GSA bans OASIS BPAs (wink-wink)

The General Services Administration is telling federal buyers they can’t use blanket purchase agreements under the OASIS contract. But that directive comes with a big caveat, according to a report by FCW.com.

Buyers can use alternative techniques and create de facto BPAs, the OASIS contract manager said in a Jan. 7 post on the OASIS Interact Community website.

Government buyers use BPAs when there are uncertainties around a requirement such as delivery date, quantity and funding, wrote Program Director Jim Ghiloni. BPAs give buyers flexibility to deal with the uncertainties.

"These types of uncertainties can be accommodated on an OASIS task order using a combination of optional tasks and incremental funding," he wrote. "The key to task order competition is to provide potential offerors with enough information to make a reasonable estimate as to what is required of them, so that they can devise a realistic proposal."