Although Blanket Purchase Agreements are alive and well on the GSA Schedules program, other GWAC and MAC vehicles do not have similar capabilities.  The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently made that clear in sustaining a protest filed by Harris Corp over FBI plans to restrict competition and set up a BPA-like construct using DHS’s Tacom IDIQ.  GAO stated that the FBI’s plans violated the “Fair Opportunity” requirement in the FAR that all holders of a specific IDIQ contract be given a fair opportunity to compete for task orders.   Despite clear language in FAR 16.505 on fair opportunity, there has been consistent interest among other IDIQ contract managers to set up “mini IDIQ’s” that mirror Schedule BPA’s.  NASA SEWP, for example, states that language in FAR 13.303, which describes how an agency can establish a BPA, can be used to set up BPA’s against SEWP contracts.  GAO’s ruling, though, may conflict with this and plans of other agencies.  For its part, GSA will not entertain the possibility of BPA’s against any contract other than a Schedule.  More on this topic can be found in the GAO ruling, Harris. v. FBI, B-411699 and B-411796.