded, met, or not being met.  The PERT review team will utilize four types of findings in their assessing and reporting:

• Acceptable: meets standards
• Best Practice: those areas of the Contractor’s system that are considered a Best Business Practice, opinions, or observations that may warrant consideration for use by others in the DOE complex
• Strength: those areas identified as being thorough in terms of policy, deployment, and execution that routinely produce exceptional results
• Weakness: those areas identified as not meeting standards. They tend to be administrative in nature, may not be in full compliance with prime contract or approved purchasing system requirements, and may or may not be so serious to jeopardize system approval.  All weakness findings are repetitive or recurring in nature and should have a specific regulatory, prime contract, or approved purchasing system reference.

The Contractor has 7 working days to submit comments to the Team Leads after the exit briefing where the findings were discussed.  The PERT Review team has no more than 75 calendar days to resolve Contractor comments and issue the final report.  The final report will recommend that a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) be developed to address  the weakness(es), however the creation of a CAP will solely be a Contracting Officer-to-Contractor directed function.

In summary, the objective of a PERT/CPSR is to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness with which the Contractor spends Government funds when subcontracting.  Management of oversight activities, such as corrective actions resulting from the PERT review, are the responsibility of the CO.  The CO must ensure corrective actions are tracked and closed as well as maintain surveillance of any corrective actions.

Learn how SpendLogic’s tools can help DOE contractors be compliant with both federal and agency procurement regulations and successfully pass their PERT.  Sign up for a free, no-obligation, demonstration.