BPAs 101:
GSA Schedule BPAs
In the last episode we discussed the rescue of Blanket Purchase
Agreements (BPA) from the federal procurement junkyard and transformation
into a popular procurement vehicle. Now, we’ll strap on the
GSA Federal Supply Schedule superchargers and follow BPAs to new
heights as the single hottest procurement vehicle on wheels.
To recap, BPAs are simplified contract vehicles allowing agencies
to fill repetitive orders for commercial, off-the-shelf goods.
A BPA establishes a charge account by which the agency can charge
its purchases with qualified vendors. A BPA reduces the need for
conducting numerous, individual procurements for the same type
goods.
BPAs come in two flavors: vanilla (discussed in the previous
section) and GSA Schedule. As its name implies, a GSA Schedule
BPA is a BPA that is placed under a vendor’s GSA Schedule
contract. Naturally enough, only GSA Schedule vendors can offer
a GSA Schedule BPA. GSA approval is not required for GSA Schedule
BPAs. Of course, the agency is under no obligation to order goods
or services from the GSA Schedule BPA contractor.
While versatile, vanilla BPAs have some shortcomings. In particular,
a delivery order placed against a BPA cannot exceed the small
purchase amount of $100,000. In addition, contract terms and conditions
must be negotiated for each BPA.
Schedule BPAs do not suffer from these limitations. Since orders
placed under a GSA Schedule BPA are first and foremost GSA Schedule
orders, there is no limit on the dollar value of an individual
task or delivery orders placed against a GSA Schedule BPA. Likewise,
there is no requirement to publicize orders placed under a GSA
Schedule BPA since there is no requirement that GSA Schedule orders
to be publicized. Put these two together and you get the picture:
An agency can place a multi-million dollar order against a GSA
Schedule BPA without publicizing the acquisition.
There’s more. Orders under GSA Schedule BPA’s are
exempt from the small purchase set-aside requirements of FAR Part
19 and from the procedures of FAR Part 13 governing simplified
acquisition procedures. To make the procurement even easier, contractual
terms already established under the vendor’s GSA Schedule
need not be repeated in the BPA. The BPA orders are simply subject
to terms and condition of the Schedule contract.
Before awarding a GSA Schedule BPA, an agency should review
the GSA Schedule pricelists of several vendors offering comparable
goods and services. However, the agency is not required to publicize
its intent to award a GSA Schedule BPA. Also, an agency may decide
to award several overlapping GSA Schedule BPAs to multiple vendors
to provide the agency with alternative sourcing. In addition,
multiple agencies may join in a cooperative Schedule BPA.
According to GSA, once an agency has established a BPA, orders
are simply placed against the BPA with no further documentation
or justification required. GSA’s Web site states that once
a BPA has been established, task/delivery orders can be placed
without further competition and that the agency is not required
to make a best value selection for every order placed against
the BPA. However, for orders over the Maximum Order in the vendor’s
GSA Schedule contract, an agency is encouraged to solicit additional
discounts.
For more information about Schedule BPAs, visit GSA FSS Web
site at http://pub.fss.gsa.gov/sched/index.html
and review the Dept. of the Air Force’s Contracting Policy
Memo 98-C-07 (1 May 1998) at http://safaq.hq.af.mil/contracting/affars/98-c-07.htm.
In the meantime, for your reading pleasure, here’s the model
BPA included in GSA’s Information Technology Schedule. It’s
that simple.
