Services Ordering Solutions: Avoiding MAS Confusion

How Do I Know Which Clauses GSA Has Included in the Schedules Contracts?

2009-01-05T14:38:02Z

It's very important for every Contracting Officer placing an order against the Schedules contracts to be able to determine which clauses are in that Schedule contract. (There is no GSA web page that tells you how to do this and the MAS Desk Reference is silent on the subject.) If you don't know which clauses are in all the contracts for a particular Schedule, how can you ensure you don't include task order or BPA clauses/provisions that contradict that Schedule contract?

How to Find GSA Schedule Contract Clauses

Why Use Schedules?

2009-01-02T13:09:53Z

Contracting Officers need to understand more than just the GSA marketing slogans. There are some very sound (and FAR-based) reasons why using GSA Schedules might make sense to fill an agency need.

Some Reasons Contracting Officers Decide to Use GSA Schedules

How Do Federal Agencies Supplement FAR SubPart 8.4 When It Comes to Schedules Ordering?

2008-12-18T07:09:46Z

The attached document attempts to answer that question.

As shown, the majority of agencies leave FAR SubPart 8.4 on Schedule orders and BPAs just as it is, avoiding supplementing the FAR treatment of Schedule orders and BPAs.

It's interesting how federal ordering agencies supplement (or, more often, decide not to supplement) FAR SubPart 8.4 with their own agency-specific requirements for BPAs/orders against the Federal Supply Schedules. Federal agencies are not supposed to contradict the FAR, but are permitted to supplement it.

If your favorite agency is missing from the list, please let me know where I can find that agency's FAR Supplement.

Dave
MSCPodcast@gsa.gov

Agency Supplements for FAR 8.4 Schedule Ordering

Episode 6: What Does GSA Do to Award/Administer a GSA Schedules Contract?

2008-09-30T12:19:24Z

Program Notes (D. Clemens, 9/30/2008, 5 pages)

Episode 6 Summary: Special Guest Co-Host Kathee Sewell joins Dave to discuss the Schedules program from the GSA offeror/contractor and the GSA Contracting Officer perspectives. What does the GSA CO do at the Schedules contract pre-award and post-award stages so that the ordering agency doesn't have to? Kathee makes the startling revelation that GSA actually awards and administers a real government contract that any Federal government Contracting Officer would recognize. We also examine what a firm needs to do to obtain and retain a GSA Schedule contract. The more ordering agency Contracting Officers know about the Schedule contract and the GSA pre-award and post-award processes the better prepared they will be to award orders and BPAs against those Schedule contract vehicles.

Episode 5: Socioeconomic Programs & Schedule Orders

2008-09-22T11:23:29Z

Episode 5 Program Notes (9/19/2008, D. Clemens, 35 pages)

Episode 5 Summary: Special Guest Contracting Officer Tonja Ferguson joins us as we spotlight the Environmental Services 899 Schedule. This episode busts some persistent myths regarding small business issues relating to Schedule orders. For example, there is no authority to "set aside" any Schedule orders for small businesses but ordering agencies can achieve that same objective in how they select and weight their task order evaluation factors. We compare and contrast the ways in which North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes, size standards, and then business size issues are handled at the Schedule contract level and at the task order level. What is the relationship between the Schedule contract and the order with respect to these variables? Under what conditions could a Schedule contractor's business size change?

Episode 4: Ordering Procedures for Services Task Orders

2008-08-28T11:55:16Z

Episode 4 Program Notes (5/22/2008, 32 pages)

Episode 4 Summary: What happens after you receive the quotes in response to your (Episode 3) RFQ? Brad and Dave review the steps to keep in mind during your best value evaluation of task order quotes. We explore the different types of task orders (including Time & Material/ Labor Hour task types), some of which may include "Other Direct Costs" of different types. Part of this episode compares and contrasts streamlined Schedule ordering procedures under FAR SubPart 8.4 with the more complex FAR Part 15 procedures inappropriate for Schedule orders. We also discuss Schedule pricing issues (including how those prices are escalated), mixing Schedule items with open-market items on the same task order, and managing protest risk. An extract from the GSA Task Order Checklist is included with the Program Notes. DC

Some Schedule Ordering Myths We Bust in Our Podcasts

2008-09-19T08:29:28Z

Every podcast episode includes myths we take great pleasure in debunking. Our MYTH-BUSTERS segments cover the following statements, every one of which is FALSE:

See any big myths we haven't included (or not sure why one is false)? Click on Add Comment below and let us know.

Episode 1 - Acquisition Planning for Schedules (audio posted now)

"Schedule prices are higher than I will get if I create my own IDIQ."
"Acquisition plans are not required for Schedule orders."

Episode 2 - Scope and Market Research for Schedule Orders (audio posted now)

"Schedule contractors are the best judges as to what Schedule/SIN are most appropriate for my task."
"Schedule/SIN decisions for my task order are really a matter to be resolved between the GSA PCO and the Schedule contractor."
"The best way to identify sources is to do some labor category shopping at GSA Advantage - - the same way I buy office supplies. I just type the labor category title in the Advantage search box."

Episode 3 - The Request for Quotations (audio posted now)

"I'm not allowed to add my agency's FAR supplement clauses to my Schedule orders."
"Schedule contracts clauses tie my hands [in general, with regard to performance incentives, etc.]."
"There isn't any way for me to read the clauses in the Schedule contract. All I've got access to is a contractor price list."
"We were planning on a SOW, not a PWS. I was told I need to to use a SOW rather than a PWS in our Task Order RFQ."
"I need to make my task order period of performance match the [current 5-year] period of performance of the Schedule contract, using the expiration date at Schedules eLibrary as my task order end date."

Episode 4 - Ordering Procedures (audio posted now)

"There is no way to add open-market items to Schedule orders. I can't add items/services to my Task Order if they weren't awarded and priced on that Schedule contract."
"I'm not allowed to put more than $X (or Y% of the total order amount) of non-Schedule open-market items on my Schedule task order."
"The FAR Part 15 procedures I use on my open-market procurements (discussions, competitive range determination, etc.) are useful for my Schedule orders."
"The Schedule contract's Maximum Order Threshold limits the size of my Task Order."
"The individual contract line items (CLINs) on my Task Order need to correspond to the the SINs on the Schedule contract."
"We (the ordering activity) think the prime is paying less to the subcontractors than we are paying to the prime. That's why we need cost and pricing data from the Schedule contractor included with the quote."

Episode 5 - Socioeconomic Issues and SubContracting Issues (audio posted now)

"I can set-aside my Schedule order (or BPA) for small business."
"If a Schedule contractor is Large [or Small] at the Schedule contract level, they must be Large [or Small] for all orders issued against that Schedule contract."
"When I make a BPA size determination, it applies to all orders under the BPA."

Episode 6 - What Does GSA Do to Award/Administer a Schedule Contract (recorded with Kathee Sewell on 5/7/08 - Dave editing - to be posted in October)

"Ordering officers don't need to a task order past performance evaluation (or technical evaluation) because GSA has already done that at the Schedule contract level."
"For my Schedule task order, I'm required to get a Small Business Subcontracting plan along with the quote."

Episode 7 - Schedule Contractor Teaming (to be recorded)

"Teaming is okay if all the team members have that Schedule, but not across Schedule lines."
"Teaming or subcontracting on Schedule orders are really just different words for basically the same thing...subcontracting is really just a subset of teaming, just like FAR 9.6 says."
"Now that I've awarded my task order, I'm thinking of doing a Contractor Teaming Arrangement."

Episode 8 - Blanket Purchase Agreements (to be recorded)

"A BPA is a contract."

Episode 9 - We Answer Your Questions & Resources for More Schedules Information (to be recorded)

GSA EXPO 2008

2008-05-14T05:58:41Z

GSA's fourteenth annual International Products and Services Expo was held April 22-24, 2008 at the Anaheim Convention Center in California. Yes, that's right, within walking distance to Disneyland. Brad went this year and taught a class called "What if my Service Requirement Crosses Multiple Schedules?" in addition to working the booth and attending a few meetings. Dave stayed home to hold down the fort. Read more about the EXPO here.

Click here to see a few pictures Brad took: EXPO 2008 pictures

Episode 3: The Request for Quotations

2008-05-14T05:55:26Z

Program Notes (12 pages, Dave Clemens, 5/7/2008)

Episode Summary: Once you have decided to use the Schedules for services (Episode 1), conducted market research and acquisition planning, and found the Schedule(s)/SIN(s) of best fit (Episode 2), it's time to assemble the Request for Quotations (RFQ). After finding out what the Schedule contract says, we are ready to include non-conflicting clauses, determine best-value evaluation factors, define the PWS requirements, and specify quote submittal instructions. In addition to the RFQ content, we also discuss RFQ procedures in answering the question "How many Schedule contractors need to get my RFQ?" The episode's bonus feature is an interview with FAS General Supplies and Services Director of Acquisition Operations Jeff Koses who helps give us a strategic-level view of the Schedules program as he discusses some exciting new Schedules program initiatives. Dave Clemens, 5/7/2008.

2008 Multiple Award Schedule Desk Reference [formerly "MAS Owners' Manual"]

2008-09-19T05:45:32Z

2008 MAS Desk Reference

Training Session at Kirtland Air Force Base on March 18, 2008

2008-09-19T08:43:22Z

I flew down to Albuquerque, NM and presented training to folks from both the Kirtland AFB contracting squadron and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). I believe there were 61 in attendance. Presenting with me was Larry Mathias from the Forth Worth Acquisition Center (officially known as the "Greater Southwest Acquisition Center"). I presented on the scope of several of the professional services Schedules, ordering procedures and how blanket purchase agreements and contractor teaming arrangements can be used in the Schedules context. Larry rounded out the services Schedules, threw in some products for spice and talked about Security Convergence.

Setting this whole thing up were a team of our Customer Service Directors including Cindy Yandell, Donna James and Jaime Kern. I want to give them a special "shout out" for having everything set up for us. All Larry and I had to do was show up and talk. Well, except for having to help clean up the facility afterwards but that's a story for another day.

If you'd like to see some pictures, click here: Kirtland Photos

Episode 2: Scope and Market Research for Schedule Orders

2008-04-03T13:53:52Z

Episode 2 Program Notes (16 pages)

Click on right-arrow icon below to play:

Episode 2 Summary: Special Guest Lead Contracting Officer Kathleen Sewell joins us as we spotlight the Mission Oriented Business Integrated Services (MOBIS) Schedule 874. This episode is about scope: the scope of what we mean in these podcast and blog entries when we say "service Schedules" and how ordering agencies can find the Schedule(s)/SIN(s) of best fit for their particular service requirements. Discover some service Schedules you may not know existed! After reviewing some basic Schedules terminology (the Schedule? the contract? the SIN?), we mention the broad coverage of some popular service Schedules, many of which will be individually spotlighted in future episodes. Kathee leads our exploration of the MOBIS Schedule as we look at the scope of each MOBIS SIN (with a recent SIN update shown in the Program Notes), services within the scope of MOBIS, and services that may be a better fit for other Schedules. Picking the Schedule/SIN(s) of best fit will lead us (via the eTools discussed in the detailed Program Notes) to the best-fitting Schedule contractors, so we emphasize a structured methodology for discerning that best-fitting Schedule (or Schedules). Where can agencies go wrong in that crucial Schedule scope determination process? Learn from the scope mistakes of others as we prepare to move into the next important phase of Schedule ordering: the task order RFQ that will be the subject of Episode 3. -- Dave Clemens

Do SBA Regulations Prevent Ordering Agencies From Taking 8(a) Credit for GSA Schedule Orders With 8(a) Firms?

2008-03-03T10:58:35Z

Yes.

SBA Final Rule (Fed. Reg.) Eff. 6/30/2007

As shown in the linked pages from the Federal Register, here is what the SBA regulation says about agencies attempting to take 8(a) credit on Schedule orders they place with 8(a) firms:

QUOTE
[Page 66435]

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between SBA and GSA which allowed agencies to take 8(a) credit for orders awarded under full and openly competed MAS contracts expired in 2003. At this time procuring agencies should no longer be taking 8(a) credit for orders awarded under full and open MAS contracts.

[Page 66440]

Several commenters asked whether the final rule supersedes the 8(a) BD MOU between SBA and GSA concerning the MAS program. The MOU between SBA and GSA expired in 2003. Traditionally, procuring agencies have only been allowed to take credit towards their 8(a) contracting goals for sole source contract awards and contracts awarded pursuant to competition limited exclusively to 8(a) concerns. Orders issued under full and openly competed MAS contracts, where an 8(a) firm competes with non-8(a) small firms and large firms, does not satisfy the statutory requirement that competition for an 8(a) award must be limited to eligible 8(a) firms. Thus, procuring agencies can no longer take 8(a) credit for orders awarded to 8(a) firms under full and open MAS contracts.

UNQUOTE

My comment: Based on the foregoing, SBA's policy on 8(a) credit for Schedule orders appears unambiguous. I believe the reasoning is sound. There aren't any GSA Schedules (and GWACs are not Schedules) under which 8(a) firms are competing only against other 8(a) firms for award of a Schedule contract. As a result, SBA regulations hold that GSA Schedule contracts are therefore not "8(a) contract awards" within the meaning of the governing statute. Because all 8(a) firms are, by definition, Small Disadvantaged Businesses (SDBs) [but not all SDBs are 8(a)s], ordering agencies are free to take credit toward their socioeconomic objectives based on some other (that is, non-8(a)) socioeconomic status. In this way, award of a Schedule task order to an 8(a) contractor can help you meet your agency's SDB goals but not your 8(a) goals.

Can Schedule Orders (and Schedule BPAs) Be Set-Aside for Small Business?

2008-11-18T12:57:39Z

No.

GSA Legal Opinion: No Schedule Order Set Asides

[The above document was submitted by GSA Legal on a GAO protest on the issue. GAO did not decide the merits of the set-aside protest case because the party protesting was not an interested party.]

As shown in the document included above, GSA has consistently held that FAR Part 19, which contains the regulatory authority to set any procurement (Schedule or non-Schedule) aside for Small Business, does not apply to Schedule orders (or BPAs). That position is firmly based on the FAR:

1) FAR 8.404(a) says that the only sentence in all of Part 19 that applies to Schedule orders and BPAs is FAR 19.202(e)(1)(iii), a statement that bundling is bad on Schedule orders too.

2) FAR 8.405-5 says that the mandatory preference programs of FAR Part 19 do not apply but agencies may get credit toward their socioeconomic goals.

3) FAR 38.101(e) states: "The requirements of Parts 5, 6, and 19 apply at the acquisition planning state prior to issuing the schedule solicitation and do not apply to orders and BPAs placed under the resulting schedule contracts."

The FAR authority to set something aside for Small Business comes from FAR subpart 19.5, not a word of which applies to Schedule orders or Schedule BPAs in accordance with FAR 8.404(a), 8.405-5, and 38.101(e).

It should be noted that SBA takes the view opposite that of GSA. They believe the phrase “except … as otherwise provided by law” in FAR 8.002 means that all procurements between $3k and $100k, even including Schedule orders, are set-aside for small business by virtue of the Small Business Act. SBA asserts that set-asides outrank Schedule orders in the FAR 8.002 pecking order.

Some ordering agencies persist in the view that they have authority to "set-aside” their Schedule orders (or Schedule BPAs) and reject quotes from large business Schedule contractors when no such authority exists in the FAR or in the Schedule contracts themselves. (Most of the Schedules are "Unrestricted" as shown on the standing solicitations at FedBizOpps. Note that the award of one service Schedule, 736 TAPS, is reserved for small business at the Schedule contract level. In addition, there are some SINs on 520 FABS and 541 AIMS only awarded to small businesses.)

This consistent GSA position is sound and solidly based on the FAR. Ordering agencies comply with the FAR unless/until there is authoritative guidance to the contrary. (While it's possible that a court could someday adopt the SBA position, that hasn't happened yet.)

Agencies can make progress toward their socioeconomic goals a primary evaluation factor for the award of their Schedule orders and BPAs. They just can't limit quotes to small businesses. If they receive a quote from a large business, they must evaluate it in accordance with the evaluation factors shown in their RFQ. (That is another reason why the selection and weighing of best value evaluation factors is important on Schedule orders too.)

GSA has repeated this position in its web-posted FAQs and in GSA Acquisition Letter V-05-12 “Socio-Economic Programs Under Schedules” (the expiration date of which has been extended separately to June 8, 2009).

GSA A/L V-05-12

10/28/2008 Update: Just in case you might think that GAO's decision in B-400403 Delex Systems Inc., (10/8/2008) contradicts any of the foregoing with respect to non-applicability of set-asides to Schedule orders, you will notice that the Delex protest was a protest against a Navy IDIQ and the facts presented to GAO for decision there have nothing to do with a Schedule order.

GSA Acquisition Alert 2008-07 (10/28/2007)

2/14/2008 Service Schedules Ordering Webinar

2008-11-06T07:12:43Z

“Using GSA Schedules for Professional Services” (2/14/2008: Brad Powers and Dave Clemens)

Webinar Slides
Webinar Handout
Webinar Questions & Answers (also includes Q&A from previous June 2007 webinar)

This live web-based seminar covered the contracting issues raised by ordering agency Contracting Officers in procuring professional services from the GSA Schedules. After defining the scope of the GSA professional service schedules, we reviewed the Request for Quote and Task Order award processes, particularly the differences between FAR Subpart 8.4 and FAR Part 15 procedures. Schedule contract clauses were then examined. We went on to explore how to use Contractor Teaming Agreements and Blanket Purchase Agreements for complex or recurring services. This FAR-based training was tailored for those in the GS-1102 Contract Specialist/Officer and related series, but Program Managers and other who generate service contract requirements, plan service contract acquisitions, and conduct market research for professional service procurements could also benefit. This training assumed basic familiarity with the GSA Schedules program and basic FAR based ordering terminology/procedures. The webinar was four hours in total duration, including breaks and question periods. It was certified for 3.0 Continuous Learning Points in accordance with CLP policies. Another webinar is currently planned for June 2008. E-mail R10.Webinar@gsa.gov for more information on future webinars.

Podcast Episode 1: Acquisition Planning for Schedule Services

2008-03-08T14:15:20Z

Podcast Episode 1: Acquisition Planning for Schedule Services

Please see program notes here: Episode 1 Program Notes

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2008-01-28T15:24:07Z

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2008-03-26T11:15:55Z

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About this Site

2008-01-28T15:44:31Z

About “Services Ordering Solutions: Avoiding MAS Confusion”

This blog relates to the podcast of the same name and is designed to assist Federal agency Contracting Officers use the GSA Multiple Award Schedules to order professional services.

The podcast is hosted by Brad Powers & Dave Clemens, Contracting Officers at the GSA FAS Management Services Center in Auburn WA. Dave & Brad have been working for GSA for just over four years. Before coming to GSA, they were Navy Contracting Officers.

All comments posted here are the personal opinions of their respective authors. On this blog, we don’t speak for GSA policy-makers and GSA policy makers don’t speak for us.

A quick note on Section 508 (accessibility) compliance. While we certainly try hard to make this information accessible to the widest possible audience, we cannot guarantee that everything posted here meets the 508 standards.