When is a MAS contract not an MAS contract? The current internal operational guidance, as we understand it, provides that MAS contracting officers cannot rely on previous price reasonableness determinations. As a result, the bargained exchange between an MAS contractor and GSA is largely illusory. For example, when MAS contractors submit modifications to add products or increase pricing due to inflation, often contracting officers require the re-negotiation of the entire contract, even for items that are not within the scope of the modification! Compounding this fundamental uncertainty is that when contracting officers seek to renegotiate, they often look to GSA databases containing aged, out of date pricing that is irrelevant to today’s market. Contracts are fundamental to conducting business, as they set the rules of the road for the business relationship. If a contractor cannot ever rely on the agreed terms of the contract, then the business environment supporting customer agency missions is undermined.
The goal of the MAS program is to provide an efficient, effective market for customer agencies and commercial firms to execute orders and BPAs that meet mission needs on behalf of the American people at fair and reasonable prices. The negotiation and award of MAS contracts is the fundamental first step in providing customer agencies with access to commercial products, services, and solutions. Fair and reasonable pricing grounded in the reality of the marketplace, not LPRC, however, is critical, especially if the government is to maintain an open, competitive, and innovative MAS program that provides sound business opportunities for contractors that deliver best value solutions for customer agencies. In next week’s blog, we will expand on this point by focusing on positive suggestions to address LPRC and the puzzlers identified here. Read the full article here.
