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Tag: Contract Awarded Labor Category

GSA Pricing Tools, Untooling

A GSA internal watchdog has found the two comparative labor pricing tools contain flawed data and recommends GSA stop using the pricing tools. GSA however, plans to keep the current pricing tools in place for now. (FCS, January 2, 2020)

This report shows the use of discrepant data in flawed equations, thus arriving at unreliable pricing data. GSA’s Inspector General (IG) said, “the data and calculations are so flawed, they’re dulling the federal government’s buying power edge, as well as possibly resulting in the overpayment on contracts.” (ibid)

Julie Dunne, FAS Acting Commissioner, agrees with the IG that the two tools, Contract-Awarded Labor Category tool (CALC)  and Contract Operations Division Contractors Database (CODCD) used for labor pricing, are not the optimal. She also agrees about a need for pricing comparison capabilities; however, she refrains from wanting to scrap these tools in lieu of something else that might bring even greater inaccuracies. 

Dunne went on to say that without the current tools, labor pricing would be determined by individual searches via the internet resulting in more inaccuracies. She acknowledged that decisions on comparison pricing for labor have always been the judgment of FAS contracting officers. “Disallowing access to aggregated information about previously-awarded MAS contracts does not further our goal of improving pricing. Quality price analyses are the result of training, expertise and appropriate controls. FAS believes our continued focus in these areas will improve how comparative data is used in our MAS award documentation.” (ibid)

Have questions concerning your current labor pricing? Give us a call.

GSA’s New Cool Tool

GSA has launched the Contract Awarded Labor Category (CALC) tool to make it easier for agencies to determine hourly rates for various labor categories. CALC allows purchasers to analyize labor category pricing on more than 5,000 recent GSA contracts. The new tool will make it far easier for contracting officers to determine accurate labor rates while conducting market analysis. (Federal Times, May 14, 2019

CALC works by searching awarded prices on GSA’s professional services schedules, such as:

  • Mission Oriented Business Integrated Services (MOBIS)
  • Environmental
  • Logistics Worldwide (LOGWORLD)
  • Professional Engineering Schedule
  • Language
  • Advertising and Integrated Marketing Schedules (AIMS)
  • Consolidated Schedule (ibid)

CALC cannot yet compare labor categories to those already awarded showing where rates fall; however, future versions will likely include this capability.(ibid)

Questions about how your labor rates stack up against other vendors? Give us a call at 301-913-5000.