OFPP Followup to Federal Supply Schedule Recommendations
Gao ID: GAO-03-399R January 31, 2003This report is to bring the Office of Federal Procurement Policy's attention to two GAO recommendations concerning the acquisition of information technology services under the Federal Supply Schedule (FSS). In GAO's view, implementation of these recommendations has been delayed because of unnecessary coupling with other FSS issues.
RecommendationsOur recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director: David E. Cooper Team: Government Accountability Office: Acquisition and Sourcing Management Phone: (617) 788-0555GAO-03-399R, OFPP Followup to Federal Supply Schedule Recommendations
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January 31, 2003:
Ms. Angela B. Styles:
Administrator:
Office of Federal Procurement Policy:
Washington, D.C.
Subject: OFPP Followup to Federal Supply Schedule Recommendations:
Dear Ms. Styles:
This report is to bring to your attention two GAO recommendations
concerning the acquisition of information technology services under the
Federal Supply Schedule (FSS). In our view, implementation of these
recommendations has been delayed because of unnecessary coupling with
other FSS issues.
In November 2000, we reported[Footnote 1] that contracting officers did
not follow FSS ordering procedures requiring them to seek competitive
quotes for services. We found that many contracting officers were
unaware of the requirement. Hence, we recommended, and the Office of
Federal Procurement Policy agreed, that the requirement for competitive
quotes should be included in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).
We also recommended clarification of the FAR pertaining to sole source
orders for services using the FSS. Although a FAR case has been opened,
little progress has been made in implementing the recommendations.
Moreover, the latest informal estimate indicates that a final rule will
not be published until April 2004.
We are concerned about the delay because sales of services under the
FSS continue to substantially increase. Moreover, recent federal audits
suggest that the problems still exist. For example, in March 2002, the
Office of Inspector General, National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, found that contracting officers did not follow the
ordering procedures for services in 8 of 20 reviewed contracts with
regard to obtaining multiple quotes or providing sufficient information
in the request for quotation or statement of work.[Footnote 2]
Also, in November 2002, the Department of Defense, Office of Inspector
General, reported that in 36 of 44 orders for services contracting
officials could not show that they followed FAR procedures for the
Federal Supply Schedule or that they had requested quotes from multiple
contractors as required by the Government Services Administration
ordering procedures.[Footnote 3] Although the competitive quotes issue
has been addressed in part by recent changes to the Defense FAR
Supplement, a FAR revision is necessary for a comprehensive
implementation of the recommendation.
We understand that the delay in implementation is the result of efforts
to address matters other than the need to obtain competitive quotes.
For example, one issue has been whether the use of time-and-materials
contracts should be allowed under the Federal Supply Schedule.
We believe the guidance concerning competitive quotes and sole source
awards for services should be incorporated into the FAR before
resolving other issues. More importantly, we believe that this would
provide a foundation for immediate improvements in the use of FSS
contracts.
We are also sending copies of this report to officials at the General
Services Administration. The report will be available at no charge on
the GAO Web site, www.gao.gov. If you have any questions about this
report, please contact me at (202) 512-4841 or Ralph Dawn at (202) 512-
4544.
Sincerely yours,
David E. Cooper:
Director:
Acquisition and Sourcing Management:
Signed by David E. Cooper
(120201):
FOOTNOTES
[1] U.S. General Accounting Office, Contract Management: Not Following
Procedures Undermines Best Pricing Under GSA‘s Schedule, GAO-01-125
(Washington, D.C.: Nov. 28, 2000).
[2] Office of Inspector General, National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, NASA Acquisition of Services Using the Federal Supply
Schedules, Report Number IG-02-014 (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 27, 2002).
[3] Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Defense,
Acquisition: Contract Actions Awarded to Small Businesses, Report
Number D-2003-029 (Washington, D.C.: November 25, 2002).
