Silence on Contingency Planning
Monday, March 19, 2007; Page A14
Regarding the March 14 letter by Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute about cost overruns in government:
As a contractor, I dread the situation where I have to brief my customers regarding a potential cost overrun on a project. As a project manager who does not have the extrasensory perception needed to predict the future, I try to put in place a contingency fund for cost overruns.
However, I am dissuaded from doing this while competing for a contract because my competition is not going to bid a contingency fund and because there are real pressures to hold costs down.
As an engineer, I know that my predictions will not be entirely correct and that I should budget for a management reserve.
I am sure that my customers face similar pressures. I would love to have an honest conversation with them about potential cost overruns and how to mitigate or fund them. But the system discourages that. Real procurement reform would include provision for those conversations.
JONATHAN ARNOLD
Leesburg
