Open Market or Incidental Items Under GSA Schedules
I. Introduction
Products and services included in a vendor's GSA Schedule are statutorily defined as items that may be acquired by an agency under a competitive procedure pursuant to the Competition in Contracting Act of 1984, P.L. 98-369 (CICA)1. Products and services that are not on a vendor's GSA Schedule are deemed to be “open market items” or occasionally called “incidental items" (hereafter referred to collectively as the “items”). These non-Schedule items are frequently treated as “incidental” to the Schedule items that are being acquired by the agency. The question that has arisen is whether, and to what extent, an agency may acquire these items...
without going through the normal competitive procedures mandated by the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and CICA.
If one or more items are included in a quote to an agency that are contained in a Team Arrangement between two (2) GSA Schedule holders, then they are not non-Schedule items and are excluded from this review.
II. Definitions
“Open Market Items” are defined as products and services that are not included in a vendor's approved GSA Schedule contract. “Incidental” refers to something that is related to and is small and relatively unimportant or minor (as of expense) that are not particularized.
These items can be any type or form of non-Schedule item, but they are not commercial units that have been approved by the GSA for use in a vendor's Schedule. These “Open Market Items” are frequently identified in quotes to agencies as “materials” or “other direct costs” (ODC). There is no limit to what these items can represent, and they frequently include travel and per diem expenses, since including these expenses in a Schedule is not feasible. Notwithstanding the definition of these items, an agency may acquire such items only under limited circumstances.
