...not awarded a contract because a number of line items in the quote were not in the SMS FSS Schedule. The Comptroller General stated that “where the price of non-FSS products or services is at or below the $2,500 micro-purchase threshold, these products or services can be acquired without additional competition.” The decision also states that the price for the non-FSS items must extend over the base and the option periods for the purpose of determining if the non-FSS services or products are at or below the micro-purchase threshold.
In the Matter of T-L-C Systems11 the GAO further expanded its implementation of the CICA through the prior decisions by stating that, when agencies decide to purchase products and services from the FSS, they may limit their consideration to the best value provided by the goods and services on the FSS; they do not need to evaluate items not
on the offeror's GSA Schedule contract, i.e., open market items. The GAO reiterated that “an agency may not select an FSS vendor for an order of items on the vendor's schedule and then include in the order items not included in that vendor's FSS contract.” The Comptroller General is enforcing the rule stated by the COFC that re-iterated its ruling in the ATA decision.
VI. Conclusion
The COFC overturned the practice of agencies issuing purchase order contracts to holders of GSA Schedule contracts that included non-Schedule incidental items, but then failed to provide a “bright-line” benchmark beyond which open market items can be priced.
