Architects & GCs, Join These Programs to Bid on Government Projects

AUSTIN, Texas - March 23, 2017 - PRLog -- Our quick start guide to GSA schedule and the military procurement process can help you get started. The process to become an approved as a government or military vendor can be a little bit intimidating for the uninitiated, but those who persevere can be rewarded with a wide range of interesting business opportunities.

Find the red tape daunting? We can help. As a government and military approved supplier ourselves, we've prepared this quick overview of the steps necessary to help you get your first government contract. Formaspace is also open to partnering opportunities, either in the Prime or Subcontracting role.

Let's Start at the Top: The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Rules
When dealing with government programs, it's easy to quickly become overwhelmed with acronyms.

If you are new to procurement regulations that dictate how the federal government acquires goods and services, you might think you've stumbled onto a foreign language, made up entirely of abbreviations and acronyms.

To be frank, if any of us had the opportunity to design the procurement system over from scratch, we'd probably come up with a much simpler approach. Instead, like many aspects of our legal system, the procurement regulations have evolved over time to reflect the political will of Congress in Washington.

So to get oriented, let's start at the top.

• The legal framework that governs procurement for the government and the military is the Federal Acquisition Regulation, commonly known as FAR.

When you visit the government's official FAR website (acquisition.gov) you'll want to look through key regulatory documents for procurement. For example, when you review the eighth FAR section (known as FAR 8) (https://www.acquisition.gov/far/html/FARTOCP08.html), you'll see how this part of the law:

• Establishes the mandatory priority order that government procurement agents must follow when awarding contracts.

• Defines the role of the Federal Supply Schedule program, which is also known as the General Services Administration Multiple Award Schedule Program (or GSA Schedule for short.)
• Creates additional rules and programs to cover particular circumstances. Examples of this include establishing rules for Blanket Purchasing Agreements (BPA) (https://www.gsa.gov/bpa)  for planned ongoing purchases (such as supplies or furniture) by the government at predetermined prices, or the similar Basic Ordering Agreements (BOA), which allow the government to make purchases when the future needs are yet to be determined.
• Allows the GSA to delegate certain purchasing responsibilities to other government agencies in certain areas. For example, GSA delegates its authority to procure certain medical supplies to the Veterans Administration (VA) under the VA Federal Supply Schedules program (VA FSS).
• Restricts the GSA from delegating its role in government acquisitions to other agencies in certain areas. For example, per FAR regulations, only the GSA can procure non-military government vehicle purchases (e.g. make car and truck purchases).

Reading information and legislation on the FAR website will help you understand the relationship between the numerous agencies that regulate, negotiate, award, and manage government procurement contracts.

To keep up with the changes that Congress makes to the law, you should sign up for official FAR Alert Notices, known as FAN. You can also watch short videos that explain recent changes (https://www.acquisition.gov/?q=faninaminute).

The Big Kahunas of Government Purchasing: The GSA and the DLA
Now let's look at the GSA Schedule and its military equivalent, the DLA, in more detail.

As we mentioned earlier, the GSA (formally known as the General Services Administration) has the primary responsibility for negotiating a collection of pre-authorized contracts on behalf of the civil side of government.

The equivalent organization for the military is the Defense Logistics Agency (commonly known as the DLA), whose origins date back to the massive acquisition programs established during World War II.

Why have these two major purchasing agencies? By centralizing the acquisition functions, the government hopes to:

• Avoid 're-inventing the wheel' each time the government needs to buy something by creating a repository (or schedule) of pre-approved, pre-negotiated contracts that government employees can use to make purchases.

• Ensure fair competition between suppliers to reduce the cost of goods and services paid for by taxpayers

• Prevent favoritism, graft, and kickbacks when awarding government contracts.

• Make the contract-award process an open and transparent process, so taxpayers can see where their tax dollars are spent (certain 'dark' expenditures, such as secret military expenditures are not subject to these rules).

• Leverage the expertise of procurement experts to manage complex acquisitions while avoiding fraudulent or historically low-performance suppliers.

GSA and DLA Storefronts and Exchanges
Just as consumers are increasingly using online shopping, so too are government employees.

However, regulations prevent government employees from 'shopping' just anywhere — a civil servant can't visit the regular Amazon website and buy a new computer for government use — instead, they have to make purchases from a list (or schedule) of pre-approved government contracts.

To accommodate the high-volume of government purchasing, the different agencies have created their own storefronts or exchanges that allow government employees to shop online. Here are some of the main ones:

• GSA Advantage!
GSA's storefront for government employees to purchase approved goods and services is known as GSA Advantage! (https://www.gsaadvantage.gov/)
(Note to the reader: while we are excited about this topic, we should point out that the last exclamation point is part of the official name of GSA Advantage!)

• e-Buy

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