You’ve worked hard to get a GSA Schedule contract. You want to maintain it and renew it at the appropriate time. Contracts may be cancelled, or options not exercised, if you do not meet contractual requirements. Some of these include:

• Meet Minimum Sales Criteria Guidelines
• Report Sales and Remit the Industrial Funding Fee (IFF) to GSA
• Participate in Contractor Assistance Visits (CAVs)
• Keep Registrations and Certifications up to date,
  including any Business Size Status or NAICS code changes
• Register with the Vendor Support Center
• Create, distribute, and maintain your company price list
• Understand and Adhere to Contract Policies & Obligations

Maintaining a GSA Schedule is very different from re-competing a Public Building Service (PBS) requirement. 

Typically, PBS contracts are for the performance of a single service or one-time procurement. Examples include fixing a broken elevator in a specific building, or, on a much more complex level, the construction of a new building. Therefore most PBS contracts do not reoccur and not subject to renewal.

Vendors looking to continue working with PBS need to continually re-compete after the expiration of their contracts. Doing a good job and maintaining a strong record of past performance are the keys to getting new work with PBS. Vendors should monitor the GSA Forecast of Contracting Opportunities for new contracts to pursue.

Marketing to the Government

Marketing your business to customers in the private sector is a key component to winning and keeping business. It’s no different in the Federal marketplace. You must promote your Schedules contract offerings to potential customers.

The way you market is up to you. Here's a few recommendations you may find useful:

• GSA’s Forecast of Contracting Opportunities
  Learn how to leverage the information in the Forecast to plan your marketing strategy for the current fiscal year.
• Marketing Group on GSA’s Interact
  Subscribe to “Schedules Contractor Success - Marketing Matters!”
• Attend OSBU’s Marketing Tips for Small Business Webinar
• Vendor Support Center (VSC)
  Visit the Marketing section of the VSC where you’ll find resources and information on market research, exposure and bidding.
• Know your customer, their needs and procurement habits. Broadly speaking, your customer is the entire federal government, and in some situations, state and local governments. Learn how to narrow your focus and develop a more refined target market.
• Leverage Your Business’ Socioeconomic Certifications. Are you a small business that certifies as:

Contract Modification

If you need to request modifications to your contract, you can do so via eMod, a module of the eOffer site. Here you can add/delete a product or service Special Item Number (“SIN”), change your prices, report and make administrative changes.

For construction, architectural, engineering and other PBS contracts Standard Form 30 (Amendment of Solicitation/Modification of Contract) is submitted by the vendor to execute changes to the contract.

Contract Renewal/Exercise of Option Extension

GSA Schedule contracts are issued with a five-year base period, with the potential of three five-year options.

The OPEN (Option Process Ensuring iNtegrity) process oversees the Options/Renewal of contracts. As part of the OPEN process, vendors are notified within four to six months in advance of a contract’s expiration. If your company has met its sales minimum ($25,000/year) and it remains a vendor in good standing, you will be given the opportunity to renew/exercise the option to extend the term of your contract.

If you let your contract expire, it cannot be reinstated. You must submit a new offer.

If you do NOT wish to renew your contract, the notification of renewal provides instructions for declining the offer.

The Vendor Support Center (VSC) has additional, detailed information on OPEN and contract renewal/exercising of option extensions.