How to Write an Effective Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP)— One Day Essentials

Performance-based acquisition buys outcomes instead of tasks. That gives the contractor room to innovate, but it also makes it harder to verify that the government is getting what it paid for.

The QASP is the tool used by the Government to ensure everything is delivered and to the standards promised.

It is the PWS's enforcer: the plan that spells out what will be measured, how, how often, and what happens when performance falls short. Yet too many QASPs are copied from the last contract, measure things the PWS never required, or sit untouched in the file until a problem surfaces — and by then, the record the contracting officer needs to act isn't there.

In one focused day, participants learn to build a QASP from the PWS up: how to ensure that every meaningful outcome in the PWS shows up in the QASP, and how to set the key performance indicators (KPIs) that define what will be measured, the acceptable quality levels (AQLs) that define what level of performance is good enough, objective metrics and delivery milestones, and the incentives and disincentives that apply, with the consequences spelled out. We walk through each section of a well-written QASP and how to choose the right surveillance method for each requirement, and discuss when risk to life, health, or safety means nothing less than 100% inspection will do. Throughout the class, we look at examples of well-written QASPs and complete hands-on exercises, so participants leave ready to write one themselves.

This course is taught by Melinda Milheim, JD, who spent her federal career in the acquisition workforce. She served as a Contract Specialist, COR, and AOR for the U.S. Navy (and later a Contract Specialist for the Department of Health and Human Services / Indian Health Service), where she worked on more than $7.7 billion in federal contracts across services, RDT&E, engineering, IT, construction, and major weapon-system programs. She draws on that experience, along with her law degree and MBA studies, to teach the why behind the how — so participants leave with sharper judgment, not just a stack of slides. An award-winning DAU/WarU (DAWIA and FAI) instructor, she has taught more than 1,000 federal acquisition workforce students across 30 agencies.

Best for: This course is for the acquisition workforce who write, review, or carry out quality assurance surveillance plans and want plans that actually hold a contractor to the outcomes the government is paying for.

Format: One day, delivered in person or virtually, 8 CLPs/0.8 CEU. Phoenix Canyon issues every attendee a certificate of completion documenting the number of training hours as well as CEUs and CLPs earned, which employers may count toward Continuous Learning or Professional Development requirements at their discretion. Phoenix Canyon is a DAU/WarU Equivalent Provider.

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