GSA RECEIVES APPROVAL FOR NON-PRICED SERVICE SCHEDULE PILOT, $25K MICRO-PURCHASE REQUEST NIXED

Non-Priced Schedule contracts are now definitely coming thanks to a provision in the FY’19 Defense Authorization bill that gives GSA permission to pilot such contracts.  The agency has long wanted to test contracts without contract-level pricing.  Industry, too, has recommended that GSA consider this approach.  Service contracts seem to be a logical place to test non-priced contracts due to the complex nature of developing bids for individual RFQ’s.  In addition to speeding up the contracting process, the pilot will also reduce compliance burdens on contractors.  No pricing information will likely have to be provided to GSA, meaning that no representations and certifications about submitted pricing information will have to be provided as well.  The real determiner of the success of the non-priced pilot, though, will be customer agency reaction.  GSA has long-maintained that buyers like having a contract level price that has been pre-determined to be fair and reasonable.  If that holds true, task orders against the non-priced contracts will require more work, potentially discouraging customer use of such contracts.  Expect the development of the pilot to follow in early FY’19. The Defense bill also contains language that increases the Micro-Purchase threshold for DOD to $10,000.  This makes the DOD level even with that of civilian agencies.  GSA, however, had requested a $25,000 Micro-Purchase level for its Section 846 commercial e-commerce project.  While such a provision was included in the House version of the bill, it was not included in the final.