Comments due on unpriced schedules

Input sought by Sept. 18

      The General Services Administration is preparing to write a new regulation allowing some Multiple-Award schedules contracts to leave out pricing information.

      The proposed unpriced schedules are being touted as a way to focus competition at the task order level. Pricing data would not be required in the so-called master contracts.

      On Aug. 19, the GSA issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) to seek public comment on implementing Section 876 of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2019. Comments are due by Sept. 18.

      Sect. 876 permits exceptions to the requirement to consider price as an evaluation factor for certain IDIQ and Federal Supply Schedule contracts.

      “The issuance of the ANPR is a positive step towards reducing a significant barrier to entry to the FSS program,” Roger Waldron, president of the Coalition for Government Procurement, wrote in a recent blog entry.

      In an apparent test of the unpriced master contract idea, the GSA recently released the “ASTRO” multiple-award IDIQ contract solicitation without requiring pricing data.

      “The master contract does not establish prices for any supply or service at the task order level; therefore, the [contracting officer] shall establish cost and price reasonableness for each task order using the policies and methods in FAR Subpart 15.4, internal policies, and other applicable regulatory supplements,” the ASTRO RFP states.

More information:
GSA notice: https://bit.ly/3bkQ8eE
Waldron blog: https://bit.ly/31GuwWO
ASTRO RFP: https://bit.ly/2QGTRK4

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