Federal agencies are required to report contractor performance and conduct in the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System, or FAPIIS, but some departments were found inconsistent in complying with the reporting obligation, the Government Accountability Office said.
An assessment focused on fiscal years 2019 to 2023 revealed that some agency personnel did not know or understand their reporting requirements, which were established to inform future contract award decisions, according to a GAO report published on Wednesday.
The government watchdog found that over the five-year period, 335 contract terminations and 52 administrative agreements were reported in other sources but not in FAPIIS, a database that provides information on previous government work of contractors.
The GAO study focused on the Departments of Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, and Veterans Affairs and the General Services Administration.
The DOD said it had limited insight into why contractor integrity records were not reported in FAPIIS while the GSA pointed to gaps in its guidance and limited awareness of reporting requirements among personnel as reasons for underreporting.
Other agencies, meanwhile, cited various reasons for not reporting terminations and have since addressed them.
GAO made recommendations to resolve the issue, including directing the administrator of the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Federal Procurement Policy to reiterate integrity reporting requirements and identify available resources to help ensure that agency personnel have the guidance needed to comprehensively report and verify the accuracy of integrity information.