GSA Incorporates Final CSA Rule Across All Schedules

The General Services Administration (GSA) recently began the solicitation refresh process to incorporate the final Commercial Supplier Agreement (CSA) Rule across all GSA Schedules. The rule defines unenforceable regulations and clauses commonly found in commercial agreements, such as End User License Agreements (EULAs). It also clarifies the order of precedence such that the unenforceable clauses provision takes precedence over the terms and conditions of the CSA.

Contractors are now required to accept a bilateral mass modification incorporating the final CSA rule, GSAR 552.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions Commercial Items (JAN 2017)(Dev – FEB 2018)(Alt I – JAN 2017)(Dev – FEB 2007), into their contract. The mass modifications will also include additional updated Service Contract Act Wage Determinations for all solicitations.

Should a contractor have a need to further negotiate the CSA terms, the contractor should accept the CSA mass modification first. Then the contractor may submit a terms and conditions modification request through eMod addressing the proposed CSA term changes.

Most importantly, contractors on the seven schedules adding Order-Level Materials (OLM) must accept the CSA modification before they can act on the OLM mass modification. Implementation of the CSA final rule first will also ensure applicability of the CSA protections to OLMs for government customers. Both government and industry will benefit from the protections provided by the CSA final rule against conflicts with federal law. The mass modification issued to implement the CSA changes in existing GSA schedule contracts will also include the fill-in language required to implement the OLM authority. Look out for additional details regarding the roll-out for OLM Special Item Numbers on our blog shortly.

Schedule a consultation with an experienced Aprio advisor to discuss your GSA Schedule needs.