Contractors would like a neutral, third-party review process to handle potential abuses of the system. Adverse past performance ratings on government contracts could cost you future federal government contracts. Performance evaluations are created and filed by the evaluating officer at the conclusion of a construction project. These evaluations are used as selection criteria for future projects. Actual past performance should be another objective criteria used for selecting a contractor in federal work.
Problems can arise when information held by the government about a project is incorrect.
Problems can also arise when the evaluating officer and the contractor have a personality conflict during construction that does not actually affect the delivery of the project. In addition, general contractors should not be penalized for past performance problems of subcontractors before they are given the opportunity to investigate and explain any problems associated with past performance. A threat of an unsatisfactory or marginal evaluation is also a concern with contractors at the close of a project when they are attempting to price change orders. Only adverse past performance that eliminates the offeror from the competitive range should be addressed. Past performance information is similar to a person's credit report.