Part 517 - Special Contracting Methods

Subpart 517.1 - Multi-year Contracting

517.101 Authority.

517.103 Definitions.

517.109 Contract clause.

Subpart 517.2 - Options

517.200 Scope of subpart.

517.202 Use of options.

517.204 Contracts.

517.207 Exercise of options.

517.208 Solicitation provisions.

Subpart 517.5 - Interagency Acquisitions

517.502 Procedures.

517.502-70 Information Technology Procurements.

Parent topic: General Services Administration Acquisition Manual

Subpart 517.1 - Multi-year Contracting

517.101 Authority.

(a) In addition to the multi-year authority described in FAR 17.101, GSA is authorized to enter into

contracts for periods not to exceed–

(1) Five years for the inspection, maintenance, and repair of fixed building equipment in federally

owned buildings (40 U.S.C. 581(c)(6)); or

(2) Ten years for public utility services (40 U.S.C. 501(b)(1)(B)).

(b) Contracting officers may award contracts under the authority of paragraph (a)(1) or paragraph

(a)(2) of this section without a cancellation clause.

517.103 Definitions.

“Fixed equipment in federally-owned buildings” means all GSA mechanical equipment, including

heating/cooling (geothermal), ventilation, electrical (wind/photovoltaic), elevator, escalator, and fire
safety systems, components, and devices.

517.109 Contract clause.

Use of the FAR clause at 52.217-2 is optional in multi-year contracts authorized by—

(a) 40 U.S.C. 581(c)(6) for the inspection, maintenance, and repair of fixed equipment in a federallyowned building; and

(b) 40 U.S.C. 501(b)(1)(B) for public utility services.

Subpart 517.2 - Options

517.200 Scope of subpart.

(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, this subpart applies to contracts for supplies

and services, including architect-engineer services.

(b) Policies and procedures for the use of options in solicitation provisions and contract clauses for

services involving construction, alteration, or repair (including dredging, excavating, and painting)

of buildings, bridges, roads, or other kinds of real property are prescribed in 536.270. FAR subpart

17.2 and this subpart do not apply to the use of options in solicitation provisions and contract

clauses for services involving construction, alteration, or repair (including dredging, excavating, and

painting) of buildings, bridges, roads, or other kinds of real property.

517.202 Use of options.

(a) Options may be used when they meet one or more of the following objectives:

(1) Reduce procurement lead time and associated costs.

(2) Ensure continuity of contract support.

(3) Improve overall contractor performance.

(4) Facilitate longer term contractual relationships with those contractors that continually meet or

exceed quality performance expectations.

(b) An option is normally in the Government’s interest in the following circumstances:

(1) There is an anticipated need for additional supplies or services during the contract term.

(2) When there is both a need for additional supplies or services beyond the basic contract period

and the use of multi-year contracting authority is inappropriate.

(3) There is a need for continuity of supply or service support.
(c) An option shall not be used if the market price is likely to change substantially and an economic

price adjustment clause inadequately protects the Government's interest.

517.204 Contracts.

(a) Telecommunication contracts may not exceed 10 years.

(b) Public utility contracts are limited to 10 years (40 U.S.C. 501(b)(1)(B).

(c) Requests to exceed 5-year limitation. A deviation request to exceed the 5-year limitation specified

in FAR 17.204(e) must provide all the following information:

(1) Clearly explain the contract(s) and organization(s) covered by the request.

(2) Support the need for and reasonableness of the extension. Consider factors such as the

following:

(i) The results of market research.

(ii) Stability of the requirement(s).

(iii) Benefits to the Government.

(iv) Use of a performance-based contracting approach.

(v) Availability of funds to cover estimated cancellation costs as well as costs for the first contract

period.

(vi) Customary commercial practice.

(vii) Mechanisms to adjust for economic fluctuations.

(d) Approval authority. Deviation requests to exceed the 5-year limitations specified in FAR

17.204(e) must be approved by–

(1) The head of the contracting activity for individual contracts; and

(2) GSA’s Senior Procurement Executive for classes of contracts.

517.207 Exercise of options.

In addition to the requirements of FAR 17.207, the contracting officer shall:

(a) Document the contract file with the rationale for exercising the contract option to extend the

period of performance if the contractor's performance under the contract is less than satisfactory.

(b) Determine that the option price is fair and reasonable.

(c)If applicable, consider any tiered solutions (see subpart Subpart 507.71 - Category Management)

or mandated solutions that were otherwise not available at the time of award.
(d) Conduct a Personal Identity Verification card review to determine the need for continued access,

see 504.1370(c). This function may be delegated to the COR.

(e)For FSS contracts, verify the contractor is currently in compliance with GSAR clause 552.238-77

Submission and Distribution of Authorized Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) Price Lists., Submission

and Distribution of Authorized Federal Supply Schedule Price Lists.

(f) If applicable, verify that the contractor’s subcontracting plan goals have been reviewed and

approved (inclusive of any amendments) and review the contractor’s performance and compliance

under the subcontracting plan (see FAR 19.705-6 and 19.706, and 519.706 Responsibilities of the

cognizant administrative contracting officer.).

517.208 Solicitation provisions.

(a) Insert a provision substantially the same as the provision at 552.217-70, Evaluation of Options, in

solicitations for the Special Order Program when the following conditions apply:

(1)The solicitation contains an option to extend the term of the contract; and

(2)The contract will be fixed price and contain an economic price adjustment clause.

(b)Insert a provision substantially the same as the provision at 552.217-71, Notice Regarding

Option(s), in solicitations that include an option for increased quantities of supplies or services or an

option clause to extend the term of the contract.

Subpart 517.5 - Interagency Acquisitions

517.502 Procedures.

(a) General.

(1) GSA provides interagency acquisition (IA) services to support the mission of federal agencies,

foster competition and use of economies of scale, and provide options for agencies to meet their

administrative and procurement needs.

(2) The Office of Acquisition Policy maintains tools and resources for the acquisition workforce on

the GSA Acquisition Portal (http://insite.gsa.gov/interagencyacquisition).

(3)When conducting interagency acquisitions, an interagency agreement must be signed by the

HCA. HCAs may designate approval authority for the interagency agreement to a level no lower than

the Contracting Director.

(4)For PBS Reimbursable Work Authorizations (RWA), only authorized PBS Officials shall accept an

RWA in accordance with PBS National RWA Policy available at www.gsa.gov/rwa.

(b) Cut-Off Dates.

(1) Heads of Contracting Activities shall devise and publicize cut-off dates to accept interagency
acquisitions for their respective organization(s) in support of this subpart. The decision to accept

funds near the end of the fiscal year must be determined on a case-by-case basis taking into

consideration the following at a minimum:

(i) funding requesting agency assurance that the funds are current;

(ii) understanding of the type of funds (e.g. one-year, multi-year, no-year);

(iii) time required for GSA to properly obligate the funds; and

(iv) confirmation that the requesting agency has submitted a “bona fide needs” statement.

(2) Cut-off dates do not apply when accepting no-year funds. Cutoff dates do not apply to multi-year

funds not near expiration or within the final year that the funds are eligible for use.

(3) Once accepted, GSA must expeditiously and diligently begin work on all interagency acquisitions

it accepts.

(c) Reasonable Time.

(1) Policy. When establishing interagency agreements, contracting activities must obligate funds in

a reasonable time.

(2) Definition. A reasonable time is considered to be 90 calendar days unless otherwise established

in the interagency agreement or other policy. Contracting activities must examine with particular

care if the 90 calendar day acquisition lead time can be achieved by:

(i) using an existing contract or task/delivery order which can be awarded or modified expeditiously

to meet the requesting agency’s requirement; and

(ii) validating that the requesting agency-specific fiscal policy attached to the funds (e.g., DoD

7000.14-R Financial Management Regulation Volume 11A Chapter 18) does not have any applicable

restrictions which would prevent the use of 90 calendar days as a "reasonable time".

(3) Criteria for establishing “reasonable time”. For interagency acquisitions in which the

contracting activity has determined the “reasonable time” to be in excess of 90 calendar days, the

contracting officers must:

(i) ensure that the “reasonable time” is mutually agreed upon and documented between the

requesting agency and the GSA contracting activity at the time funds' are accepted (e.g. date

specified on GSA Form 2957);

(ii) ensure that the requesting agency-specific fiscal policy restrictions are adhered to (e.g., DoD

7000.14-R Financial Management Regulation Volume 11A Chapter 18); and

(iii) document the rationale for establishing a “reasonable time” which is in excess of 90 calendar

days.

(d) Periodic Reviews. Contracting officers must review all interagency acquisition obligations for

goods or services that have been ordered but not yet received (undelivered orders/unfilled customer

orders) at fiscal year-end. Generally speaking, if the interagency acquisition is for goods or services

that were not delivered within the funds period of availability, the funds must be deobligated and

current funds used, unless the goods could not be delivered because of delivery, production or
manufacturing lead time, or unforeseen delays that are out of the control and not previously

contemplated by the contracting parties at the time of contracting.

(e) Resolving Interagency Policy Differences. Any inconsistency in the applicability of requesting

agency and GSA policy shall be resolved by considering the following:

(1) Where there is a conflict between the requesting agency and GSA policy, refer to the

interagency agreement to resolve the conflict. If the interagency policy is not clear, document what

the conflict is and request guidance as to what the governing policy is from the Office of General

Council (OGC).

(2) When the requesting agency’s policy is less restrictive than GSA’s policy (e.g., higher dollar

authority, streamlined procedures) and the interagency agreement does not identify which policy to

follow, the contracting officer has discretion on which policy to follow. However, the contracting

officer must consult with Service-level acquisition management (e.g., FAS OPC, PBS OAM) and OGC

if following the less restrictive policy to ensure GSA has adequate controls in place and has the

authority to utilize the less restrictive policy.

(3) A number of agencies have authorities which GSA does not have. GSA cannot use a requesting

agency’s given program authority (e.g., Other Transaction Authority (OTA)) unless the authority is

specifically delegated to GSA by the requesting agency in a formal delegation.

517.502-70 Information Technology Procurements.

(a) The requesting agency is responsible for the required information technology coordination and

approval outlined in Federal Information and Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) (Pub L.

No. 113-291) if the procurement involves information technology for the use of the requesting

agency and not for GSA use. This requirement for CIO coordination by the requesting agency should

be confirmed by GSA as the servicing agency by ensuring this CIO coordination requirement is

documented in the interagency agreement or a separate document.

(b) The requesting agency is responsible for identifying any special or higher level requirements for

network connectivity (e.g. security, basic connectivity and communications) beyond the minimum

Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) requirements in FAR 11.002(g) for information technology that

will have the capability to access the Internet or any network utilizing Internet protocol (IPv4 or

IPv6). The special or higher level requirements as well as any deviation from the requirement in FAR

11.002(g) shall be documented in the interagency agreement.