Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS)

The FAR also requires documenting additional contractor performance information in the Federal Awardee Performance & Integrity Information System (FAPIIS), including Terminations for Cause or Default (FAR Part 42), Defective Cost or Pricing Data (FAR Part 42), Information on Trafficking in Persons (FAR Part 22), Determinations of Non-Responsibility (FAR Part 9), Subcontractor Payment Issues (FAR Part 42), Administrative Agreements (FAR Part 9), and DoD Determination of Contractor Fault (Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) Part 209) and to make the information available in the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS).

The Grant Community is also required to utilize FAPIIS to document Terminations for Material Failure to Comply and Recipient Not Qualified Determinations (2 CFR 200).

The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requires that contractor performance information be collected (FAR Part 42 .15) and used in source selection evaluations (FAR Part 15).  Source selection officials rely on clear and timely evaluations of contractor performance to make informed business decisions when awarding government contracts and orders. This information is critical to ensuring that the Federal government only does business with companies that provide quality products and services in support of the agency’s missions.  In July 2009, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) issued a memorandum on Improving the Use of Contractor Performance Information:

1 to reinforce the need to collect, report on and use the past performance information.    The Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy identified the  Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) as the Federal Governmentwide solution for collection of contractor performance information.   

In OFPP’s January 21, 2011 memorandum, Improving Contractor Past Performance Assessments:

Summary of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy’s Review, and Strategies for Improvement,  the Administrator confirmed the requirement to using CPARS and also offered additional steps and strategies for improving the collection and reporting of quality past performance information into CPARS, Federal Contractors: Better Performance Information Needed to Support Agency Contract Award Decisions 3, GAO recommended a transition to a single set of evaluation factors for use in contractor performance evaluations.  This recommendation necessitated the transition to a single method for collection of contractor performance information though the consolidation of the Architect-Engineer Contract Administration Support System (ACASS) and Construction Contractor Appraisal Support System (CCASS) modules into the overall CPARS application.

This document reflects the consolidation of the ACASS and CCASS modules into CPARS.
OMB released the memorandum, Improving the Collection and Use of Information about Contractor Performance and Integrity on 4, dated March 6, 2013. The purpose of this memorandum was to establish a baseline for reporting compliance, set aggressive performance
targets that can be used to monitor and measure reporting compliance, and ensure the workforce is trained to properly report and use this information.  This memorandum establishes a 100% Annual Reporting Performance Target for Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 for past performance reporting compliance on contracts over the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT).