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GSA MAS Refresh #26 with Maureen Meyer

GSA MAS Refresh #26 to Include SIN Retirements, Price Proposal Template Changes, and More

Changes are coming to General Services Administration’s (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Solicitation 47QSMD20R0001. With Refresh #26 and an associated mass modification (mass mod) anticipated in April 2025, it’s important for MAS contractors to know what lies ahead. To help your business determine the impact of Refresh #26, we are breaking down each change outlined by GSA in their recent notice regarding the upcoming Refresh

Changes to Overall MAS Solicitation.

  1. Implement minor revision to SCP-FSS-001 Instructions Applicable to All Offerors
    1. Update the link for Smart Bulletin No. 039 – SCP paragraph (j)(3)(ii)(F)
  2. Implement revisions to all Offer and Modification Products/Services and Training Price Proposal Templates (PPT)
    1. Revise ‘Commercial MFC Price’ column to ‘MFC Price’ and ‘Discount offered to Commercial MFC’ to ‘Discount offered to MFC’ under all tabs.
    2. Modification Products Price Proposal Templates (PPT)
      1. Update Tab A instructions on the ‘Read Me First’ to clarify Options are excluded from Tab A as the columns in this section differ from those in Tab A.
  3. Incorporate clause and provision updates, as necessary, through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2025-03 and GSAR Change 196, excluding GSAR Change 187.
  4. Retire 32 Special Item Number (SINs) from the Solicitation as detailed below:
    Category  SINs Planned for Retirement  Alternative Procurement Channel 
    Furniture & Furnishings  33721R Remanufactured Furniture  Open Market 
    Furniture & Furnishings  33721RSB Remanufactured Furniture  Open Market 
    Furniture & Furnishings  321918PF Portable Flooring Solutions  Commercial Platforms, Other MAS SINs or Open Market 
    Furniture & Furnishings  713940PACK Fitness Solutions  Commercial Platform, Other MAS SINs or Open Market 
    Furniture & Furnishings  337127CSB Chair, Convalescent (SBSA)  Commercial Platforms, Other MAS SINs or Open Market 
    Office Management  339940OVER OS4 Overseas Copiers and Supplies  Commercial Platforms, Other MAS SINs or Open Market 
    Office Management  334290OS Overseas (International) Audio/Visual Products  Commercial Platforms, Other MAS SINs or Open Market 
    Office Management  33318SBSA Office Security Equipment and IT Products (Small Business Set Aside)  Commercial Platforms, Other MAS SINs or Open Market 
    Office Management  561499N Network Connectivity Support Services  Other MAS SINs or Open Market 
    Office Management  333316OS Overseas Copiers and Supplies  Commercial Platforms, Other MAS SINs or Open Market 
    Office Management  5191M Entertainment, News and Library Media  Open Market 
    Office Management  333316CPC Cost-per-Copy Plan for Copiers (to include Analog, Digital, Multifunctional and Engineer Copiers)  Commercial Platforms, Other MAS SINs or Open Market 
    Industrial Products & Services  333414 Water Heaters  Commercial Platforms, Other MAS SINs or Open Market 
    Industrial Products & Services  532412 Leased Equipment and Accessories  Open Market 
    Miscellaneous  335210 Personal Care Items  Commercial Platforms or Open Market 
    Professional Services  524292INS  Third Party Administration of Insurance and Pension Funds  Open Market 
    Professional Services  541922 Commercial Photography Services  Open Market 
    Professional Services  541850 Exhibit Design and Advertising Services  Open Market 
    Professional Services  323111SBSA Photographic Services and Solutions  Open Market 
    Professional Services  541713  Engineering Research and Development in Nanotechnology  Open Market 
    Professional Services  541714 Engineering Research and Development in Biotechnology  Open Market 
    Professional Services  541720 Research, Analysis and Developmental Services in the Social Sciences and Humanities  Open Market 
    Scientific Management and Solutions  541990TAD  Technical/Application Development Support (TADS)  Open Market or Other MAS SINs 
    Transportation & Logistics Services  326211 Tires – New  Commercial Platforms or Open Market 
    Transportation & Logistics Services  3363P Spare Components and Vehicle Accessories  Commercial Platforms or Open Market 
    Transportation & Logistics Services  561910  Packaging Services  Open Market 
    Transportation & Logistics Services  811122 Automotive Windshield and Paint Repair  Commercial Platforms or Open Market 
    Transportation & Logistics Services  81111 Automotive Maintenance, Repair and Body Services  Open Market 
    Transportation & Logistics Services  336211V  Vocational Bodies and Attachments  Commercial Platforms or Open Market 
    Transportation & Logistics Services  336350 Remanufactured Automotive Components  Commercial Platforms or Open Market 
    Transportation & Logistics Services  3363 Upfitting of Government-owned Emergency Response Vehicles to Provide Turn-key Solutions  Commercial Platforms or Open Market 
    Transportation & Logistics Services  326212 Tires – Retreaded  Commercial Platforms or Open Market 
    1. The retirement of these SINs supports the FAS initiative to optimize the Multiple Award Schedule Program by eliminating items with insufficient market demand or where administrative costs outweigh procurement benefits, making them unsuitable for the MAS program. Furthermore, many of these items are available through other procurement channels as illustrated above.
    2. FAS will add the following statement to the ‘General Information’ section of each Category Attachment:
      1. General Out of Scope Items: GSA will not award items that fall under the following categories:
        1. Remanufactured (except toner)
        2. Automotive parts
        3. Personal hygiene items
        4. Fully assembled rotary-wing or fixed-wing aircraft
  5. Revise clause I-FSS-600 note. Proposed Changes below: (Additions in red):
    1. All Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) and commercial type products are prohibited from being duplicated and published to the Text File posted on the GSA Advantage environment (includes GSA eLibrary and GSA eBuy).
    2. All Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) and commercial type products should be published for sale on GSA Advantage OR to the Text File posted on the GSA Advantage environment (includes GSA eLibrary and GSA eBuy).
    3. All Services offerings are prohibited from being duplicated and published to the Price List generated by the FAS Catalog Platform (FCP) AND the Text File posted on the GSA Advantage environment (includes GSA eLibrary and GSA eBuy).
    4. All Service offerings should be published to a Price List generated by FCP OR to the Text File posted on the GSA Advantage environment (includes GSA eLibrary and GSA eBuy).

Changes to Specific Large Category, Subcategory or Special Item Number (SIN).

  1. Office Management (A): 
    1. Office Supplies (A09): OS4 SINs 339940OS4 – Office Products and Supplies & 339940OVER – Overseas Office Products and Supplies 
      1. Update category specific attachment, Letter of Compliance, located on Multiple Award Schedule page, by: 
        1. Updating the ARO days from 4 business days to 7 calendar days. See ‘Standard delivery anywhere CONUS within 7 calendar days (339940OS4 only)’ on page 4 
        2. Removing all references to SIN 339940OVER 
  2. Furniture and Furnishings (C): 
    1. Household Dormitory & Quarters Furniture Subcategory instructions (C04) & Miscellaneous Furniture Subcategory (C05) SIN(s) 337127CISB Correctional Institution Furniture (SBSA), 337127CI Correctional Institution Furniture and 337127INT International Furniture Products 
      1. Remove all references to “Testing must be performed by one of the accredited test labs listed in the most current version of the purchase description 3QSAB 11-613A.” 
  3. Information Technology (F): 
    1. Add the following language to the “General Information” section of the IT Large Category: The use of Government data for the purpose of training artificial intelligence/machine learning models and systems is prohibited without explicit written authorization from the ordering activity contracting officer.

      Definition: Government data means any information, (including metadata), document, media, or machine-readable material regardless of physical form or characteristics that is created or obtained by the Government, or a contractor on behalf of the Government, in the course of official Government business. 
    2. Update Section I ‘Instructions for all IT Offerors’ to add two (2) new subcategories in the IT Category Attachment 
      1. Cloud Services Subcategory (F01) 
      2. Financial Management Services Subcategory (F03) 
    3. IT Services Subcategory (F05): SIN 54151HACS Highly Adaptive Cybersecurity Services (HACS) 
      1. A new optional subgroup, ‘Incident Handling and Event Management (IHEM)’, will be added. Detailed instructions about the application and review package will be added to this portion of the Category Attachment. 
    4. Cloud Services Subcategory (F01) (new subcategory): 
      1. SIN 518210C Cloud Computing and Cloud Related IT Professional Services 
        1. Revise SIN description to add “cloud based artificial intelligence/machine learning“ (AI/ML), see Proposed Changes in red below: Includes commercially available cloud computing services such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS) and emerging cloud computing services, to include cloud based artificial intelligence/machine learning. IT professional services that are focused on providing the types of services that support the Government’s adoption of, migration to, or governance/management of cloud computing. Specific cloud related IT professional labor categories and/or fixed-price professional services solutions that support activities associated with assessing cloud solutions, refactoring workloads for cloud solutions, migrating legacy or other systems to cloud solutions, providing management/governance of cloud solutions, DevOps, developing cloud native applications, or other cloud oriented activities are within scope of this SIN. 
        2. Move SIN 518210C from IT Solution Subcategory to new Subcategory, Cloud Services Subcategory (F01). 
    5. Financial Management Services Subcategory (F03) (new subcategory): 
      1. SIN 518210FM Financial Management Quality Service Management Office (FM QSMO) Core Financial Management (FM) Solutions and IT Professional Services 
        1. Move SIN from IT Solution Subcategory to new Subcategory, Financial Management Services Subcategory (F03). 
  4. Professional Services (H): 
    1. Business Administrative Services Subcategory (H01): Revise SIN 541611 instructions to address administrative changes in response to offeror inquiries regarding the subgroup. Please see Line in Line Out (LILO) – Proposed Changes below: (Deletion indicated by strikethrough, additions in red):

      Contractors that are awarded SIN 541611 may request to be placed in the following subgroup:
      Program Evaluation Services: Program Evaluation is defined as “assessment using systematic data collection and analysis of one or more programs, policies, and organizations intended to assess their effectiveness and efficiency” (Office of Management and Budget Memorandum M-20-12). Evaluations may address questions related to the implementation of a program, policy, or organization; the effectiveness of specific strategies related to or used by a program, policy, or organization; and/or factors that relate to variability in the effectiveness of a program, policy, or organization or strategies of these. Evaluations can also examine questions related to understanding the contextual factors surrounding a program, as well as how to effectively target specific populations or groups for a particular intervention (OMB Circular A-11, Section 200.22).

      Contractors seeking to add this subgroup must demonstrate technical expertise and relevant experience in developing and implementing rigorous evaluation designs, including impact evaluations (i.e., evaluations that include a counterfactual through randomization or quasi-experimental methods) and outcome evaluations (i.e., evaluations that assess outcomes but are not designed to determine causality) – see OMB M-20-12 for definitions of these evaluation types. While these minimum qualifications are required for vendors to add this subgroup, we expect that qualified vendors will be capable of providing a range of program evaluation services to meet agency needs. Thus, contractors should be prepared to provide program evaluation services including conducting evaluability assessments; designing and implementing a range of evaluation types, including equitable and culturally-responsive evaluation approaches and process or implementation evaluations in addition to impact and outcome evaluations; collecting and analyzing qualitative and quantitative evaluation data; providing evaluation technical assistance/expertise; and developing and disseminating deliverables from evaluation activities to diverse a range of audiences.

      Requests from contractors to add the Program Evaluation Services subgroup will be accepted on a continuous/rolling basis. Requests must be submitted by an authorized negotiator on the contract. The contractor must have SIN 541611 awarded on their MAS contract at the time of the initial request in order for the request to be evaluated. Contractors seeking to add the Program Evaluation Services subgroup must submit a concise description (up to 3 single-spaced pages) of the program evaluation services offered, including developing and implementing impact and outcome evaluations as noted above, and how they align with the program evaluation standards and practices outlined in OMB M-20-12. The contractor must also submit 3 Relevant Project Experience examples (up to 5 single-spaced pages total) for work performed within the last three years of the date of application, which are germane to the scope of work of program evaluation services, reflect experience executing impact and outcome evaluation activities, and demonstrate alignment with the program evaluation standards and practices in OMB M-20-12. Each Relevant Project Experience example must include the following: 
      1. Project title 
      2. Start date and actual or projected end date 
      3. Client(s) 
      4. Offeror’s role in the project (lead, subcontractor, etc.) 
      5. Point of contact for client (name and email address) 
      6. Dollar value of project 
      7. Description of type(s) of program evaluation services provided, including details about specific methods used and the type of evaluation (i.e., impact and/or outcome evaluation) 
      8. Description of actual or expected deliverables, work products, or outputs of services provided (if available) Links to published report(s) or other documents from the project
    2. Applications Submissions must be requested via email addressed to si*************@*sa.gov with the subject line “[Company Name] Request to Add SIN 541611 Subgroup for Program Evaluation Services.” No other method of submission is allowed.All applications submissions will be assessed by a Technical Evaluation Board (TEB) consisting of evaluation professionals from multiple Federal agencies. The TEB may contact the provided points of contact to confirm the accuracy of Relevant Project Experience examples and may also review CPARS ratings for projects completed for Federal clients. Applications Submissions will be rated on a pass/fail basis:
    3. Technical Ratings (Initial Application)
      Rating  Definition 
      Pass  The services and past project descriptions provided by the offeror demonstrate technical expertise and relevant experience in developing and implementing rigorous impact and outcome evaluation designs that align with the definitions, standards, and practices in OMB M-20-12 
      Fail  The services and past project descriptions provided by the offeror do not clearly demonstrate technical expertise and relevant experience in developing and implementing rigorous impact and outcome evaluation designs that align with the definitions, standards, and practices in OMB M-20-12 


      Contractors who receive a “Fail” rating on the initial application: 

      1. First application fail: Contractors must wait six months from the date of the fail notification to resubmit their application. 
      2. Second or subsequent application fail: Contractors must wait one year from the date of the failure notification to resubmit their application.
      3. Contractors whose initial applications receive a “Pass” rating from the TEB will be asked to respond in writing (up to 3 single-spaced pages) to a specific program evaluation services scenario. The scenario response must be submitted within 30 15 business days of the date of notification. The response will be assessed by the TEB to determine whether the offeror has demonstrated a technically appropriate approach to tasks expected to be performed within the scope of the Program Evaluation Services subgroup. Responses will be rated on a pass/fail basis:
        Technical Ratings (Scenario Response)
        Rating  Definition 
        Pass  The response provided by the offeror demonstrates a technically appropriate approach to program evaluation services (i.e., the approach meets the standards outlined in M-20-12) 
        Fail  The response provided by the offeror does not clearly demonstrate a technically appropriate approach to program evaluation services (i.e., the approach does not clearly meet the standards outlined in M-20-12) 


        The TEB intends to make a pass/fail decision within 45 calendar days of the scenario response submission. In the event that the decision is not finalized by 45 days, GSA will notify the contractor in writing of the status and the anticipated date the decision will be finalized.

        Contractors who receive a “Pass” rating on the initial application and “Fail” rating on the scenario response:

        1. First scenario response fail: Contractors may resubmit the scenario response within six months from the date of the fail notification. Resubmitting the initial application is not required. Contractors may select to respond to the same scenario or an alternate scenario provided. If more than six months from the date of the scenario fail notification have passed, contractors must restart the process at the initial application phase. 
        2. Second or subsequent scenario response fail: Contractors must wait one year from the date of scenario fail notification to resubmit their application, starting from the initial application phase. Contractors that receive a “Pass” rating on their initial application may select to respond to the same scenario or an alternate scenario provided.
      4. Contractors who receive “Pass” ratings on both the initial application submission and the scenario response will be eligible to add the Program Evaluation Services subgroup to their eBuy profile, which will in turn be visible on the GSA eLibrary website under SIN 541611. Following notification of eligibility, contractors may select the Program Evaluation Services subgroup by following the instructions below: 
        1. Login to eBuy 
        2. From the top menu, select “Profile” 
        3. Click “Modify Subgroups” 
        4. Select the “Program Evaluation Services” subgroup according to the instructions
      5. Contractors who receive “Fail” ratings will be notified in writing of non-eligibility. The notification will include the ratings assessed by the TEB (Pass or Fail) for each portion of the assessment. An offeror who has failed shall be ineligible to re-submit a request to add this subgroup for a period of six (6) months following the date of the non-eligibility notification. An offeror who has failed either phase should follow the timelines noted above to determine when their initial application or scenario response can be resubmitted.

        Contractors awarded SIN 541611 will continue to hold SIN 541611 whether they receive a Pass or Fail rating on the subgroup application.

        Subgroup participants will be monitored by GSA for contractor compliance. Contractors that opt into the subgroup without written approval by GSA will be required to remove the subgroup from their eBuy profile and instructed to submit an application following the procedures contained in this document. 
      6. Marketing and Public Relations (H08): Revise SIN 541810ODC Other Direct Costs for Marketing and Public Relations Services description to address retired SINs. Please see Line in Line Out (LILO) – Proposed Changes below: (Deletion indicated by strikethrough):

        All other All Other Direct Costs (ODCs) proposed must be directly related and only purchased in conjunction with Marketing and Public Relations Subcategory services offered under these SINS: 512110, 541430, 541511, 541613, 541810, 541820, 541850, 541910, 541922, and 561920. ODCs shall be an integral part of the total marketing consulting services solution and shall not be the primary purpose of the work ordered. Items awarded under SIN 541810 ODC are not Order-Level Materials (OLMs). ODC’s are defined, priced, and awarded at the FSS contract level, whereas OLMs are unknown before an order is placed. Possible ODCs may include: funding for payment of media spots on television/radio/social media, conference meeting space, prize payments, etc. Travel and per diem are not considered ODCs. NOTE: Any commissions received for Marketing and Public Relations Subcategory will either (a) be returned to the ordering agency or (b) applied as a credit to the cost of the project, whichever the ordering agency prefers. 
  5. Security and Protection (J): 
    1. Protective Equipment Subcategory (J02): Add the following instructions to SIN 336413 Aircraft Armoring and Helicopter Equipment 
      1. The award of rotary-wing or fixed-wing aircraft is explicitly excluded under this SIN. Offerors shall not submit proposals for the sale, lease, or procurement of fully assembled aircraft, including but not limited to helicopters and airplanes. 

These changes are anticipated for late April 2025. Contractors, make sure to be on the lookout for the solicitation drop on SAM.gov.