A QASP is the government's surveillance instrument — the written plan describing how it will monitor contractor performance against the contract's stated requirements. For performance-based acquisitions paired with a PWS, the QASP is mandatory under FAR Subpart 37.6 and Part 46. The plan identifies each required performance outcome, the corresponding acceptable quality level, the surveillance method the government will use to verify performance, and the consequences for failing to meet the AQL. The QASP is typically authored by the contracting officer's representative in coordination with the program office and is updated as performance data accumulates.
QASP surveillance methods range from one hundred percent inspection (every deliverable reviewed) to random sampling, periodic surveillance, and customer feedback. The selection depends on the criticality of the service, the volume of deliverables, and the cost of verification. AQLs are typically expressed as a percentage — for example, ninety-five percent of help desk tickets resolved within service-level targets, or one hundred percent of monthly reports delivered on time. Below-AQL performance triggers documented corrective action, fee reduction (on cost-plus-incentive-fee or award-fee structures), payment deductions (on FFP service contracts using deductive pricing), or in repeated cases, termination for default.
For contractors performing under a QASP, internal quality controls must be calibrated to the stated AQLs, not to an arbitrary internal standard. The QASP is the scoring rubric; the contractor's QCP should map directly to it. CPARS ratings draw heavily from QASP surveillance results, so consistent AQL performance is the single largest input to past performance reputation.