[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 37 (Monday, February 25, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12755-12756]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-04194]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[OMB Control No. 9000-0058; Docket 2012-0076; Sequence 55]


Federal Acquisition Regulation; Submission for OMB Review; 
Schedules for Construction Contracts

AGENCY: Department of Defense (DOD), General Services Administration 
(GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

ACTION: Notice of request for an extension regarding an existing OMB 
clearance.

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SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the 
Regulatory Secretariat will be submitting to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a 
previously approved information collection requirement concerning 
schedules for construction contracts. A notice was published in the 
Federal Register at 77 FR 73659, on December 11, 2012. One respondent 
submitted comments.

DATES: Submit comments on or before March 27, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments identified by Information Collection 9000-
0058, Schedules for Construction Contracts by any of the following 
methods:
     Regulations.gov: http://www.regulations.gov. Submit 
comments via the Federal eRulemaking portal by searching the OMB 
control number. Select the link ``Submit a Comment'' that corresponds 
with ``Information Collection 9000-0058, Schedules for Construction 
Contracts''. Follow the instructions provided at the ``Submit a 
Comment'' screen. Please include your name, company name (if any), and 
``Information Collection 9000-0058, Schedules for Construction 
Contracts'' on your attached document.
     Fax: 202-501-4067.
     Mail: General Services Administration, Regulatory 
Secretariat (MVCB), 1275 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20417. ATTN: 
Hada Flowers/IC 9000-0058, Schedules for Construction Contracts.
    Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite Information 
Collection 9000-0058, Schedules for Construction Contracts, in all 
correspondence related to this collection. All comments received will 
be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any 
personal and/or business confidential information provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Curtis E. Glover, Sr., Procurement 
Analyst, Office of Acquisition Policy, (202) 501-1448 or email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Purpose

    Federal construction contractors may be required to submit 
schedules, in the form of a progress chart, showing the order in which 
the Contractor proposes to perform the work. In accordance with FAR 
52.236-15, Schedules for Construction Contracts, the Contractor shall, 
within five days after work commences on the contract or another period 
of time determined by the contracting officer, prepare and submit to 
the contracting officer for approval three copies of a practicable 
schedule showing the order in which the Contractor proposes to perform 
the work, and the dates on which the Contractor contemplates starting 
and completing the several salient features of the work (including 
acquiring materials, plants, and equipment). This information is used 
to monitor progress under a Federal construction contract when other 
management approaches for ensuring adequate progress are not used. If 
the Contractor fails to submit a schedule within the time prescribes, 
the Contracting Officer may withhold approval of progress payments 
until the Contractor submits the required schedule.

B. Discussion and Analysis

    One respondent submitted public comments on the extension of the 
previously approved information collection. The analysis of the public 
comments is summarized as follows:
    Comment: The respondent commented that the extension of the 
information collection would violate the fundamental purpose of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act because of the burden it puts on the entity 
submitting the information and the agency collecting the information.
    Response: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), 
agencies can request an OMB approval of an existing information 
collection. The PRA requires that agencies use the Federal Register 
Notice and comment process, to extend the OMB's approval, at least 
every three years. This extension, to a previously approved information 
collection, pertains to FAR 36.515, Schedules for Construction 
Contracts. The purpose of this subpart is to monitor progress under a 
federal construction contract when other management approaches for 
ensuring adequate progress are not used. This subpart provides the 
contracting officer with a construction schedule, in the form of a 
progress chart. Actual progress is entered on the chart as directed by 
the contracting officer. Not granting this extension would eliminate 
the Government's ability to track the contractor's progress when other 
management approaches for ensuring adequate progress are not used.
    Comment: The respondent commented that the agency does not 
accurately estimate the public burden an extension of the information 
collection requirement would create. The respondent requested an 
explanation how the estimated number of respondents and responses was 
derived. The respondent also indicated that the estimate of one hour 
per response is unrealistically low and respectfully submitted that a 
more reasonable estimate would likely be in the range of 15 to 30 hours 
per response.
    Response: Based on Federal procurement Data System (FPDS) data, 
4,450 fixed-price construction contracts were awarded to 2,679 unique 
vendors in Fiscal Year 2011. Contracting officers only use clause 
52.236-15, Schedules for Construction Contracts, when other management 
approaches for ensuring that a Contractor makes adequate progress are 
not available. Despite this criterion, the estimated total burden is 
calculated using total number of awards for FY11 as the baseline. An 
addition number of respondents are included in the estimate to account 
for existing contracts that may have incorporated FAR clause 52.236-15. 
The Government estimates that approximately fifty percent of the 
contracts cross-over to the following fiscal year, so another 1340 
respondents are added to the 2,679 for an estimated total of 4,019 
respondents.
    Based on the FY11 data, each unique vendor responded 1.67 times to 
Government requests for information. The number of responses is rounded 
up to two, the nearest whole number. As a result, the estimated annual 
responses are 8,038.
    The Contractor is required, within five days after the work 
commences on the contract or another period of time determined by the 
contracting officer, to prepare and submit for approval three copies of 
a practicable schedule showing the order in which the Contractor 
proposes to perform the

[[Page 12756]]

work, and the dates on which the Contractor contemplates starting and 
completing the several salient features of the work (including 
acquiring materials, plant, and equipment). The schedule shall be in 
the form of a progress chart of suitable scale to indicate 
appropriately the percentage of work scheduled for completion by any 
given date during the period. Subject matter experts in construction 
state that when contractors submit their proposals for construction 
projects, they usually include a schedule to complete the project. 
Based on this information being readily available to the Contractor 
once an award is made, it is not expected that a significant amount of 
time would be required to update the information at the request of the 
Government. However, in consideration of the public comment an upward 
adjustment is made to estimates hours per response.
    Comment: The respondent commented the collective burden of 
compliance with the information collection requirement greatly exceeds 
the agency's estimate and outweighs any potential utility of the 
extension.
    Response: The Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) was designed to improve 
the quality and use of Federal information to strengthen decision-
making, accountability, and openness in government and society. Central 
to this process is the solicitation of comments from the public. This 
process incorporates an enumerated specification of targeted 
information and provides interested parties a meaningful opportunity 
for comment on the relevant compliance cost. This process has led to 
decreases in the overall collective burden of compliance for the 
information collection requirement in regards to the public. Based on 
OMB estimates, in FY 2010, the public spent 8.8 billion hours 
responding to information collections. This was a decrease of one 
billion hours, or ten percent from the previous fiscal year. In effect, 
the collective burden of compliance for the public is going down as the 
Government publishes rules that make the process less complex, more 
transparent, and reduces the cost of federal regulations to both the 
Contractor community and Government.
    Comment: The respondent commented that the Government's response to 
the Paperwork Reduction Act waiver for Far Case 2007-006 is instructive 
on the total burden for respondents.
    Response: Serious consideration is given, during the open comment 
period, to all comments received and adjustments are made to the 
paperwork burden estimate based on reasonable considerations provide by 
the public. This is evidenced, as the respondent notes, in FAR Case 
2007-006 where an adjustment was made from the total preparation hours 
from three to sixty. This change was made considering particularly the 
hours that would be required for review within the company, prior to 
release to the Government.
    The burden is prepared taking into consideration the necessary 
criteria in OMB guidance for estimating the paperwork burden put on the 
entity submitting the information. For example, consideration is given 
to an entity reviewing instructions; using technology to collect, 
process, and disclose information; adjusting existing practices to 
comply with requirements; searching data sources; completing and 
reviewing the response; and transmitting or disclosing information. The 
estimated burden hours for a collection are based on an average between 
the hours that a simple disclosure by a very small business might 
require and the much higher numbers that might be required for a very 
complex disclosure by a major corporation. Also, the estimated burden 
hours should only include projected hours for those actions which a 
company would not undertake in the normal course of business. Careful 
consideration went into assessing the estimated burden hours for this 
collection, and it is determined that an upward adjustment is warranted 
at this time.

C. Annual Reporting Burden

    Respondents: 4,019.
    Responses per Respondent: 2.
    Annual Responses: 8,038.
    Hours per Response: 4.
    Total Burden Hours: 32,152.
    Obtaining Copies of Proposals: Requesters may obtain a copy of the 
information collection documents from the General Services 
Administration, Regulatory Secretariat (MVCB), 1275 First Street NE., 
Washington, DC 20417, telephone (202) 501-4755. Please cite OMB Control 
No. 9000-0058, Schedules for Construction Contracts, in all 
correspondence.

    Dated: February 19, 2013.
William Clark,
Acting Director, Federal Acquisition Policy Division, Office of 
Governmentwide Acquisition Policy, Office Acquisition Policy, Office of 
Governmentwide Policy.
[FR Doc. 2013-04194 Filed 2-22-13; 8:45 am]
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