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Two Military Bases Enjoy Years of Success with Co-Owned IDIQ Contract

Two Military Bases Enjoy Years of Success with Co-Owned IDIQ Contract

Two

underperforming IDIQ programs



One

novel solution



300

jobs completed


Challenge: Two IDIQ Programs Looking to Add Muscle

The U.S. military relies on a variety of construction project delivery methods to build, renovate and maintain its immense facilities portfolio. To execute facilities sustainment, restoration and modernization (SRM) work, military bases commonly turn to indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts for project delivery.

IDIQ contracts enable the military to use a single contract to complete an undetermined number of projects at an undetermined time. Rather than send every project out for a competitive bid, IDIQ contractors bid on preset construction costs. This unique single solicitation process enables facility owners to start projects faster and gives them a clear line of sight into project costs so they can budget intelligently.


Two Military Bases Enjoy Years of Success with Co-Owned IDIQ Contract 1

There are many different types of IDIQ contracts available to the military and other branches of the federal government, including Job Order Contracting (JOC), Single Award Task Order Contract (SATOC) and Multiple Award Task Order Contract (MATOC) to name a few. While nuances differentiate these contracts, they are all IDIQ contracts.

The U.S. Army’s garrison at Fort Riley has been using Gordian’s JOC – an IDIQ contract – since as far back as 1997. While this Kansas installation – home of the 1st Infantry – considered its JOC program successful, by 2012 leaders felt that with more support they could maximize the efficiency of the program.

At the same time, McConnell Air Force Base wanted more from its preferred IDIQ solution for SRM work, a form of Job Order Contracting used by the Air Force called Simplified Acquisition of Base Engineer Requirements (SABER). Leadership at McConnell AFB wanted a better value – their SABER program was a great tool to expedite procurement, but the program was more expensive than other contract vehicles due to a relatively low dollar volume of construction being procured through the program.

These circumstances prevented Fort Riley and McConnell from using their IDIQ contracts to their full potential. But a novel approach and outside-of-the-box thinking would soon change that.

Discover how government agencies can cut costs and increase efficiencies in the construction procurement process in this report, developed in partnership with Government Business Council.

Solution: A New, Co-Owned SABER Contract

In 2014, the two military installations collaborated on a creative solution that would solve both of their problems: They combined the program into a single contract. The new McConnell Air Force Base SABER contract, valued at $9 million per year, would be used by both McConnell and Fort Riley to complete renovations, repairs and maintenance work. Both bases benefited from this relationship. Fort Riley received contracting support from McConnell so they could get more projects procured, and the size of the contract brought more contractors to the table and with more competitive pricing, which benefitted McConnell AFB.

This could only happen because Job Order Contracting and SABER are both IDIQ contracts that Gordian supports. Gordian, founded by one of the creators of JOC during his time as the Chief Engineer at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, Belgium, has more than 30 years of experience of implementing and supporting JOC programs, more than any other JOC provider, and is the only firm that offers the full range of JOC tools and services required to stand up and support a JOC program. This unrivaled experience helped the two installations generate amazing results.

On average, Fort Riley is issuing Task Orders in just 45 days

Result: An Enhanced IDIQ Solution

The new, shared SABER program has made a world of difference for both Fort Riley and McConnell AFB. Fort Riley, as their leadership suspected, has accomplished an astonishing amount. They completed $18 million of construction work using the follow-on SABER contract in 2021 alone, including $6 million in emergency work that needed to be completed after a crippling deep freeze in Kansas burst pipes and damaged boilers. In that emergency situation, Fort Riley, using the SABER contract, issued Task Orders for 75% of all the emergency work in under 45 days, far faster than they could with any traditional construction project delivery method.

Read how Fort Riley used this SABER contract to preserve a historic memorial.

McConnell Air Force Base has put its newly found purchasing power to work. In 2014, the base awarded a contract to an Alaska Native Corporation, a minority designation, and was so satisfied with the price and quality of the work they pulled forward option year contract capacity and used the full contract capacity of the SABER a year earlier than the five years they had anticipated. To keep the SABER as an active procurement tool for end of fiscal year funded projects, they modified the contract to add an additional $9 million of capacity.

Over the life of the initial five-year contract, 230 Task orders were issued for a value of over $48 million. The average task order value was around $220,000 and projects took, on average, less than 40 days to procure from identification through purchase order.

The co-owned SABER contract has since been resolicited and awarded. Over the span of the two contracts, this innovative IDIQ program has been used to complete more than 300 projects and more than 66 million dollars’ worth of work to date. This success is made possible in part by the work of Gordian representatives. Our account managers have trained the users of the McConnell SABER contract in IDIQ best practices, reviewing price proposals and make themselves available to answer any questions about contract details or project milestones. The partnership between owners, contractors and Gordian is foundational to the success of this unique IDIQ program.