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Increment 0410 May 2027Recreation Center / HVACBad path

Conflict missed; HVAC relocation REA

Because neither deconfliction revision was incorporated, the Government awarded two physically incompatible requirements, used the construction Changes clause to direct HVAC relocation, and now must correctly process Outer Heaven's resulting REA.

Scenario descriptions

The situation, for each audience

Keep the trainer context out of trainee packets and read-aloud materials.

Trainee facing · Read aloud

Current situation

Because you did not request and incorporate either the lower A-06 stage design or the rerouted B-05 HVAC requirement before saying the packages were ready to award, the original A-02 elevation and straight B-03 route were locked into the task orders. The Government allowed a foreseeable conflict and contractor reliance.

Outer Heaven Builders reports that the stage’s upper framing and lighting-and-sound support grid cannot be installed as designed because HVAC ductwork, conduit, and supports now occupy the required space. Its HVAC subcontractor, Zanzibar Mechanical, has completed approximately seventy percent of the affected installation. AB-01 requests $280,000 and a 14-calendar-day extension to demolish, redesign, and reinstall the affected work.

Civil Engineering’s late comparison confirms that the Government required two impossible completed configurations and that HVAC relocation is the least-disruptive correction. The Contracting Officer has used the construction Changes clause, FAR 52.243-4, to issue a written change order directing the revised HVAC route so work can proceed. Government responsibility for the design conflict is established. Decide whether to accept or deny the resulting REA, and explain the facts and analysis supporting your choice.

Trainer only · Do not issue

Facilitator context

Use at Increment 4 when trainees approve both packages without first incorporating either A-06 or B-05. Even a team that noticed the interface enters this branch if it said the unrevised packages were ready. Present the written FAR 52.243-4 change order as an established fact and issue the formal HVAC relocation REA in this event.

State the intended entitlement fact rather than inviting the team to relitigate it: the Government's conflicting awarded requirements caused the rework. Release only AB-01 at first. Release the single consolidated AB-02 when trainees ask for price, quantities, the subcontractor quote, demolition or conduit replacement, segregation, salvage, mitigation, schedule, critical-path, or concurrency support. Once requested, AB-02 is deliberately adequate: it supports the full $280,000 and 14 days, includes salvage and mitigation credits, and shows no concurrent contractor delay. Do not plant a hidden quantum defect.

Offer only three dispositions: accept AB-01 without requesting AB-02; obtain and analyze AB-02 before accepting the supported adjustment; or deny the REA. The first produces only the modeled audit finding for inadequate price analysis. The second is strong because AB-02 supports the full amount and time after appropriate analysis. For denial, ask whether a written change order under FAR 52.243-4 entitles the contractor to an equitable adjustment for the altered work, then return the team to one of the acceptance paths. Trainees explain the process but create no documents. The $280,000 amount is below the current $350,000 DoD REA-certification threshold.

Trainer clue bank

Regulatory signposts

8 sources

Direct trainees to a citation when they need a narrower clue. Have them apply the contract’s actual clauses, current thresholds, local policy, and the facts before treating any signpost as dispositive.

Release 01

Give initially

1 record

These establish the decision without answering the factual questions trainees should identify.

AB-01

Formal HVAC relocation REA cover letter

Establishes the contractor's asserted Changes-clause basis and requests exactly $280,000 and 14 calendar days without front-loading its supporting records.

Draft document availablePDF · 1 page · Editable Word copy
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Release 02 · Oral inject

Trainer addition

1 prompt

Give only after trainees have read and discussed the event. Use it to narrow attention without disclosing the answer.

After trainees discuss AB-01, ask: ‘What do you know about a construction change order—who may issue it, what it may change, and how it should be administered?’

Release 03

Give only after trainee prompting

1 record

Use the prompt as a release gate; close-enough trainee questions should count when they seek the same underlying fact.

Prompt / triggerHandoutExercise purpose
PromptAsk for support for the requested price or time, including quantities, the HVAC subcontractor quotation, demolition and replacement work, conduit, salvage or credits, mitigation, cost segregation, schedule logic, critical-path effect, or concurrency
HandoutAB-02
Consolidated HVAC relocation support package
Draft document availablePDF · 4 pages · Editable Word copy
View PDF Download PDF Download Word
PurposeCombines the complete contractor support in one response-only package. It reconciles exactly to $280,000, credits salvage and avoided work, segregates the added work, and supports a mitigated 14-calendar-day critical-path extension with no concurrent contractor-caused delay.

Facilitation lens

What a strong analysis should surface

  1. Step 1 - Confirm entitlement and authority. Match the incompatible awarded specifications and required HVAC relocation to FAR 52.243-4, verify the change remains within general scope, confirm timely notice and causation, and ensure only the Contracting Officer directs or settles changed work.
  2. Step 2 - Determine submission status and adequacy. AB-01 is an REA, not a Contract Disputes Act claim or request for a final decision. At $280,000 it is below the current $350,000 simplified acquisition threshold, so DFARS 252.243-7002(b) certification is not required; paragraph (a) still limits the request to allocable, unreimbursed change costs for which the contractor believes the Government is liable.
  3. Step 3 - Develop the support. Release the single consolidated AB-02 only when trainees identify a need for price, quantity, subcontractor, demolition, conduit, salvage, mitigation, segregation, schedule, critical-path, or concurrency evidence. In this exercise AB-02 is complete and adequate: it supports $280,000, a 14-calendar-day critical-path extension, mitigation and salvage credits, and no concurrent contractor delay.
  4. Step 4 - Determine a fair and reasonable value. Apply FAR 15.404-1 techniques appropriate to the data, obtain technical and schedule review, compare the proposal with the Government estimate and actual or segregated costs, evaluate labor, material, equipment, indirect cost, profit, salvage, mitigation, and the 14-day effect, and document the prenegotiation objective and price-negotiation result.
  5. Step 5 - Check funds and project authority. Obtain certified funds before any price-increasing modification under FAR 43.105. DAFI 32-1020, paragraph 3.5.4.2.1, treats REAs as funded project costs for statutory-threshold purposes, so Civil Engineering must confirm the adjusted project total remains within authority or complete any required reapproval or notification before obligation.
  6. Step 6 - Execute the agreement. Use a written bilateral supplemental agreement under FAR 43.103(a), identify the revised HVAC route, increase price by the supported amount, extend completion by the supported time, cite the clause and funds, resolve all elements, and include an appropriate complete-adjustment release under FAR 43.204(c).
  7. Step 7 - Administer the result. Update the contract file, schedule, funds, and payment controls; monitor the changed work; and pay only under the modified terms.
  8. AB-01 establishes the requested adjustment but does not establish that its amount or schedule effect is fair and reasonable. Accepting it without AB-02 produces the modeled audit failure; accepting only after obtaining and analyzing AB-02 is the strong response.
  9. Denial is not supportable under the intended AB facts merely because the task order is firm-fixed-price; the Government required incompatible completed configurations.

Trainer-controlled decision menu

Available response options

3 options

Offer options in plain language and accept equivalent trainee analysis. Do not reveal the assessment labels. Use each availability gate before accepting a contextual response, and use the trainer line to redirect a superfluous answer immediately.

How to run this node: Government responsibility for requiring incompatible completed configurations is established. Release only AB-01 initially. Release the adequate AB-02 only if trainees request supporting price or time information. Offer exactly the three dispositions below and do not ask trainees to create any document.

AB1Weak

Accept the $280,000 and 14-calendar-day REA without requesting or analyzing AB-02.

Available when
Initially available while only AB-01 has been released
Trainer line
“A later contract-file audit finds that the Contracting Officer granted the REA from its cover letter alone and did not use appropriate FAR 15.404-1 price-analysis techniques to establish that the adjustment was fair and reasonable.”
Leads next
Record the failed-audit consequence and close [AB]; no later event follows.
AB2Strong

Request, receive, and analyze AB-02 before accepting the supported $280,000 and 14-calendar-day adjustment.

Available when
Available after trainees request supporting price or time records and review AB-02
Trainer line
“AB-02 substantiates the subcontractor quotation, quantities, demolition and replacement work, segregated costs, salvage and mitigation credits, and a nonconcurrent 14-day critical-path effect. Appropriate technical, schedule, and FAR 15.404-1 analysis supports the requested adjustment as fair and reasonable.”
Leads next
The Government compensates the supported altered work, adjusts the completion date, and closes [AB] without a later branch.
AB3Weak

Deny the HVAC relocation REA.

Available when
Initially available as a proposed response
Trainer line
“Denial would leave the contractor uncompensated for altered work the Contracting Officer directed under FAR 52.243-4 and would invite a supported claim. Ask: ‘Does this written change order entitle the contractor to an equitable adjustment for the altered work?’”
Leads next
Return the team to AB1 or AB2 after it recognizes Changes-clause entitlement.