Incentive Contracting Guide

Everything You Need to Know About Government Contract Types As the world's single largest buyer of goods and services, the federal government has many ways to structure its procurements. Different situations and conditions often determine the best vehicle for a particular purchase. Contracting officers must assess a wide range of factors to determine which contract type will provide the government the best value and the least risk. The Complete Guide to Government Contract Types provides a comprehensive overview of the key government contract vehicles and types: fixed-price, cost-reimbursement, incentive, and other (which includes letter, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, and time-and-material contracts). The author first explains the selection process for contract vehicles, which is the basis for selecting the appropriate contract type for the work in question. He then presents a comprehensive, in-depth analysis of each contract type, explaining how each works best to meet certain types of requirements and conditions. This is an essential resource for both contracting officers and contractors seeking to understand and work effectively within the nuances of contract selection and compliance.

Could the existing level of government services by provided at a lower cost? This study presents a convincing argument for incentive contracts as a means to this end. In a typical market economy, payments from the government to firms account for about one-half of government spending (excluding transfer payments). By changing the way in which a government pays the firms from which it procures goods and services, it would be possible to maintain the existing array of government programs at a lower price. The major finding of this study is that governments could significantly reduce their expenditures by making extensive use of incentive contracts where they currently use either fixed-price contracts or cost-plus contracts. An incentive contract shares cost overruns and cost underruns between the government and the contractor according to a predetermined ratio. An incentive contract stimulates competition among the firms bidding for the contract and shares the project's risk between the government and the selected firm, while giving the contractor incentives to keep incurred costs low. In addition to advocating the use of incentive contracts, the study analyses the consequences of preferential treatment for domestic content over foreign content in government procurement, discusses the choice for a government agency between producing a commodity or service in-house and contracting for its provision with a private firm, and examines the experience with contracting of both the Ontario government and the United States Department of Defense in order to draw lessons for government contracting in general.