GSA consolidated its' 24 GSA Schedules into a single schedule back in October of 2019. What is it? Why did they do it? What was done? What does it mean for future GSA Schedule Holders?

What is it?

The GSA consolidated the previous 24 Schedules into 1 Schedule. However, that single schedule has 12 Major Categories now.

1.  Information Technology
2.  Professional Services
3.  Facilities
4.  Security and Protection
5.  Human Capital
6.  Industrial Products and Services
7.  Furniture & Furnishings
8.  Scientific Management and Solutions
9.  Office Management
10. Transportation and Logistics Services
11. Travel
12. Miscellaneous

In some sense the GSA Schedule System has been reduced from 24 schedules to 12.  Each of these Categories has Special Item Numbers for product and service categories which is how the GSA Schedule system has always functioned.  

Why did they do it?

The idea behind consolidation is to get all GSA contractors down to one contracting vehicle per company. GSA will then provide all contractors with a set of uniform terms and conditions across the schedule system. This then provides uniformity and consistency in the federal contracting system, greatly reducing administrative burden for all. 
 
The three underlying problems that previously persisted in the GSA Schedule System.

1.  No consistency between acquisitions that were completed across the GSA Schedule System. All schedules had at least some deviation that made buying and selling to the government more cumbersome.

2.  Duplication. Why do businesses need to go through the same process obtaining multiple schedules in order to cover their specific federal market?

3.  Small business often struggled to participate fully due to cost of coverage issues. Small businesses make up 80% of vendors on the GSA Schedule system, therefore this was reducing potential sales and harming the GSAs largest group of vendors. 
 
What was done?

The GSA put together a panel of over 100 experts. They reviewed every term and condition present in the solicitation, contract, waiver and/or slight nuance in the GSA Schedule System. In some cases there were even additional terms and conditions at the SIN level highlighting how “un-uniform” the system had become.

Contract Clauses:

-Clauses that were obsolete were removed, totaling approximately 50.

-Some clauses were moved to the FAR (Federal Acquisitions Regulations) rather than being covered at the GSA Schedule level. Moving them “up” provided greater consistency across the federal government.  

-Other clauses were already part of FAR and were removed because they were redundant. 
 
-The GSA hired professional writers that specialized in converting technical and legal language into plain language to reduce confusion. This is especially valuable for small business lacking federal business development teams. 
 
Special Item Numbers:

-Duplications within the schedules were consolidated as much as possible.

-They looked for opportunities to consolidate SINs further when possible.

-The GSA renamed Special Item Numbers to utilize as much of the NAICS code system as possible, if NAICS code is not used twice on the schedule system it will become the SIN number.
  
-Broad categories such as “Testing equipment” which could include lab testing and a foundation building testing equipment was re-categorized into more logical groupings on the schedule system.

What does it mean for Future Schedule Holders?

The GSA continued to award MAS contracts and the Schedule solicitations remained open to new offerors during and after the consolidation. After October 1, 2019 (meaning currently) the GSA Schedule offerors focused entirely on using SCP-FSS-001 Instructions Applicable to All Offerors.

Note:  The act of consolidation alone does not impact how long it takes a contractor to get on Schedule. However, the components of the new Schedule will include streamlined terms and conditions and a re-formatted solicitation, which will make requirements clearer.  In addition, as the GSA consolidates the Schedules they will be working to streamline and standardize business processes. This will give GSA the ability to eliminate administrative work for contracting officers so they can be more responsive to industry. This should eventually result in a time reduction for getting on Schedule. 
 

Whether looking to get on GSA Schedule, pursuing an 8(a) Certification, or going after both simultaneously, I recommend contacting the industry experts at Advance GSA and/or ez8a. Both are available at the click of a button, or are a phone call away. Neither charge for an initial consultation. Advance GSA can be reached directly by phone at (303)810-4580.