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Tag: MAS

EZ-ier requirements for COVID efforts at GSA says EZGSA

GSA’s Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) program may be used by state and local governments to procure commercial products, services, and solutions necessary to respond to the pandemic. GSA is providing additional support by issuing Acquisition Letter (AL) MV-21-03 and Supplement to further aid America in response to COVID-19. (GSA Interact April 14, 2021)

AL achieves this by:

  • Temporarily waiving (3) MAS solicitation requirements in MAS provision SCP-FSS-001 when a company is proposing products/services to support COVID-19 efforts.
  • The AL waives:
  1. The requirement to possess two years of Corporate Experience
  2. The requirement to submit a Relevant Project Experience for each SIN proposed
  3. The requirement to submit an Annual Financial Statement for the previous two years (ibid)

The AL, however, does not change the following:

  • Certain vendor instructions regarding the submission of a Corporate Experience narrative, Letter of Commitment/Supply, Past Performance Information, Quality Control Plans
  • Category/SIN specific technical requirements outlined in the MAS Solicitation category attachments
  • A Contracting Officer’s overarching responsibilities especially determining fair/reasonable pricing, ensuring compliance with vendor instructions, and making a responsibility determination in accordance with FAR subpart 9.1 (ibid)

AL applies to all MAS large categories, subcategories, and SINs under the following conditions:

  • New vendors proposing products, services, and/or solutions in direct support of COVID-19 efforts
  • Current MAS contractors adding service SINs in direct support of COVID-19 efforts (ibid)

AL does not apply under the following conditions:

  • Any offers or modifications which include products, services/solutions that do not directly support COVID-19 efforts
  • To VA MAS for medical equipment, pharmaceutical services, or supplies (ibid)

GSA is doing a number of things to support the ongoing COVID-19 efforts. The following are to name a few:

  • Deferring MAS contract cancellations when minimum sales haven’t been met under I-FSS-639 Contract Sales Criteria
  • Issuing a non-availability determination for Trade Agreement, Buy American Statute Class Determination, allowing contracting officers to temporarily award non-TAA compliant product to support COVID-19 requirements
  • Purchase Exceptions from the AbilityOne Program
  • Implementation of Emergency Acquisition Flexibilities (ibid)

GSA/FAS has many mechanisms for its Federal Partners to access the vital supplies and services required to meet the COVID-19 pandemic. For companies who would like to reach the government market beyond the MAS program, the Commercial Platforms program provides options to partner with several commercial e-marketplace platforms. It is also possible to partner with an existing MAS contractor as a subcontractor, providing part of a total solution to an agency’s COVID requirements. (ibid)

Questions concerning AL, what it does, doesn’t do, or do you now qualify for GSA? Give us a call.

 

 

 

 

Digital Certs, Out; Docusign, In

As of 30 November 30, all Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) holders are required to use DocuSign to digitally sign Documents in eOffer and eMod. (GSA Interact, October 28, 2020)

Additionally, GSA plans for the eOffer and eMod system to join FAS systems, including FAS Sales Reporting Portal (SRP), GSA Advantage Purchase Order Portal, GSA Vendor Portal, eBuy Seller, and the Mass Mod Portal, using GSA’s FAS ID multi-factor authentication (MFA). GSA’s FAS ID, allows contractors to access GSA applications using a single email and password. This transition will take place in Q2 of 2021.

During 25 – 29 November, contractors and offerors will not be allowed to submit offers and/or requests for modifications in eOffer and eMod. GSA advises planning ahead! If your document requires a contracting officer’s signature, it must be obtained by 23 November 2020. (ibid)

Digital certificates are required until the transition to DocuSign and GSA FAS ID is complete. Although digital certificates are not required once DocuSign is complete, those certificates may be required by other government agencies or private companies, therefore GSA advises holding onto your hard copies. (ibid)

Scrambling to get those documents signed by November 23rd? Give us a call.

 

 

Not a “tricky” October 31st Deadline

A Multiple Award Schedule deadline is fast approaching. All contractors must do the following to remain in compliance with the MAS Consolidation Mass Mod A812:

  1. Update your catalog in GSA Advantage
  2. Update your Price List (text file) (GSA Interact September 8, 2020)

To remain in GSA Advantage, your SIP or EDI catalog to the consolidated MAS SINs must be updated before October 31, 2020, or you risk disruption to your catalog status or access to eTools. To accomplish the update, see the SIP/EDI Catalog Update Guide. All catalog submissions must be approved by your CO. (ibid)

Additionally, all schedule holders must update their Price List (Text File) using the MAS Consolidation Price List Guide, organizing their contract offerings under the new SIN structure. (ibid)

To aid contractors with their updates, webinars are being offered as well as a Vendor Support Center Help Desk at vendor.support@gsa.gov or call 877-495-4849. (ibid)

Having trouble getting your questions answered? Give us a call.

New SIN for Office Admin Services

Under the new Multiple Award Schedule, GSA is changing the Special Item Numbers (SINs) in the Office Management and Human Capital large categories. GSA’s Northeast and Caribbean Supply and Acquisition Center and the Office of Customer and Stakeholder Engagement (CASE) are adding the new NACIS-based SIN56110 for Office Administrative Services. In addition, GSA is combining the two current SINs for Human Resources Line of Business into SIN 541612LOB. These changes all take effect on 1 July 2020. (GSA Interact June 24, 2020)

SIN 56110 will make it easier for searching and identifying specific support services to meet mission-critical needs. These services include a range of day-to-day activities, such as office administrative support, data entry, payroll administration, recordkeeping, travel preparation, scheduling, meeting management, purchasing supplies, and logistics.

To better meet agency needs, GSA is merging two SINs of the consolidated schedule, into one new SIN. The two SINs 541612OPM and 541612PSSC will be combined into 541612LOB. This new SIN provides technology solutions in support of other SINs in the Human Capital category. This category may include software, technology, systems, and related solutions. To be a function under this SIN, the services and products offered must support one or more of the 15 functions/54 sub-functions in the human capital lifecycle. To obtain a list of theses functions, visit the Human Capital Business Reference Model (HCBRM).

GSA is holding a webinar tomorrow, Friday, 26 June 2020, to review details and answer your questions. The link to join the webinar is https://meet.gsa.gov/r2newsins/. (ibid)

Questions about the Office Management and Human Capital large categories? Give us a call.

Migrate to MAS — Or Else!

This is a time-sensitive reminder that before you submit changes to your catalog through SIP/EDI, migrating to MAS is essential. Even if you have updated your Text File information, you must make sure the migration step has been completed for all of your contracts. (GSA, June 16, 2020)

GSA is deleting all legacy catalogs (product and service) from Advantage, on July 31, 2020. You can continue to use the migrate to MAS function in SIP. Additionally, Catalogs pending approval in CORS should not be impacted by the deletion of legacy catalogs.

Beginning 1 July 2020 updates to legacy catalogs will no longer be allowed. They may only be made once you sign the MAS Mass Mod and migrate your catalog to MAS SINs. (ibid)

Need some help with your contract migration? Give us a call.