UPDATED, GSA OASIS Draft RFP Series, #3 Contractor System, Certification and Clearance Requirements

UPDATE 7/22/13: GSA’s OASIS Program Team released its revised draft RFP late last month. There have been several minor changes that affect the systems, certifications, and clearances evaluations. Firstly, DCAA has agreed to audit the accounting systems of all apparent winners who do not have an approved accounting system. Although third-party accounting system reviews will no longer be accepted to establish adequacy, contractors without an audited accounting system should consider a third-party review to ensure that their system is approvable by DCAA before bidding. Bidders with an audited accounting system already in place will now earn points.

Additionally, OASIS will now be scored on a 10,000 point scale. Contractor systems, certifications, and clearances account for up to 20% of available evaluation points. The list of the relevant systems, certifications, and clearances and their corresponding point totals has been updated in the post below. Finally, GSA now includes the ISO 17025 certification.

Thank you for continuing to follow our special GSA OASIS blog series. Before discussing the requirements on OASIS and OASIS SB for contractor systems, compliance, and certifications, a disclaimer – all posts are based on information from the OASIS draft RFP and the most current information available on the OASIS Industry Community on GSA Interact. Changes are certain to occur between the draft solicitation and the final RFP; Aronson will identify major changes as soon as we are aware of them.

Before making a bid decision, companies must understand that simply meeting the minimum solicitation requirements will not be enough to win an OASIS contract. GSA wants to award to ‘best in class’ contractors, so points are only awarded for exceeding the minimum requirements. Although only 20% of the total points are currently allotted to to systems and certifications, these could be critical differentiators if the competition is as intense as we expect. GSA stated in the most recent RFP Q&A that it did “not anticipate that many, if any, Contractors will have all systems and certifications that are encouraged. The evaluation process is about distinguishing between Offerors.”

There has been a lot of confusion regarding which systems and certifications are actually required. The purpose of this blog is to summarize what is actually a requirement versus what is merely a recommendation.

Despite the numerous items listed under Special Contract Requirements, Section H6: Systems, Compliances, and Certifications, an audited / certified accounting system is the only mandatory item. Please see the update above for information on how OASIS will accommodate bidders without an audited accounting system. Bidders should be aware that 200 points will be awarded to those who have DCAA-approved accounting systems, giving them an advantage over those needing audits, who will receive no points.

The remaining systems, certifications and clearances are all optional, but again please recognize that points will be awarded to those who have them. GSA is allowing for affiliates with meaningful relationships to be utilized for relevant experience, past performance, and systems. The only thing that must be in the specific name of the Offeror is certifications. The optional items and related points are as follows:

• Approved Purchasing System (500 points)
• Current Forward Pricing Rate Agreement (200 points)
• Earned Value Management System (EVMS) ANSI/EIA Standard-748 (200 points)
• Acceptable Estimating System (100 points)
• CMMI Maturity Level 3 or above (200 points)
• ISO 9001:2008 Certification (200 points)
• ISO 17025 Certification (100 points)
• AS9100 Certification (100 points)
• Facility Security Clearance, Secret-Top Secret/SCI (100-200 points)

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