A GSA Schedule Contract can shorten the time it takes to secure bids with the federal government. However, obtaining the contract is a detailed process that can take several months to over a year. Part of that process involves a review of your company’s past performance. Until recently, companies were required to purchase a Dun & Bradstreet Open Ratings Past Performance Evaluation (PPE) Report and include the completed report with their GSA Schedule proposal submission. GSA has utilized the Open Ratings Past Performance Report as part of their evaluation process for decades.
Past Performance Requirements Under the New MAS Solicitation
When GSA released the new, consolidated GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Solicitation in October, they provided three options for meeting the Past Performance requirement. Beginning in October of 2019, companies were not required to submit a D&B Open Ratings PPE Report if they had at least three eligible reports available in the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS). The next option, in order of precedence, was the Open Ratings PPE Report. If a company did not have at least six customer references to complete the PPE order form, the third option was to include a Past Performance Narrative with a list of up to five customer references.
D&B No Longer Providing Open Ratings PPE Reports
In our experience as GSA Schedule consultants, few companies are able to meet the CPARS requirement. With this in mind, we anticipated the majority of companies pursuing a GSA Schedule would still be required to purchase the Open Ratings Past Performance Evaluation Report. So, it was a surprise when Dun & Bradstreet updated their website earlier this month to announce they are no longer accepting orders for Open Ratings PPE Reports.
How to Meet GSA’s Past Performance Requirements Moving Forward
GSA rallied quickly to accommodate Dun & Bradstreet’s change in direction. GSA tentatively plans to issue the first refresh of the new GSA MAS Solicitation on January 15, 2019. This refresh will acknowledge that Open Ratings is no longer accepting new orders.
Moving forward, companies will need to provide one of the following:
- CPARS Requirement – At least three contractor performance assessment reports in the federal Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) that represent:
• Contracts or orders completed within three years of the date you submit your offer
• At least three distinct contracts or orders
• Work similar in scope to the products/services included in the solicitation - Past Performance Narrative Requirement – Three to five relevant customer references for work completed within three years of the date you submit your offer.
• Customer Name
• Customer Point of Contact (Name, Phone, Email)
• Brief Description of Work Performed and Your Role
• Dollar Value of Project
• Period of Performance
GSA will still accept Open Ratings Past Performance Evaluation Reports if your company cannot meet the CPARS requirement and was able to order the PPE report before D&B ended the service. However, any Open Ratings PPE Reports must be dated within one year of the date you submit your offer.
If you visit Dun & Bradstreet’s Past Performance Evaluation web page, you’ll see the company is currently offering the option to purchase a D&B Supplier Analysis Report. Please note, GSA will not accept a Supplier Analysis Report as a replacement for the Open Ratings PPE Report.
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