Government Services Administration (GSA)
Purchasing Policies and Resources
NORTH DAKOTA STATE POLICY - PURCHASING FROM GSA
North Dakota Century Code (NDCC) section 54-44.4-13 gives the North Dakota Office of Management and Budget (OMB) authority to purchase from GSA contracts if it is determined to be in the best interest of the State after consideration of:
- Price
- Contractual terms and conditions
- Availability of competition from approved vendors under section North Dakota Century Code 54-44.4-09.
OMB must also determine that the contracts were awarded through full and open competition or source selection methods specified in section 54-44.4-05 and send notice to approved vendors of the office's intent to make a cooperative purchase.
State agencies that desire to purchase from GS contracts must submit an Alternate Procurement Request (SFN51403) to the OMB State Procurement Office. OMB will then make a determination in accordance with NDCC section 54-44.4-13.
GSA SCHEDULE CONTRACTS
What is a Schedule? A Schedule is a grouping of Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts for similar products and service offerings awarded to commercial providers of products and services. Schedules contain multiple-award contracts that provide customers with access to a large variety of small, local, large and global contractors for commonly sought after products and services. Schedules are named through a numbering system and description, such as Schedule 70 – Information Technology.
Special Item Numbers (SINs) are then used to further group product and services within a Schedule contracts. For example, Schedule 70, the Information Technology Schedule, is broken down into SINs that better define specific areas of Information Technology. For example, SIN132-51 covers IT professional service, such as database planning and design and network support services.
GSA has seven programs available to state and local governments. Four of these programs are Schedules-based.
- 1122
- A joint program of GSA and the Department of the Army, and the Defense Logistics Agency that allows state and local units of government access to equipment found on specific Schedules and Special Item Numbers, when purchasing in support of counterdrug, emergency response, or homeland security activities. This program is unique out of the Schedule-based programs, in that state and local governments must place orders through a State Point Of Contact (SPOC), who is selected by the Governor of the state.
- North Dakota’s SPOC: State Procurement Office (701.328.2683, infospo@nd.gov)
- Cooperative Purchasing
- Schedule 70 - Pursuant to Section 211 of the e-Gov Act of 2002, authorized by the U.S. Congress, state and local government entities may purchase a variety of information technology (IT) products, software, and services from contracts awarded under GSA Schedule 70, Information Technology, as well as from contracts under the Consolidated (formerly Corporate Contracts) Schedule containing IT special item numbers.
- Schedule 84 - The Local Preparedness Acquisition Act, signed June 26, 2008, authorizes state and local government entities to purchase alarm and signal systems, facility management systems, firefighting and rescue equipment, law enforcement and security equipment, marine craft and related equipment, special purpose clothing, and related services from contracts awarded under GSA Federal Supply Schedule 84, Total Solutions for Law Enforcement, Security, Facility Management Systems, Fire, Rescue, Special Purpose Clothing, Marine Craft, and Emergency/Disaster Response.
- Disaster Recovery Purchasing Program
- Section 833 of the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2007 (Public Law 109-364) amended 40 U.S.C. 502 to authorize the Administrator of General Services to provide for the use of GSA MAS Schedules by state and local governments for the purchase of products and services to be used to facilitate recovery from major disasters, terrorism, or nuclear, biological, chemical, or radiological attacks.
- Federal Grantee Access to Schedules in Response to Declared Public Health Emergencies
- Direct access means that any eligible ordering entity at the state or local level can place a task order directly off the Schedules associated with any of these programs.
GSA PRICING
The pricing listed on Schedule contracts is a ceiling price based on the contract terms and conditions.
The Schedule contractor cannot provide higher pricing when selling through their Schedule contract, but they can provide discounts to customers off of their pricing when the customer is purchasing through an authorized Schedule program. These additional discounts are known as spot reductions, and any GSA Schedule contractor can offer the discounts to any authorized user, which includes state and local governments, when engaging in negotiations or a head-to-head competition for a task order award off of the Schedule contract.
In fact, GSA encourages all Schedules Program users to request discounts when placing orders against the Schedule contracts. It is ultimately up to the contractor to determine the size of discount.
GSA NON-SCHEDULE CONTRACTS
GSA also offers three non-Schedule-based programs:
- Wildland Fire Program
- Partnership between GSA and federal land agencies (Forest Service, BLM) that offers over 300 pieces of equipment for wildland fire suppression support. These items meet National Fire Equipment System specifications set by the U.S. Forest Service and are available through our Global Supply Catalog. For more information on this program, please visit: www.gsa.gov/fireprogram.
- Computers for Learning
- A program whereby educationally useful excess Federal equipment is transferred directly to schools and educational non-profit organizations. For more information on this program, please visit www.computersforlearning.gov.
- Surplus Personal Property Donation Program
- A program whereby eligible donees receive Federal surplus personal property at no cost. This includes all personal property, but excludes real property. For more information, please contact your State Agency for Surplus Property (SASP).
GSA Resources
- GSA State and Local Programs Presentation (July 2012):
- GSA State and Local Home Page
- GSAAdvantage!
- GSAAdvantage! is GSA’s premier online shopping superstore, providing access to millions of commercial products and services.
- GSAAdvantage! provides a robust search capability and provides detailed information on products, including the manufacturer, the contractor who sells the product, the GSA contract number associated with the contractor, the price, a description of the product, the delivery terms of the product, and the socioeconomic status of the contractor. The search tools allows you to sort results based upon a number of fields, and you can also refine your search, or perform an advanced search that allows you to further reduce the number of contractors listed. By comparing prices offered by multiple contractors, you can make your best value determination all on one page.
- eLibrary
- eLibrary is GSA’s market research tool. The website is updated daily and contains a listing of all participating contractors in the Cooperative Purchasing and Disaster Recovery Purchasing Programs. The Coop Purch or Disast Recov icons on the lower right of the slide are displayed to denote participation in these programs. The site allows you to search by product or service category, contractor name, or contract number. Small and disadvantaged designations, in accordance with the U.S. Small Business Administration, are also denoted for each contractor. You can also access each contractor’s terms and conditions through eLibrary.
- You can also use eLibrary to search for businesses by location. However, the listing contains the location that hosts the Schedule contract, but does not include all offices across the country or affiliates. GSA’e eBuy tool can be used to further locate local businesses if you have local business requirements.
- www.gsaelibrary.gsa.gov
For further information
State Procurement Office
Telephone: 701.328.2683
Fax: 701.328.1615
Email: infospo@nd.gov
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