Once you have your GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS), it can stay with your company for a long time. GSA Schedule contracts can last for 20 years, starting with a 5-year base period followed by three additional 5-year option periods. While your Schedule can last up to two decades, it’s meant to grow with you. Your offerings, pricing, and administrative information are not locked in with your initial award. They will need to be altered through a contract modification.
There are multiple forms of GSA Schedule modifications that contractors can choose to make once their Schedule has been awarded, as well as some modifications that contractors are required to accept when GSA announces certain updates. We’ll cover the main modifications you’ll need to be aware of as a GSA contractor.
Why Should You Modify Your GSA Schedule Contract?
As previously mentioned, once contractors are awarded a GSA Schedule contract, it can last up to 20 years. Throughout the life of your GSA Schedule, you will need to make several updates to reflect changes with GSA, your offerings, and company. These contract updates can range anywhere from changing administrative information such as an address or phone number, to updating pricing information or adding/removing products and services from the Schedule.
Not only is it important to have knowledge of modifications and how to apply them from a contract compliance perspective, but it is also a necessity from a business development standpoint.
In order to make contract changes, GSA requires that you utilize their electronic contract modification submission system, eMod. eMod is a secure interactive web tool that allows vendors to prepare and submit their GSA Schedule contract modification requests online, simplifying the overall contract process.
Types of GSA Schedule Modifications
The 10 main contract modification types are:
- Administrative
- Addition of Products or Services
- Deletion of Products or Services
- Economic Price Adjustment (EPA)
- Price Reduction
- Technical
- Terms and Conditions
- Novation and Change of Name
- Cancellation
- Mass Modification
1. Administrative Modifications
Administrative Modifications are used when contractors need to make organizational updates. The following are common administrative mods:
- Address Change
- Contract Administrator/Point of Contact (POC) or Authorized Negotiator Change
- Email Address Change
- Fax Change
- Industrial Funding Fee (POC) Change
- Points of Contract (POCs) for manufacturers, dealers, resellers, agents changes
- Order Point of Contact (POC) change
- Website address change
You can combine multiple administrative changes into a single modification. For example, you can submit one mod for a change in authorized negotiator, phone number, and email address. For changes to address or website address, you have to change it in SAM.gov first.
2. Addition Modification
An Addition Modification covers a larger range of possible items that can be added, including additional SINS, new models, new brands, products and/or services. Contractors will typically use an Addition Modification to seek a new opportunity within their GSA Schedule.
It is important to note that contractors cannot add any new products or services to their GSA Schedule that they have not first sold commercially. Contractors will be required to produce invoices and/or Past Project Narratives to prove this point.
3. Deletion Modification
Like an Addition Modification in which a contractor is adding products or services to their GSA Schedule, a Deletion Modification would occur when a contractor wants to remove products/services from their GSA schedule.
A contractor may choose to execute this modification when they are no longer selling those products/services in the commercial space and therefore want to remove them from their GSA Schedule.
4. Economic Price Adjustment (EPA) Modification
An Economic Price Adjustment Modification (EPA) is used by contactors when they would like to increase the price of a product or service on their GSA Schedule. This may come about when contractors realize their GSA prices are no longer proportionally equivalent to their commercial prices.
Similar to an Addition Modification, contractors must be able to show evidence that their commercial prices have increased before they are able to request a price increase to their GSA prices through an Economic Price Adjustment Modification.
5. Price Reduction Modification
A Price Reduction Modification may sound like a modification that would be counterproductive for a contractor, but they are occasionally required to be used. Contractors who use Economic Price Adjustment Clause I-FSS-969 are required to decrease their GSA prices if their commercial prices are also decreased, so that they are not in breach of the Price Reductions Clause.
For instance, if a contractor decreased commercial prices by 2%, then the contractor would be required to decrease their GSA prices by 2% to maintain the same discount delta.
6. Technical Modification
Technical Modifications are minor changes that need to be made to a product or service without changing its price or the solution itself. Examples of Technical Mods include:
- Part Number Change
- Product Description Changes
- Service Description Changes (education, work, experience)
You can use Technical Mods to your advantage. For example, if you were selling protective medical gowns before COVID-19, you could alter your description to include keywords like COVID-19 or Coronavirus so government agencies will find you easier.
7. Terms and Conditions Modification
Terms and Conditions Modifications include changing your business from Small Business to Other Than Small Business (OTSB), incorporating a subcontracting plan, and changing delivery time. You can also choose to sign-up for Cooperative Purchasing and Disaster Purchasing in this mod, two options to sell to state and local government through the GSA Schedule.
8. Novation and Name Change Modification
This modification is primarily a legal matter and needs to be handled by lawyers since there are a lot of legal documents to get through. You'll submit this mod if you are changing your company name or merging companies but want to keep your GSA Schedule.
9. Cancellation Modification
The Cancellation Modification is exactly what it sounds like - if you want to cancel your GSA Schedule contract in part or in whole, you will submit this mod. A Cancellation Mod goes into effect 30 days after signature and contracts can't be reinstated after this date.
10. Mass Modifications
A Mass Modification is different from a traditional contractor initiated modifications in that it is initiated by GSA. GSA directly defines a Mass Modification as a “government-initiated modification that occurs when a uniform change occurs schedule-wide.”
Mass Modifications are typically all-encompassing updates that incorporate new government regulations or legislation and require the contractor’s acceptance. Typically, GSA will try to limit Mass Modifications to once every two months, but this varies. Contractors will receive a notification from their contracting officer once a new Mass Mod is released, and will be instructed to log into the GSA Vendor Support Center Mass Mod Portal and accept the Mass Mod. As of this date, the most recent Mass Modification GSA released was MAS Refresh #5 Mass Modification A826.
How the Multiple Award Schedule Modification Guide Can Help GSA Contractors
A great tool to use a reference when considering modification to your GSA Schedule is the Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Modification Guide. The MAS Modification Guide is a comprehensive reference sheet to all the modifications available to contractors and is meant to ensure contractors are aware of the information needed to successfully prepare and submit modification requests to their Contracting Officer (CO).
The guide includes specific guidelines for submitting all types of modifications and serves as an essential document to help contractors maintain compliance when submitting modifications.
Having the knowledge of these modification types will help contractors be more successful in utilizing their GSA Schedule to its full potential. Do you have more questions about modifications and their uses? Winvale is here to help!
