GSA Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer SIZE OF BUSINESS RE-REPRESENTATION

GSA Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer WHAT WE WILL COVER BACKGROUND DEVIATION FROM THE FAR GSA ACQUISITION LETTER WHERE TO GET HELP

GSA Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer BACKGROUND FAR permits contractors to keep their size status for the length of the contracts, but did not anticipate extended length contracts such as Federal Supply Schedule Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contracts that may continue for 20 years, if all options are exercised.

GSA Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer WHAT AUTHORITY DOES GSA HAVE TO CHANGE FAR LANGUAGE? Subpart 1.4—Deviations from the FAR The issuance or use of a policy, procedure, solicitation provision (see definition in 2.101), contract clause (see definition in 2.101), method, or practice of conducting acquisition actions of any kind at any stage of the acquisition process that is inconsistent with the FAR.

GSA Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer FAR CLASS DEVIATIONS Class deviations affect more than one contract action. For size of business re-representation, GSA obtained a class deviation on October 10, 2002.

GSA Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer GSA CLASS DEVIATION FAR , Representation by the offeror FAR , Multiple Award and Federal Supply Schedule contracts

GSA Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer GSA ACQUISITION LETTER Requires GSA contracting officers to obtain from a contractor, a re- representation of their size status before exercising any option period for specific GSA contracts.

GSA Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer APPLICABILITY The Acquisition Letter applies to all Federal Supply Service Multiple Award Schedule contracts and other multiple award type contracts awarded under FAR Part 16 that contain option periods.

GSA Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer PROCEDURES Contracting officers must require contractors to re-represent their size status prior to exercising an option period. For existing contract periods, implementation is effective with the next exercise of any option for these contracts.

GSA Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer PROCEDURES Re-representation by incorporating into the contract and by implementing for each option period either: FAR (c)) for commercial items or FAR for other than commercial items

GSA Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer PROCEDURES Re-representation by the contractor must be incorporated into the contract by: Receiving a signed statement by the contractor or Receiving an updated representation ( (c) or ) signed and dated by the contractor.

GSA Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer WHAT HAPPENS TO A CONTRACTOR THAT CHANGES FROM SMALL TO OTHER THAN SMALL? For multiple award contracts not awarded as a small business set-aside, the contracting officer must determine the estimated value of the remainder of the contract option periods. If the subcontracting plan threshold is met, the contracting officer must negotiate an acceptable subcontracting plan..

GSA Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer WHAT HAPPENS TO A CONTRACTOR THAT CHANGES FROM SMALL TO OTHER THAN SMALL? If the multiple award contract was awarded as a small business set-aside, the contracting officer would be precluded from exercising the option for the concern that was no longer an eligible small business..

GSA Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer WHAT HAPPENS TO AN 8(a) CONTRACTOR THAT CHANGES FROM SMALL TO OTHER THAN SMALL? FAR (c) allows an 8(a) business concern to continue to accept new orders under a multiple award or Federal Supply Schedule contract even after a concern's program term expires, the concern otherwise exits the program, or the concern becomes other than small for the NAICS code assigned under the contract..

GSA Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer WHAT HAPPENS TO AN 8(a) CONTRACTOR THAT CHANGES FROM SMALL TO OTHER THAN SMALL? Before exercising an option, COs must determine if the concern is still eligible for program participation. –FSS-MAS contracts & other MACs not awarded as an 8(a) set- aside: if the concern is no longer eligible as an 8(a) contractor, the CO must obtain a re-representation, modify the contract, & reflect current business size status in FPDS-NG. –If the MAC was awarded as an 8(a) set-aside, the CO would be precluded from exercising the option for the concern that is no longer eligible for program participation..

GSA Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer SOLICITATION LANGUAGE For any solicitation for FSS-MAS contracts and any other multiple award type contracts issued on or after March 1, 2003, the contracting officer must include a statement informing the contractor that before exercising any option to a contract, the contractor must re-represent its size status.

GSA Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer HOW DOES A VENDOR DETERMINE SIZE OF BUSINESS? The Small Business Act states that a small business concern is "one that is independently owned and operated and which is not dominant in its field of operation." The law also states that in determining what constitutes a small business, the definition will vary from industry to industry to reflect industry differences accurately.

GSA Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer HOW DOES A VENDOR DETERMINE SIZE OF BUSINESS SBA's Small Business Size Regulations implement the Small Business Act's mandate to SBA. SBA has established a table of size standards, matched to North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) industries. Vendor Note: LEARN YOUR NAICS code(s).

GSA Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer INTEGRATED ACQUISITION ENVIRONMENT The Integrated Acquisition Environment (IAE) Project is a result of the President’s Management Agenda as it relates to e-Government (e-Gov). IAE initiatives include CCR, ORCA, and FPDS-NG

GSA Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer INETEGRATED ACQUISITION ENVIRONMENT A contractor registers in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR). CCR data is then used down stream in Online Representations and Certifications Applications (ORCA) For FPDS-NG, the size of business for the contractor is entered by the CO.

GSA Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer WHAT’S NEW?? SBA amended various provisions of its Small Business Size Regulations effective June 21, Size for Purposes of the Multiple Award Schedule and Other Multiple Award Contracts.

GSA Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer WHERE TO GET HELP General Services Administration –

GSA Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer WHERE TO GET HELP SBA – SBA – (for FAR regulations and agency supplements)

GSA Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer CONCLUSION Thank you for inviting the Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer. Please feel free to contact us at any time if we can help you in any way.

GSA Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer CONCLUSION Contact: Rhonda Cundiff Procurement Analyst Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer Contract Policy Division Office # (202) Fax # (202)