The General Service Administration’s (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) is a contracting vehicle that connects a wide array of commercial goods and services with the federal government. Many businesses pursue the MAS program to expand their sales into the federal marketplace. These contracts are designed to service multiple buyers across the federal government and last up to two decades. Accordingly, GSA sets rigorous standards for businesses applying for a Schedule.
GSA requires technical information from potential contractors that demonstrates their capability to perform within the Special Item Numbers (SINs) they apply for. This technical information revolves around past performance indicators, such as customer references, questionnaires and, for service offerings, past project descriptions. Read on to learn about past performance requirements and get some tips on choosing the best project examples for your GSA Schedule proposal.
What is Past Performance?
Just like a school or work application, the federal government requires references from potential vendors before approving them for a 20-year contract. To GSA, past performance is an indicator of future performance; it’s their primary way to guarantee that a contractor will be able to perform the contract successfully.
All businesses applying to be a part of the MAS will need to provide references and some form of customer evaluation, which we’ll discuss in the next section. Service offerings will be required to provide past project narratives in addition to the references.
Past Performance References
There are two viable ways prospective contractors can submit customer evaluations to GSA. For businesses that have been the prime contractor for a federal agency in the past, they can provide at least three Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) reports. These CPARS reports must meet the following criteria:
- The reports have been completed in the last 3 years
- The reports represent at least 3 distinct contracts
- The work associated with the reports are similar to the products/services the contractor intends to offer
For businesses that don’t have CPARS, they can instead use Past Performance Questionnaires (PPQs) from their commercial clients, and a supplemental list of customer references. Customer references must provide contact information (name, email, etc.) as well as information on the project that was completed (project name, award date, period of performance, etc.).
PPQs are surveys that your business will distribute to previous or current clients. GSA provides a PPQ template that contains all pertinent information for a business’s selected clients to fill out. PPQs will contain basic information on the client and the project, and qualitative information on the prospective contractor’s performance. This includes:
- Quality of Product/Service
- Execution of Timelines and Budget
- Reliability
- Overall Performance
The PPQs that are presented to GSA must represent projects that have been completed within the last three years. For ongoing projects, at least one year of work must be completed prior to proposal submission.
Past Project Descriptions
While all GSA Schedule proposals must provide customer references, service offerings will provide past project descriptions as well. Past project descriptions (PPDs) are an in-depth look at a project that demonstrates your business’s capability to perform services within a given SIN. PPDs are comprised of two documents, the narrative itself, and an accompanying Statement of Work (SOW) that the narrative is based on.
The SOW should be a fully executed contract agreement signed by both the contractor and the client. It describes the work being performed, which may include scope, timelines, milestones, and other key descriptors.
The PPD itself is a series of prompts provided by GSA. One is required per SIN that is applied for. Note that some SINs, like the Highly Adaptive Cybersecurity SIN, will require an additional technical narrative. The PPD prompts will ask for the following information:
- The work performed and results achieved
- The methodology employed in the project
- The project schedule, including milestones and delays
- A statement detailing how the project is SIN-relevant, and how it demonstrates the prospective contractor’s capability.
How to Select the Best Project for a PPD
If you’re preparing a Schedule proposal, you may be weighing a few different projects in your head right now. Here are some tips to consider that can help narrow down your options:
- Compliance: It doesn’t matter how strong your example is if it isn’t compliant with period of performance regulations. GSA won’t consider a project that was completed more than 2 years ago, or one that hasn’t completed its base year if it’s ongoing.
- Relevance: Many prospective vendors are tempted to shoehorn in a project that isn’t fully relevant to the SIN being applied for. They may do this because the project was contracted by a federal client or because it boasts a high award value. However, a GSA Contracting Officer is most interested in a project that fits the scope and complexity outlined by the SIN description. Choose the most relevant project first. If you want more information on how to choose the right SINs for your business capabilities, check out our blog post on this topic.
- Variety: For prospective vendors applying for multiple SINs, there is no technical limit to how many SINs can utilize the same example project. But there is a strategic limit. We recommend you don’t use one specific project or client for more than three PPDs.
Preparing Your GSA Schedule Offer
Past performance indicators are a key part of demonstrating a vendor’s faculty to perform under a GSA Schedule contract. Past performance references, questionnaires, and narratives are opportunities to showcase how your business stands out. If you neglect to confirm these documents are complete and compliant before submission, you may squander the persuasive opportunities they hold. Not to mention impeding the road to contract award.
If you’d like to learn more about the technical section of the GSA Schedule offer, we have a blog post that describes each component of this section. You can also look into our resources on the administrative section, pricing section, or an overall Schedule proposal checklist.
We know that preparing a MAS proposal is far from simple. If you have questions about preparing past performance documents, or any other portion of the offer, our team of experienced consultants can help.
