GSA Professional Services Schedule and Others

GSA Professional Services Schedule and others: Which Schedule is right for your professional services firm?

by Dave Alexander, Lincoln Strategies, LLC


GSA issues contracts for professional services under a variety of different Schedules. For many firms the GSA Professional Services Schedule is a good choice.  There are other options available as well. If you are considering whether your professional services firm should obtain a GSA Schedule contract, this article can help you address the following issues:

  • What types of professional services are (and are not) within the scope of GSA Schedule contracts?
  • How are the service areas distributed among the different Schedules?
  • Which GSA Schedule(s) might be most appropriate for your firm?
Background

The federal government acquires a large amount of professional services each year via contracts with commercial firms. More than $15 billion of these services are acquired via one particular type: GSA Schedule contracts.

Under its Schedules program, GSA has awarded contracts to thousands of commercial firms, for hundreds of different types of professional services. All federal government agencies, civilian and defense, can order services under these contracts via task orders. In some cases, states and municipalities can use these contracts as well, as described in further detail below.

Many of the nation’s largest providers of professional services, in a wide range of disciplines, have obtained GSA Schedule contracts. These include firms that perform virtually all of their work with the federal government under GSA Schedule contracts, as well as firms that have many other types of federal government contracts.

Obtaining a GSA Schedule contract can be particularly worthwhile for firms that are not yet active in the federal market, and firms that whose only exposure to the market is via subcontracts with other firms. Many firms that are already very active in the federal market, however, also obtain GSA Schedule contracts, primarily because many potential federal government clients appreciate the streamlined methods that they can use to obtain services—and often these procedures are far easier than other available acquisition methods.

Any firm that is considering whether to obtain a GSA Schedule contract for professional services, products, or both, should carefully consider all relevant advantages and disadvantages. Another article on this website provides guidance on this topic. Click here to see that article (it will open in a new window).

GSA awards contracts under various “Schedules.” Each Schedule covers a related set of disciplines (professional services), products, or both. As a few examples, GSA has one Schedule for HR services, another for certain types of engineering services, and another for IT-related services. In all, GSA has about a dozen Schedules that cover professional services. (GSA also maintains Schedules that are primarily focused on different types of products. Those Schedules are not the focus of this article.)

Within each Schedule, the scope is broken into individual “Special Item Numbers” (SINs). In theory, each SIN covers a specific set of services or a specific set of products and related services within the overall scope of its parent Schedule.

There is some degree of overlap among Schedules, and among SINs, both by design and de facto. For example:

  • Each of the following two Schedules in part address facilities-related issues: the Facilities Maintenance and Management Schedule (03FAC); and Total Solutions for Law Enforcement, Security, Facilities Management, Fire, Rescue, Clothing, Marine Craft and Emergency/Disaster Response (Schedule 84). Each of these Schedules has a SIN that covers “smart” building systems. In the former, the SIN number is 003-001; in the latter it is SIN 246-01. With one minor exception, the SINs are identically worded.
  • Some SINs are “shared.” For example, SIN 132-51, “Information Technology Professional Services,” is in Schedule 70, the Information Technology (IT) Schedule and it is also in Schedule 00CORP, the Professional Services Schedule. In GSA’s jargon, the latter Schedule “shares” the SIN with the former. If a firm has a Professional Services Schedule contract with this SIN, however, there are restrictions on the circumstances under which IT services can be provided.
  • Some SINs, while worded differently, have overlapping scopes. For example, the Facilities Maintenance and Management Schedule (03FAC) includes SIN 871-210, which in part covers consulting on storm water issues. The same types of consulting services can be provided under SIN 899-1 under the Professional Services Schedule.
  • Some SINs have scopes that do not necessarily have bright line distinctions. For example, training services are covered under many Schedules and SINs. For some types of training services, it can be difficult to determine which Schedule and SIN is the closest fit.

If you are thinking about pursuing a GSA Schedule contract, keep in mind that you are not restricted to pursuing one Schedule only. Many multidisciplinary firms have several GSA Schedule contracts. But in many cases, a firm’s best course of action is to obtain one contract only—if nothing else, for administrative ease.

Factors to consider in selecting which GSA Schedule(s) to pursue

If you are considering the pursuit of a GSA Schedule contract, sometimes there is only one Schedule that is appropriate for the types of services that your firm provides.  In other cases, your services might fit within two or more GSA Schedules.  If you find yourself in this situation, some of the issues to consider in selecting a Schedule include the following:

  • Fit. Which Schedule (and SINs within the Schedule) represents the closest fit for the types of services that the firm is interested in providing to the federal government?
  • Timing. Which Schedule offers acceptable timing?  It takes GSA much longer to review and make decisions on proposals for some Schedules compared to others.
  • Proposal difficulty. While the RFPs for GSA’s Schedules are fairly standard, there are subtle differences in the instructions for some of them, which can make some proposals harder to prepare than others.
  • Flexibility to serve state and local government agencies. How important is it to your firm to have the flexibility to offer services to state and local government agencies under a GSA Schedule contract?  “Cooperative Purchasing” is available under contracts issued under two of GSA’s Schedules—70 (IT) and 84 (Total Solutions for Law Enforcement, Security, Facilities Management, Fire, Rescue, Clothing, Marine Craft and Emergency/Disaster Response).  For these two Schedules, all state and municipal agencies that wish to do so are allowed to order services under GSA Schedule contracts.  None of the other GSA Schedules (such as Professional Services; Facilities Maintenance and Management; HR and EEO services) feature “Cooperative Purchasing.”  Under these other contracts, states and municipalities are allowed to order services only under certain special circumstances and for certain purposes (e.g., to prepare for or respond to natural disasters).
  • Future diversification. How might your firm want to diversify its service offerings in the federal government market in the future?  In your proposal for a GSA contract, you might at first want to pursue only one or two SINs.  But what additional service areas might you want to pursue in the future?  It is relatively easy to expand a contract to include additional SINs within the Schedule in which your contract resides.  But if you want to pursue SINs that are in a different Schedule, in almost all cases you will need to submit a new proposal for a second GSA contract, under that other Schedule.
Scopes of various GSA Schedules for Professional Services

Many types of professional services are included in the scope of the GSA Professional Services Schedule (PSS). This Schedule came into existence in October 2015. It includes all of the SINs that used to be in a handful of other Schedules. For example, many types of consulting services used to be covered within the scope of GSA’s Mission Oriented Business Integrated Services (MOBIS) Schedule. That Schedule ceased to exist in October 2015, and all of its SINs were subsumed, verbatim, by PSS. Each firm that at the time had a contract under the MOBIS Schedule retained its contract, except that the contract was transferred to the Professional Services Schedule.

But other GSA Schedules also include professional services. For example, GSA’s Facilities Maintenance and Management Schedule and the Information Technology Schedule still remain as stand-alone entities.

The Professional Services Schedule does “share” certain SINs with some of the Schedules that remain as stand-alone entities. For example, one of the SINs in the IT Schedule is 132-51, which covers programming and related services. This SIN also appears verbatim in the Professional Services Schedule. As described below, however, there are restrictions on the circumstances under which agencies can order and contractors can provide services under SIN 132-51 when the underlying contract is under PSS.

Professional Services Schedule (GSA Schedule 00CORP)

The Professional Services Schedule includes a vast array of scope areas, in the following major categories.

Mission Oriented Business Integrated Services (MOBIS)

The GSA Professional Services Schedule includes all of the SINs that used to be in the Mission Oriented Business Integrated Services (MOBIS) Schedule.   The MOBIS Schedule no longer exists—but its former SINs are now located verbatim in the Professional Services Schedule (PSS).  They are commonly referred to as the PSS “MOBIS” SINs.

These SINs cover a range of business support services designed to assist federal agencies in improving their ability to achieve their mission objectives.  Examples of services under these SINs include, but are not limited to:

  • Management consulting (e.g., business process re-engineering).
  • Strategy consulting.
  • Facilitation services.
  • Acquisition support services.
Financial and Business Services

The Professional Services Schedule includes all of the SINs that used to be in another Schedule called Financial and Business Solutions (FABS).   The FABS Schedule no longer exists—but the SINs it included are now located verbatim in the Professional Services Schedule (PSS).  They are commonly referred to as the PSS “FABS” SINs.

These SINs cover a range of professional financial services, such as:

  • Financial advisory services.
  • Transactions and due diligence support.
  • Debt collection.
  • Loan servicing and asset management.
Environmental Services

The Professional Services Schedule includes all of the SINs that used to be in another Schedule called Environmental Services.   That Schedule no longer exists.  The SINs it included, which are now located verbatim in the Professional Services Schedule (PSS), include a wide range of services, including, for example:

  • Environmental consulting.
  • Compliance support.
  • Waste recycling and disposal services.
  • Environmental remediation.
Professional Engineering Services

The Professional Services Schedule includes all of the SINs that used to be in another Schedule called Professional Engineering Services (PES).   The PES Schedule no longer exists.  The SINs that PES included are now located verbatim in the Professional Services Schedule (PSS).  These SINs cover a wide range of engineering disciplines (e.g., civil, chemical, structural, mechanical), and a wide range of services, such as:

  • Strategic planning for technology programs/activities.
  • Concept development and requirements analysis.
  • System design, engineering and integration.
  • Test and evaluation.
  • Integrated logistics support.
  • Acquisition and life cycle management.
  • Construction management and engineering consulting services related to real property.

There are some important restrictions on the scope of services that can be performed.  In particular, architectural, engineering, and ancillary services that fall within the scope of the Brooks Act cannot be performed under GSA Schedule contracts.  This scope restriction applies to all GSA Schedule contracts, not just to the SINs that formerly were in the Professional Engineering Schedule.

Language Services

The Professional Services Schedule includes all of the SINs that used to be in the Language Services Schedule (the latter of which no longer exists as a stand-alone Schedule).   These SINs cover a wide range of tasks for which the services of language professionals are required, such as:

  • Translation services.
  • Interpretation services
  • Training services.
  • Linguistic analytical support services.
  • Services for the visual and hearing impaired (e.g., sign language services).
Logistics Support

The Professional Services Schedule includes all of the SINs that used to be in another Schedule called Logistics Worldwide (aka “LOGWORLD”).  The LOGWORLD Schedule no longer exists.  The SINs that were included in that Schedule, and that now are located verbatim in the Professional Services Schedule include services such as:

  • Planning, acquisition and management of logistics systems.
  • Planning and designing, implementing, or operating systems or facilities for the movement of supplies, equipment or people by road, air, water, rail, or pipeline.
  • Deployment logistics.
  • Logistics training services.
Advertising and Integrated Marketing Solutions (AIMS)

The Professional Services Schedule includes all of the SINs that used to be in another Schedule called Advertising and Integrated Marketing Solutions (AIMS).  The AIMS Schedule no longer exists.  The SINs that were included in that Schedule are now located verbatim in the Professional Services Schedule (PSS).  They include services such as:

  • Public relations services.
  • Websites and other Web-based marketing services.
  • Video and film production.
  • Graphic arts.
“Complementary” (shared) SINs

The Professional Services Schedule also includes several “complementary” SINs.  These are SINs that are included in other GSA Schedules and that also are included in the Professional Services Schedule, but are only available under certain circumstances.

As an example, some firms that obtain GSA Professional Services contracts write custom software or perform other IT-related tasks as an integral part of how they deliver services.  For example, a firm that performs environmental services under, say, SIN 899-1, might write custom software to help interpret the results of environmental monitoring of certain contaminants.  While the firm primarily provides environmental services, writing the custom programming code is often a key element of its approach to performing a project.

This firm can obtain a GSA Professional Services Schedule contract that includes SIN 899-1 (and perhaps other environmental SINs), and that also includes SIN 132-51.  The latter is the “Professional IT Services” SIN within GSA’s Schedule 70.  But that SIN can appear in a firm’s contract under the Professional Services Schedule.

There is an important restriction on the use of a “shared” SIN.  In particular, a firm that has a contract under the Professional Services Schedule can provide services under a “shared” SIN only when these services complement one or more “regular” (i.e., non-shared) SINs in its contract.

And as a corollary, a government agency can order services under a “shared” SIN in a Professional Services contract only when those services would be part of an integrated solution, where the main services to be acquired fall under the contractor’s non-shared SINs under that Schedule.

In all, the Complementary (shared) SINs within the GSA Professional Services Schedule include: (a) the Professional IT Services SIN within GSA Schedule 70; (b) a subset of the energy efficiency SINs within GSA’s Facilities Maintenance and Management Schedule; (c) one of the SINs under GSA’s HR and EEO Services Schedule.

Facilities Maintenance and Management Schedule (GSA Schedule 03FAC)

This GSA Schedule remains a stand-alone Schedule.  As its name suggests, this Schedule covers a wide range of services associated with the maintenance and management of facilities, including energy efficiency services, for all types of government facilities, even including dockside facilities.  (More than a decade ago, GSA maintained a separate Schedule for energy efficiency services; but that Schedule was merged into Schedule 03FAC.)

Schedule 03FAC also covers a wide range of products, such as HVAC systems; but the focus of this article is on services only.

Examples of services included within Schedule 03FAC include:

  • “Smart Buildings” systems integration.
  • Facilities management services.
  • Facilities maintenance services.
  • A wide range of energy efficiency services including, for example, energy efficiency audits, and consulting on alternative energy.
Information Technology Schedule (GSA Schedule 70)

The full name of this GSA Schedule is “General Purpose Commercial Information Technology Equipment, Software, and Services.”  This Schedule covers a vast array of services and products, and is by far the largest individual GSA Schedule contract by sales—about $14 billion in a typical fiscal year.

Almost one half of those sales occur under one SIN: 132-51 (Professional IT Services).  A few examples of professional services under this and other Schedule 70 SINs include:

  • Systems design and integration.
  • Programming and other implementation services.
  • IT security services.
  • IT data conversion services.
  • IT systems analysis services.
  • IT facility operation and maintenance.
  • Identity and access management professional services.
  • IT training.
  • Maintenance services for software and hardware.

Under most GSA Schedules, states and municipalities are considered to be “authorized users” of GSA contracts issued under those Schedules only under certain circumstances—e.g., for the acquisition of services or products to help prepare for or respond to a natural disaster.  This means that all states and municipalities are on GSA’s list of “authorized users” of contracts issued under this Schedule, even for routine, non-emergency purposes.  Of course, individual states and municipalities make their own determination as to whether they use GSA Schedule contracts, in accordance with state and municipal acquisition legislation and policies.

(Note:  An individual contractor theoretically can decline to participate in Cooperative Purchasing, but this is rare.)

Schedule 84, described next, is the only other GSA Schedule that includes “Cooperative Purchasing.”

Total Solutions For Law Enforcement, Security, Facilities Management, Fire, Rescue, Clothing, Marine Craft and Emergency/Disaster Response (GSA Schedule 84)

While primarily designed to cover equipment (e.g., fire-fighting apparatus; rescue gear), this Schedule also covers some types of professional services, including:

  • Smart buildings systems integration (including, for example, requirements analysis, systems planning, systems design, integration planning, installation, testing).
  • Security system integration, design, management, and life cycle support.
  • Security management and support services.
  • Law enforcement and security training.
  • Protective services occupations.

Some of these services can be provided only in concert with the provision of products under other SINs within this Schedule.  If you are considering this Schedule for your firm, read the Schedule’s RFP closely for the relevant restrictions.

This Schedule includes “Cooperative Purchasing” which, as described above, makes it widely available to state and municipalities for both routine and emergency requirements.

Human Resources (HR) and Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Services (GSA Schedule 738X)

This Schedule covers a broad range of services in support of government HR and EEO programs.  Examples of these services include providing support of:

  • Recruiting and internal placement.
  • Position classification.
  • Personnel actions.
  • HR and EEO training.
  • Employee Relations.
  • Worker’s Compensation.
  • EEO services (e.g., providing investigations support for allegations of discrimination).
  • Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).
  • Pre-employment background investigations.
  • Social services, professional counseling and veterans readjustment and behavioral health services.
Temporary Administrative and Professional Staffing Services (TAPS) (GSA Schedule 736)

Under this Schedule, GSA awards contracts primarily to staffing agencies.  These contracts provide for administrative and professional staffing services for intermittent periods, including cases where security clearances are needed (or not).   The emphasis is on temporary: any Task Order issued under a GSA TAPS Schedule contract cannot exceed 240 workdays.

Under this Schedule, only “small business” concerns are eligible for the award of a GSA contract.  This is one of the very few GSA Schedules that is fully set-aside for small business concerns.  As of the date of this writing, the small business threshold that applies to this Schedule is $27.5 million in average annual revenues (where the annual average is calculated over a firm’s most recent completed fiscal years).

The following are examples of the types of disciplines covered by this Schedule:

  • Administrative support and clerical occupations (e.g., court reporter; document preparation clerk).
  • Automatic data processing (ADP) occupations (e.g., junior and mid-level computer programmers; Web support technician).
  • General services and support (e.g., laborer; general maintenance worker).
  • Information and arts occupations (e.g., librarian; photographer; public affairs officer).
  • Technical and professional occupations (e.g., financial analyst; program analyst; environmental technician; technical writer).
Wrap-up

It can be advantageous for a professional services firm to obtain a GSA Schedule contract.  GSA maintains many different Schedules that cover professional services, with some degree of overlap.  If you have decided to pursue one for your firm, one of your first challenges will be to decide which GSA Schedule(s) to pursue.  In many cases, you might find that there are two or more candidates.  In that event, this article suggests a variety of factors to consider, including fit, timing, proposal difficulty, flexibility to serve state and local government agencies, and your future diversification goals.

The author of this article, Dave Alexander, has decades of experience in helping firms achieve their federal government marketing goals.  He has helped many firms obtain GSA contracts under the GSA Professional Services Schedule and many other Schedules.  He can be reached at dave.alexander@LincolnStrategies.com or (978) 369-1140.

Copyright © 2015, Lincoln Strategies, LLC