Quality assurance

Quality Assurance Student: Professor: Course title: Date: Quality Assurance Criteria for invoking the use of the “Warranty” as established by section 46.703 of the (Federal Acquisition Regulation) FAR According to the Government Printing Office (GPO), section 46.703 of FAR points out the criteria to be considered for the use of warranties. The criteria involve five factors that the contracting officer has to consider when he or she wants to determine if a warranty is necessary for a certain acquisition (2001). The factors are: The nature and use of the goods or services: Regarding the goods or services, the contracting officer has to consider the extent of development, state of the art, end use, the harm it poses to the government if the item has defects and the difficulty in fault detection prior to acceptance. Warranty costs: These costs will come from the charge of the contractor when he or she accepts the deferred liability that the warranty has brought. Moreover, the costs will also arise as a result of administration and enforcement of the warranty by the government. Administration and enforcement: For any warranty to be successful, it is important for the government to ensure that it is enforced. The government has to ensure there is a proper administrative system where people can report defects. Trade and Practice: Items are mostly warranted and costs to the government are the same whether a warranty is included or not. The government should include such a warranty. Reduced requirements: The charge of the contractor for assumption of more liability might be offset fully or in part by reducing the contract quality assurance requirement of the government where the warranty extends assurance of a good and reliable product. Express and Implied warranties – Whether they offer the Government better protection against defective services, from the review of Chapter 18 of the Government Contract Book Implied warranty – According to the Government Printing Office (GPO), implied warranty consists of the implied warranty of merchantability and the implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose. Implied warranty of merchantability provides that an item should be fit and functional enough for the functions in which such items are normally used and should be of at least average quality (2001). This clearly protects the government from defective and poor quality services or products. On the other hand, the implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose provides that an item has to be fit for the specific purpose intended by the government. The government is offered protection by the warranty in such cases as; when the contractor is aware of purpose the government intends to use the products and the government depended on the expertise and judgment o...