CONTRACTORS SHOULD USE CAUTION WHEN DEALING WITH GSA’S COMMERCIAL SOLUTIONS OPENING PILOT

In its well-intentioned quest to be a leader in innovative acquisition, GSA is embarking on a pilot that will, among other things, toss the FAR aside.  The agency sites Section 880 of the FY’17 Defense Authorization Act as the supporting statue for this approach to its Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) project. What, though, does Section 880 say?  For starters, it doesn’t specifically say one way or the other whether the FAR should be used.  GSA apparently read-in that authority.  The Section does, though, call for the use of “General solicitation competitive procedures”.  As such, some form of solicitation document was contemplated by Congress, as was the need for competition. What clauses would go in such a solicitation?  GSA states on the CSO web site that a new Section to its own FAR supplement, the GSAM (specifically Section 571), will be “coming soon.”  Maybe the clauses will come from there.  All of this, however, should give contractors pause.  One on hand, the implementing legislation is silent on the use of the FAR.  On the other, GSA is updating its own FAR supplement.  Adding further confusion is the fact that the agency is proceeding with CSO acquisitions before a new section is actually added to that supplement.  It’s important to remember who’s often left holding the bag when innovation goes awry – contractors.  We have no doubt that GSA is well-intended here.  We don’t, however, want industry to bear any blame for intentions that go south.