The General Services administration has begun the process of altering current contracts under its Multiple Award Schedule program, as part of its ongoing initiative to take the 24 different schedules currently existing under the program and merge them into one, unified schedule.
The agency announced Jan. 31 that current schedule holders will receive notice of a “mass mod” to their contracts in the coming months, which will align their terms and conditions with the new, consolidated Multiple Award Schedule.
“We are planning for a smooth transition and federal agencies should experience no disruption to their purchasing practices during the mass mod,” said Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Julie Dunne in a news release.
“There will be no change to contract numbers, which makes the transition less burdensome overall. And, we’ve been steadily training our contracting workforce to ensure a seamless transition. Soon, we’ll have just one Schedule, with a single set of terms and conditions, making it much easier to buy and offer complete solutions.”
The consolidation initiative, which aims to simplify purchasing under the Multiple Award program, is planned for three parts: create a new contract vehicle for all future acquisitions; bring current contract holders onto that new vehicle; and consolidate for businesses that have multiple contracts across different schedules.
The standardization of terms and conditions brings current contract holders one step closer to being placed on the consolidated schedule, and contractors must respond to it by July 31.
“We’re right on track with MAS Consolidation,” said GSA Administrator Emily Murphy in a news release.
“Moving to a single schedule is good for federal agencies, our industry partners and our acquisition workforce. It’s a key piece of the picture for making it easier to deliver solutions.“
The third and final phase of the consolidation is scheduled for the second half of the 2020 fiscal year.
Jessie Bur covers federal IT and management.
