ORCA - Foundry Toolkit for Government Business

ORCA (On-line Representations and Certifications Application)
Background:
In October 2002 the major elements of the President’s Management Agenda were announced.
The agenda was developed to improve the management and performance of the Federal
Government, including “e-Government initiatives on reforming the government so that it
delivers results that matter to citizens.” One of the agenda items related to government-wide
improvement is an “Expanded Electronic Government”. A cross-agency task force was
established which applied best e-strategy methods used by industry and government. The
Integrated Acquisition Environment (IAE) was one of the outcomes of the task group’s activities.
As part of the IAE E-government initiative, the existing DOD Central Contractor Registration
(CCR) would be expanded into a Business Partner Network (BPN) that would be used by all
agencies. BPN would include a web-enabled capability for identifying Federal and Industry
trading partners as well as create a one-stop source of information about trading partners,
including such items as EEO compliance checks, business size status, Excluded Parties List, past
performance evaluations and representations and certifications. All parties desiring to do
business with the Federal government would be required to register within BPN.
ORCA was established as a result of this initiative. In addition, changes in the Federal
Acquisition Regulations (FAR) would mandate the use of CCR and ORCA. ORCA is the eGovernment initiative developed to replace the paper-based “Representations and Certifications”
(Reps and Certs) process. In the past, vendors had to submit Reps and Certs for each individual
large purchase contract award. Now via ORCA, a contractor simp0ly enters his Reps and Certs
once for use on all Federal contracts.
Getting your data into ORCA:
A. Initial requirements you must have in place before entering ORCA:
1. Active registration in CCR (previously detailed in this guide). ORCA questionnaire
completion can begin immediately after you are registered in CCR.
2. Your MPID (marketing partner identification number) which you created in CCR
3. Your D-U-N-S number
B. Go to the ORCA site (https://orca.bpn.gov) and log-in using your MPIN and DUNS number
C. The site will now pull up the information you have put into CCR. If any data is incorrect,
you will need to go to your CCR record and correct it there. Changes made in CCR will
show up immediately in ORCA.
If this information is correct, click on “Create ORCA Record”
D. Enter the ORCA point of contact (POC) and if needed, change it and Click on “Continue”
After clicking here you will be taken to page 1 of 5 pages where you will answer a questionnaire.
Make certain you click on “Save and Continue Questionnaire” when you finish with each of the
5 pages.
Please note that each of the red underscored items is a link that provides additional
information that will allow you to better answer the question.
Now Page 2 will be displayed after “Save and Continue Questionnaire” is clicked.
Then Page 3 will be displayed.
Clicking on “Save and Continue Questionnaire” will bring up Page 4, while saving all your
answers.
You should take note that your individual page may or may not show the comment “Reserved”
for a question. The specific questions that you must complete are based upon the data already
contained in your CCR registration and may vary from company to company, for example, if you
have stated you are a large business vs. a small business.
Clicking on “Save and Continue Questionnaire” brings up Page 5.
When you have completed Page 5, clicking on “Save and Continue to Certification” takes you to
the last step in the ORCA process, the actual representations and certifications document. Note
that there are a number of places in this document where you will need to choose a response to:
READ ONLY
Vendor will provide information with specific offers to the Government.
I certify that I have read and understand the provision.
Your option here is to either certify the provision or choose to answer the provision requirements
at a later time when you actually bid on a solicitation.
Don’t forget to provide a response to the “READ ONLY” item, clicking on one of the response
boxes. We will skip a number of the additional elements shown on this lengthy web page and
proceed to the bottom of the page. All the pages of the representations and certifications will be
populated with your answers to the questionnaire as well as with your CCR data, as required.
After you have clicked on “Save and Continue to Certification”, the final version is displayed.
You should review your answers by reading the actual provisions or clauses that contain your
responses. If you need to make a change, click on the check box or displayed answer. This will
bring you back to the ORCA questionnaire where you can make your changes. After you make
the change in the questionnaire, click on “Continue” and you will be taken back to the review
document. You must remember to review and click the check boxes on the READ-ONLY
clauses of 52.203-11, 52.227-6 and 52.222-38. These are the first three (3) clauses on the review
page.
Since you will have answered questions that relate to DFARS clauses and provisions, you will
also need to review the applicable DFARS provisions and clauses. There are a total of nine (9)
DFARS READ-ONLY clauses and provisions with check boxes that must be filled in to submit
the certification.
Check the box which time and date stamps the document and click on “Submit Certification” to
complete the process.
This screen is displayed which confirms your completion of the representations and certifcations
process. It also allows you to download a copies of your record related to both FAR
requirements and DFARS requirements. It is recommended that you do so. You are now done
and will only be required to perform a yearly recertification (or update your record if changes
occur). Remember that the certification is in effect for one year and you are responsible for
renewing the certification before it expires.
Please be advised that information stored in an active ORCA record is considered unrestricted
and is therefore searchable by the public using your DUNS number.
You will receive an e-mail confirmation that you have successfully registered your ORCA
record. The record is active for 365 days after submission or update. You will be sent an e-mail
reminder of the need to renew your record prior to its expiration. These e-mails will be sent to
the ORCA point of contact designated in your company’s record.