From pencils to computers, contractors that find they need additional supplies to meet the requirements of an order will now be able to buy those supplies through the Multiple Award Schedule, rather than re-negotiate the deal.
The General Services Administration issued a final rule on Jan. 24, 2018, which will allow order-level materials, or those supplies and materials that are not known to be needed at the time of initial contract negotiations, to be purchased through the MAS program.
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The MAS program operates on indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contracts, meaning that GSA and a commercial firm can enter into a contract that is available to agencies governmentwide to purchase needed supplies and materials. It prevents individual agencies from having to enter into separate and lengthy contacting processes on an individual basis.
“The final OLM rule marks another step forward in GSA’s continued efforts to modernize and transform the Multiple Award Schedules (MAS) program in line with market forces,” Federal Acquisition Service commissioner Alan Thomas said.
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The new rule is designed to make it easier to acquire OLMs and create consistency between the MAS program and other established indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts.
“It’s a change that our customer agencies and industry partners have been requesting for many years,” said GSA senior procurement executive Jeffrey Koses. “GSA anticipates the final rule will reduce contract duplication and the need for agencies to conduct additional costly open-market procurements. This new flexibility will remove barriers to entry into the federal marketplace, drive unnecessary costs out of the procurement process for federal agencies, and make it easier for industry to do business through the MAS program.”
The rule is made effective Jan. 24, 2018.
Jessie Bur covers federal IT and management.
