CAM Industry Regulations & Compliance 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A CAM is asked by a program manager to set earned value equal to actual costs to eliminate a cost variance. What should the CAM do?
- Refuse, because manipulating earned value violates EVMS integrity requirements (Correct answer)
- Comply, since the program manager has authority over the baseline
- Comply, but only for one reporting period
- Transfer the variance to management reserve
Correct answer: Refuse, because manipulating earned value violates EVMS integrity requirements
Setting earned value to match actuals falsifies performance data and violates EVMS guidelines and federal reporting integrity rules.
Question 2: Under EVMS rules, management reserve (MR) may be used for which of the following?
- Unforeseen in-scope work within the current contract (Correct answer)
- Eliminating an existing unfavorable cost variance
- Work that is outside the contract scope
- Increasing contractor profit at completion
Correct answer: Unforeseen in-scope work within the current contract
MR is budget held for unexpected in-scope effort and can never be used to offset existing variances or fund out-of-scope work.
Question 3: Which document formally describes how a contractor's EVMS operates and serves as the standard against which compliance is assessed?
- The EVM System Description (Correct answer)
- The Statement of Work
- The Contract Data Requirements List
- The Integrated Master Plan
Correct answer: The EVM System Description
The EVM System Description documents the contractor's processes and is the benchmark used in compliance reviews.
Question 4: What is the compliance consequence when DCMA identifies significant EVMS deficiencies that the contractor fails to correct?
- Potential withholding of contract payments and withdrawal of system validation (Correct answer)
- Automatic contract termination for default
- Mandatory debarment of the contractor
- Immediate criminal referral of the CAM
Correct answer: Potential withholding of contract payments and withdrawal of system validation
Persistent deficiencies can lead to payment withholds under DFARS business systems rules and loss of EVMS validation.
Question 5: A control account's budget may be changed retroactively under EVMS rules only when:
- Correcting documented errors or accounting adjustments through formal change control (Correct answer)
- The CAM wants to improve the cost performance index
- The customer verbally approves the change
- The variance exceeds reporting thresholds
Correct answer: Correcting documented errors or accounting adjustments through formal change control
Retroactive changes are limited to correcting errors or routine accounting adjustments and must go through documented change control.
Question 6: Which report delivers integrated cost and schedule performance data to the government under the current DoD data requirement?
- Integrated Program Management Data and Analysis Report (IPMDAR) (Correct answer)
- Contract Funds Status Report only
- DD Form 254
- SF 1408 Preaward Survey
Correct answer: Integrated Program Management Data and Analysis Report (IPMDAR)
The IPMDAR replaced the legacy IPMR/CPR as the contractual vehicle for delivering EVM performance data.
Question 7: Freezing changes to near-term baseline plans except through formal control is enforced by which common EVMS mechanism?
- A freeze period or baseline change control window (Correct answer)
- Undistributed budget
- Schedule margin
- Level of effort conversion
Correct answer: A freeze period or baseline change control window
A freeze period restricts changes to current and near-term periods so performance data remains meaningful.
CAM Industry Regulations & Compliance 3
A CAM is asked by a program manager to set earned value equal to actual costs to eliminate a cost variance.
What should the CAM do?