Refreshes Expected June 2016
At the beginning of this month, GSA hit its Interact website with a slew of planned solicitation refresh notices, along with the draft solicitation documents. GSA anticipates releasing the actual solicitation refreshes in June.
While some of the proposed changes are specific to certain GSA Schedules, there are core changes that should roll out across all, if not many, GSA Schedules.
Summary of Draft Solicitation Refresh Changes
- Removal of Pathways to Success requirement for streamlined offers
- Addition of Montenegro and New Zealand as TAA designated countries
- Prohibition on contracting with entities that require certain internal confidentiality agreements (internal confidentiality agreements, or similar documents, that restrict employees from lawfully reporting waste, fraud, or abuse)
- FAR clause and provision updates through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-86
- Change to the application of Service Contract Labor Standards (SCLS) (previously Service Contract Act SCA) to all GSA Schedules that allow for services
- Removal of wage determinations at the GSA Schedule Contract level
- No longer required to update wage determinations via mass modifications annually
- SCA Matrix no longer required since wage determinations will be removed
- Ordering activity required to incorporate wage determinations at the order level (ensures “most recent” wage determinations are incorporated at the time of individual task order
- Contractors will note SCLS applicability in price list with a “**”
- The following language must be included to explain the “**” at the end of the price list: “The Service Contract Labor Standards (SCLS), formerly the Service Contract Act (SCA) is applicable to Multiple Award Schedule contracts. Labor categories and fixed priced services marked with a (**) in this pricelist, may be subject to SCLS. Under FAR 22.1006, the Task Order Contracting Office (TCO) must identify if the task order falls under SCLS. The TCO is responsible for determining the place of performance, obtaining the most recent applicable wage determination(s) utilizing Department of Labor prescribed procedures, and incorporating the wage determination(s) into the task order. TCOs may also add additional non-conflicting SCLS clauses as needed.”
If you are an existing GSA Schedule Contractor, you should expect to see a mass modification after the refreshes are issued next month. According to GSA, you will have 90 days to accept the mass modification, and another 90 days from signing the modification to revise your price list if affected by the SCLS/SCA changes.
