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I want you to kinda think big picture because if you are thinking about a local BPA
that your agency has issued and maybe you know, youre getting supplies off of
that and its running a few thousand or maybe even tens of thousands or maybe
even a few hundred thousand dollars on a regular basis.
There is this element available to your agency of a GSA BPA
that could expedite your ordering process and could give you the
advantage of schedule pricing.
And so there are two different types of BPAs, there is the Single Award BPA and there is
the Multiple Award.
And obviously with the Single, weve got a one contractor who is gonna fulfill the need
and then with the Multiple, you could have any number of them that would be able
to actually compete the requirements as their generated once the BPAs
have been issued.
And so lets talk for a few minutes here just about the Single Award
because under this 863 Rule that Nick has addressed, and it comes into effect on the on Monday.
There is some major change regarding Single Awards.
And to tell you the truth, and if you read the rule, you know, it is written to encourage
the use of Multiple Awards BPAs as opposed to Single Award BPAs because to
establish a Single Award BPA today, there are some special hoops youre gonna have
to jump through.
Generally speaking, those Single Award BPA is gonna be allowed over
103 million dollars and that includes all of your option periods as well.
And to have that BPA, youre gonna also have to have that Single Award BPA.
Youre gonna have to have a head of agency approval with the D&F or a
Determination and Findings.
And that Determination and Findings per
FAR 8.405-3 has to really address four particular areas, and that includes that the
orders expected under the BPA are so related that only a single source can reasonably
perform the work.
Secondly, were talking about that BPA provides for a firm fixed price orders for
products or and with unit prices established within the BPA.
And if its for services, its going to be with prices established for specific task.
And then thirdly, only one source is qualified and you know that youre gonna
have to determine that the price is fair and reasonable in that document.
And then fourthly, it is and theres gonna be a statement that clarifies that this is
clearly in the publics interest.
Now, you can have four options yearson your BPA, your Single Award BPA.
But everyone of them is four options years are gonna now require a D&F to be written
by your competition advocate, all right?
And so that D&F is going to have to address, and remember, this is gonna be once
a year for your four option years, is gonna have to address that the schedule
contract upon which the BPA was established is obviously still in effect that the
BPA still represents the Best Value for the government.
And if the estimated quantities or amounts that you are
ordering have exceeded what you anticipated, additional price reductions have
been addressed with the contractor.
You know, at any time in the use of a GSA Schedule, you are allowed to ask for and
encouraged to ask for additional price reductions.
And lets just go a little step further, if your Single Award BPA does
happened to approach or go over the 103 million dollar threshold, you know,
the limited source justification thats addressed in
8.405-6 will also and have to be written.
All right.
And talking about the Multiple Award BPAs, you know, there is not nearly as much change to
those as their list with the Single under 863 but there is the question or element
that Nick has already addressed in regard to fair opportunity
over the SAT, the Simplified Acquisition Threshold.
And so there are the standard ordering procedures had been upgraded just a little bit.
But there is I want to certainly inform you that there has always been
a requirement for annual review, and that is still there and its being
emphasized more and more in other arenas.
And you know, with these BPAs, addressing that Price Reduction element, and its just a
good practice.
And you know, in FAR even encourage us additional discounts off for the
schedules already established pricing.
And this week,
Mr. Daniel Gordon, the Administrator of the Office of
Federal Procurement Policy has been here with us at the event, and Mr.
Gordon has encouraged the use of BPAs.
Last year, at the DoD Annual Procurement Conference, thats held in Orlando, and in
fact, its going on this week, and those of you in DoD probably aware of that and its
overlapping with us here at the Expo.
Mr. Mike Canales, who is SHAY ASSAD, who is the under Secretary for Acquisition
and Technology for DoD, and both gentlemen encouraged an open session with all
of the DoD people that were in attendance and we were talking about 1,300 folks or so.
They encouraged the use of GSA Schedules.
I was a guest speaker and actually, gave eight presentations on GSA
Schedules with another co-worker.
And so its a different world in DoD today in regards to using contract vehicles that
are already available to you.
And so when we speak about the Schedules Program, we and GSA have not only the
availability or you have the availability to use a Schedule Contractor for the
creation of BPAs.
But GSA also creates BPAs for you to be able to use.
Just last Friday, I had an email concerning the effective use of one of the
BPAs that GSA has established against the GSA Schedule.
And this Multiple Award BPA is a part of the Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative for
office supplies.
We refer to it as os2
And we are approaching or we just recently approached the first renewal period or
option period on the BPA.
And if you think about the concept of IDIQ Contracts, generally speaking, when
we in government, have IDIQ type contracts, our contractors kinda become in the
drivers seat and they are kinda controlling the procurement if you will.
And so but with this particular vehicle, what we have done
on this on the renewal period is that weve taken an opportunity to,
with the first option period, to reduce the pricing even a little more.
And what the end result is, is that out of the 15 BPA holders, 13 or 87% of them have
agreed to lower their prices.
Now, the figure that is dropping, it doesnt may not sound like a
whole lot, is really .
.9 percent
Were talking about dropping their figures to by one percent or so.
But in an industry, where the wholesale market pricing has risen by
.4 percent in the last year, that is a significant change.
And by the volume of work that the government is actually issuing against the vehicle, you
know, theres a substantial savings that where theyre going to receive.
Another fact about a GSA BPA, it is much easier and faster to off ramp contractors and
bring on new ones.
You can at the renewal period, at the Annual Renewal Period of the BPA, you can off ramp
non-productive BPA holders from this vehicle that you have and you can bring
on new ones.
And so in the world that IDIQ, thats not a not one of those things that youre gonna
necessarily be able to do with any expedients.
And so when we look at the GSA BPA, you know, being able to off ramp now and you know,
performing non-performing contractor is being able to have the Schedule Pricing
that can actually be negotiated again to over periods of
times, is a really good thing.