GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Consolidation: Are You Prepared?

On October 1, 2019 GSA released the new Consolidated Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Solicitation designed to replace the current structure of the GSA Schedules program. By consolidating the existing 24 individual schedules into one Schedule, GSA will eliminate the need for industry to deal with multiple schedules contracts, multiple contracting officers and multiple sets of terms and conditions. This initiative is part of the continued effort by the federal government to streamline the acquisition of products and services.

This is excellent news for government and industry alike. However, as an existing or new GSA contract holder are you ready?

ClearCoast, with 30+ years government acquisition experience, has helped hundreds of clients secure and maintain their GSA Schedule contracts. We now stand ready to assist you in this transition process in which GSA has consolidated 24 GSA Contracts into a new Consolidated MAS consisting of 12 large categories (see below), 83 subcategories and 316 Special Item Numbers (SINs) which now closely align to the North American Industry Classification (NAICS) codes.

What do I need to do to prepare for this transition?

GSA is implementing this Consolidation in three Phases. ClearCoast has highlighted action items for new and existing GSA Contractors to address during each phase.

Phase 1 (2019 – January 2020) – This was the largest phase and is now complete. GSA reviewed all terms and conditions across schedules, isolating the terms and conditions for all vendors and what were very specific to a category or subcategory. Also reviewed was SIN duplication and overlap. The result was deletion of 160 clauses and a reduction of 900 legacy SINs to 300 SINs now mapped to NAICS codes. It’s important to note that the VA Schedules were not part of this consolidated initiative to modernize federal acquisition into a single GSA Schedule.

ACTION ITEMS:

New Contractors: If seeking to submit an offer for the new Consolidated MAS contract you must apply based on the solicitation requirements released on October 1, 2019. Please see the following link for a roadmap of what is required to prepare for your submission.

www.gsa.gov/mascategoryrequirements

Existing Contractors: Now is the time to address housekeeping items related to your current contract before GSA issues a mass modification Refresh #1 (end of January 2020) for accepting the new requirements for the Consolidated MAS. Your contract number will not change but there will be changes to your SINs. GSA will now reference your schedule based on the large categories as listed above and will not refer to the Schedules by number (i.e., Schedule 70, Schedule 84, etc.) going forward.

To prepare for this mass modification in 2 weeks:

Close out all outstanding mass modifications
Submit and finalize any e-mods before accepting the Refresh #1 mass mod
Current SAM system is migrating to beta.SAM. Create a new user account at https://beta.sam.gov/. Upon creating a new account you will be able to migrate existing SAM information to the new beta.SAM.
Ensure your NAICS codes are all updated. GSA will use the preponderance NAICS code to determine your size status on the new consolidated contract.
Begin to update your current text file to change legacy SINs to new SINs (ClearCoast can help you map your legacy SINs to the new SINs to update your text file). Upon acceptance of the Refresh #1 mass mod it will then be uploaded to elibrary.
Review changes to the Maximum Order Threshold to determine impact to your new SINs (ClearCoast can assist you with this determination)

Phase 2 (Feb – July) GSA will issue a mass modification Refresh #1 at the end of January 2020 to all existing vendors holding a single GSA schedule contract. This Mass Mod will migrate contractors to the new terms and conditions under their new Consolidated MAS contract, keeping the same contract number, existing task orders and BPA’s. Contractors will have until July 31, 2020 to accept this mass mod.

ACTION ITEMS:

Prior to accepting this mass mod, existing contractors should ensure that all action items listed in Phase I are complete. In addition, if an e-mod to add a NEW SIN under the legacy SINs was submitted in January, existing contractors should wait until that modification is approved prior to signing the mass modification.
When responding to the mass mod, you will be presented with each clause in the consolidated Schedule and will be able to either accept the clause or request an exception to the clause. So it’s important to read through the Mass Mod in detail.
GSA will be conducting online training for mass mod Refresh #1 so look for the announcement to your email box.
If you have not done so, be sure to join GSA Interact for all the latest information, training sessions and helpful guidance related to the Consolidated MAS https://interact.gsa.gov/
GSA will be taking care of the eMod, eBuy, eLibrary, SIP and GSA Advantage systems to ensure that after acceptance of the mass mod Refresh #1 all legacy SINs will be converted to the new SINs for existing GSA Contractors within these online systems.

Phase 2 (March-April) – For GSA vendors seeking to add SINs that were previously on separate schedules, GSA will accept eMods for this request. For example, a contractor under the Information Technology Category may seek to add SINs under the Security and Protection category to offer a more comprehensive solution to their customers.

Phase 3 (July – November) – The GSA FAS Program Management Office (PMO) will begin working with those contractors that hold multiple schedule vehicles. The PMO will initiate the consolidation of these schedules by sending an email to set a one-on-one meeting to discuss contractor objectives and develop a consolidation plan. This process will be in accordance with the number of schedules vehicles involved and where those schedules are in their life cycle. Once this plan is developed the contractor and, if needed the PMO, will communicate with all GSA Contracting personnel to accomplish the consolidation.

ACTION ITEMS:

Existing Contractors: If you are an existing contractor holding multiple schedules be sure to bring all schedules up to date via eMod. Decide which contract makes up the greatest portion of sales which will become the primary contract. GSA will then migrate all other contracts to this primary contract and cancel the others through a formal modification. All discounts will be maintained during the migration process. The PCO for your new single contract will receive copies of all contract mods for the contract to be maintained going forward.

What impact will the Consolidated MAS Contract have to the TDR Reporting program?

If one item on your contract is currently classified as a TDR SIN then the entire contract becomes a TDR contract under the new Consolidated MAS Contract.

Will the Cooperative Purchasing Program open up under the new SINs?

At this time, the Cooperative Purchasing Program will apply only to those SINs offered through the Information Technology and Security and Protection categories (legacy Schedule 70 and Schedule 84).

For further information or clarifications, contact Denise Buczek at denise@clearcoastusa.com or at 310.633.7620.

View this blog as a PDF here.