First Steps to Contract Creation

First Steps to Contract Creation

Introduction

The Statement of Work (SOW) refers to a document or written description that describes certain project-specific deeds, timelines, and deliverables from an agency requirement that is looking at providing their services. This formal document must be agreed upon by all the parties involved. For the SOW to be effective, it is essential that they contain an appropriate level of detail so that all parties involved clearly understand what the contract requires, the duration of the work, the expected deliverables and what is acceptable or not acceptable. This section should offer a general description of the proposed work and also highlight its background. The SOW usually gets accompanied by request for proposal (RFP); thus its introduction and background are crucial for vendors so as to familiarize their organizations with the work. The RFP refers to a solicitation for information by a company interested in procuring a service to potential bidders or vendors to submit business proposals. An RFP can be a telephone call or a letter or a large, multipage, multivolume document. RFPs include not only price quotations but also company information and history as well as financial status. The response given by the vendors of the RFP is beyond completing a document and letting customers assess product functionality, architecture, pricing, etc. (Erickson, 2009).

Obtaining the SOW information is critical since department managers want to see a detailed explanation in the document of the services that will be provided by the successful contractor. First, the general information that will get explained will be the description of the work to be done.  The intended service in this circumstance is providing “cleaning services,” thus it is significant to specify where and what is to be cleaned. For developing the plan that will lead to the creation of a contract for office cleaning, this paper shall use a company called Satin Organization that deals with offering consulting services for government projects. The company has several storage rooms in the building it occupies and requires a cleaning crew to offer cleaning services. The SOW must be written with specifics as well as incorporate great detail on what is going to be cleaned. The following section of the paper is a description of the breakdown of the specifics that will be contained in the SOW.

Description of Services Provided

Task: Cleaning of floors

The task involves cleaning the company stores in the building. The cleaning will also include sorting out the items in the stores and disposing of the unnecessary things inside the stores. The stores should be arranged well with documents inside the stores been packed in cartons and the cartons placed on the shelves. Other items such as old machines disposed of in the stores should be put in a corner as the company plans on disposing of them. The company will designate a duty to one of the company housekeeping employees to assist the crew in sorting out the things in the stores. The cleaning will also continue so as to ensure that the stores are well maintained.

All deliverables and due dates

The cleaning service must be completed within three days and checked by the company’s supervisor so as to ensure it is well done. The maintenance time will be at least 30 days.

Costs and Deadlines for Payment

The project cost is estimated to be 1, 000 dollars and will be paid within 14 days after the job completion.

Question2:

Types of Contracts:

1)    Cost Reimbursement Contracts

A cost reimbursement contract is the type of contract that provides for payment to the vendor of allowable incurred expenses to the extent provided in the contract. This kind of contract gets distinguished from fixed-price contracts under which payment gets made to the vendor or supplier basing on pre-established prices. They are suitable for use only when the uncertainties involved in contract performance do not allow costs to get estimated with adequate accuracy to use any fixed-price contract. All the types of cost reimbursement contracts place the least expense and performance risk on the vendor or supplier.

2)    Firm-Fixed Price Contracts

Firm-fixed-price contract refers to a contract in which the vendor or supplier undertakes the required service and delivers conforming supplies or services for an amount that gets agreed to up front (ABA Section of Public Contract Law, 1995). This kind of contract places the most performance and expense risk paid, thus if the vendor or supplier spends more than the agreed amount they still get paid the amount agreed up front and vice versa. This type of contract is appropriate for supplies and services that can get described in sufficient detail so as to ensure that all the parties have complete understanding and have done an adequate evaluation of the inherent risks of performance.

Question 3:

The most appropriate type of contract in implementing the plan for “cleaning services contract” is the cost reimbursement contracts. The kind of contract is suitable since although the work to be done is clear, it’s hard to estimate and predict what will be involved and the exercise may even get extended.

References

ABA Section of Public Contract Law, (1995): Government Contract Law: The Deskbook for Procurement Professionals.

Erickson, B. J. (2009): Practical Imaging Informatics: Foundations and Applications for PACS Professionals. In Springer New York.

Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at Melda Research in best nursing writing services if you need a similar paper you can place your order for custom nursing papers.