1) GSA Consolidation of Schedules
Last month GSA issued a Mass Mod to all current contract holders, merging their 24 separate schedules into a single consolidated schedule. Current contractors have 90 days to accept the new Mod. All new offers will be submitted using the new Consolidated Schedule. Offers are broken down into 12 broad categories, with corresponding subcategories & SINs.
- Facilities
- Furniture & Furnishings
- Human Capital
- Industrial Products and Services
- Information Technology
- Miscellaneous
- Office Management
- Professional Services
- Security and Protection
- Scientific Management and Solutions
- Transportation and Logistics Services
- Travel
2) Cybersecurity Certification
Beginning in the fall of 2020 the Dept. of Defense will require Cybersecurity Certification ( CMMC) for ALL DoD contractors. The latest published document lists five levels of certification, from the most basic Level 1, through to the most stringent Level 5. Starting in the fall, new agency RFQs will include details of the CMMC level needed to submit a response. Contractors must be certified by a DoD-approved third party (yet to be determined). For now, the CMMC program only applies to defense contractors, but other agencies are watching the process carefully.
3) eCommerce
GSA is working toward an Amazon-style online marketplace for small purchases – up to $10,000 – that will let federal buyers make purchases with the click of a button. GSA Administrator Emily Murphy said “Federal agencies spent approximately $260 million using online portals last year, and it is critical that we use the Commercial Platforms program to better understand and manage this spend.”
4) Goodbye DUNS Number
This year the federal government will be making the transition from the current Dun & Bradstreet (DUNS) number, to a new Entity Identifier number administered Ernst & Young. The transition is expected to take place before the end of 2020. The current DUNS identifier is a series of nine numbers, but the new Unique ID will be a 12-digit mix of numbers and letters. As the DUNS number is phased out and the Unique Entity ID comes online, any company already registered in SAM will automatically be assigned a UEI number. Since the DUNS number is used in so many areas of federal and local contracting, we could see some ‘teething troubles’ with the transition!
5) Non-Displacement of Workers is Revoked
In 2009 President Obama issued Executive Order 13495, called “Non-Displacement of Qualified Workers”, known as the “right of first refusal” regulation, which required service contractors who were taking over an existing project to offer jobs to non-managerial employees of the previous firm first, before hiring others. The aim was to reduce disruption during a transition period between contractors, and to make sure that the federal government benefited from an experienced and trained workforce. President Trump revoked the order last year.