Audit of National Contract Awards at VA’s National Acquisition Center

Systemic weaknesses in VA’s procurement activities represent a major management challenge. This audit focused on National Acquisition Center (NAC) operations, the largest combined contracting activity in VA. We assessed the adequacy of the NAC’s development, award, and oversight processes; as well as the extent to which they accurately used the Electronic Contract Management System (eCMS). We found general contract development and award actions were in accordance with Federal and VA Acquisition Regulations. However, NAC management did not ensure staff fully utilized VA’s mandatory eCMS to develop and award national contracts. Limited oversight and compliance monitoring of eCMS resulted in an impaired and diminished visibility of procurement actions, which in turn may have lead to significant delays in the contract awards and inadequate controls to ensure timeliness. We recommended the Department establish controls to monitor the use of eCMS and ensure the timely completion of the eCMS upgrade. Incorporating the required use of eCMS into contracting officers’ performance requirements would also improve system accountability. The process also needs guidance establishing timeline standards and controls to monitor contract award times. The Department agreed with our findings and recommendations and plans to complete all corrective actions by September 30, 2012.