United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2007-06-29 monographic deposited born digital 55 p. GA 1.13:GAO-07-273 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-273 P0b002ee18039da4a f:d07273 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-273 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-273 GAO-07-273 Contract administration Contract oversight Contract performance Contractor payments Cost analysis Data integrity Defense procurement Department of Defense contractors Federal procurement policy Federal regulations Policy evaluation Procurement planning Requirements definition Risk assessment Service contracts Subcontractors Time and materials contracts Task orders Other Written Product A71708

Under time-and-materials contracts, payments to contractors are made based on the number of labor hours billed at hourly rates and, if applicable, other direct costs. Because of the risk they pose to the government, their use is supposed to be limited to cases where no other contract type is suitable. GAO was asked to identify trends in the Department of Defense's (DOD) obligations under time-and-materials contracts; analyze what DOD is buying under these contracts; assess why DOD is using them and whether actions are being taken to ensure that they are used only when no other contract type is suitable; evaluate DOD's monitoring of contractor performance; and determine the differences between the labor rates prime contractors bill DOD and the rates in their subcontracts. GAO reviewed 82 time-and-materials contracts, agreements, and orders and examined prime contract and subcontract labor rates on 12 additional contracts or agreements https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-273/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-273.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-273/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-273.pdf GAO-07-273 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-273 Other Written Product GAO-07-273; Defense Contracting: Improved Insight and Controls Needed over DOD's Time-and-Materials Contracts; Contract administration Contract oversight Contract performance Contractor payments Cost analysis Data integrity Defense procurement Department of Defense contractors Federal procurement policy Federal regulations Policy evaluation Procurement planning Requirements definition Risk assessment Service contracts Subcontractors Time and materials contracts Task orders Title 41 Section 403(12)(E) 41 U.S.C. 403(12)(E) Public Law 103-355 Public Law 108-136