CD-2020-17
August 14, 2020
MEMORANDUM FOR VALERIE BINDEL, CONTRACTING OFFICER, ASTRO PROGRAM, FAS FEDSIM
FROM AND DIGITALLY SIGNED BY: Jeffrey A. Koses, Senior Procurement Executive, Office of Acquisition Policy
SUBJECT: GSAM class deviation — Contract authority for a ten (10) year period for the ASTRO program
On this page:
- Purpose
- Background
- Applicability
- Authority
- Effective date and expiration date
- Point of contact
1. Purpose
This memorandum approves the contracting officer’s request for a class deviation as prescribed by the General Services Administration Acquisition Manual (GSAM) 517.204(c) for purposes of exceeding FAR 17.204(e) five year limitation (i.e., the total of the basic and option periods) for service contracts under the ASTRO program.
2. Background
The ASTRO program is a family of separate multiple award, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) task order contracts, encompassing 10 separate pools based on functionally. The ASTRO program will provide ordering activities with the ability to purchase total solutions for the operations, maintenance, readiness, research, development, support, training, and systems integration of manned, unmanned, and optionally manned systems and platforms on land, sea, air, and space, as well as the services that support such systems and platforms. The ASTRO program is anticipated to encompass approximately 450 separate IDIQ task order contracts [1] each with a five (5) year base ordering period and an option to extend the ordering period an additional five (5) years (i.e., which when combined means the total contract term could be up to 10 years in length). The General Services Administration (GSA), Federal Acquisition Services (FAS), Assisted Acquisition Service (AAS), Federal Systems Integration and Management Center (FEDSIM) will award and administer the ASTRO program.
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 17.204(e) states that “unless otherwise approved in accordance with agency procedures, the total of the basic and option periods shall not exceed 5 years in the case of services, and the total of the basic and option quantities shall not exceed the requirement for 5 years in the case of supplies.” This language provides agencies the authority to approve exceptions to these limits. GSAM 517.204(c) prescribes the GSA procedures, including approval requirements, for processing these types of requests. For purposes of the GSAM these requests are considered to be deviations and are to be approved by the Senior Procurement Executive (SPE).
3. Applicability
This class deviation applies only to the ASTRO program.
4. Authority
This class deviation is issued under the authority of paragraphs (c) and (d) of GSAM 517.204.
5. Effective date and expiration date
This class deviation is effective immediately and remains in effect until the completion of the ASTRO program or otherwise rescinded by the SPE, whichever comes first.
6. Point of contact
Any questions regarding this class deviation may be directed to GSARPolicy@gsa.gov.
Attachments
Attachment A - Deviation Request to Exceed the 5-Year Limitation
[1] The 450 is based on the anticipation of making 45 awards per Pool. In the event of a tie at the position of 45, all offerors tied for this position will be awarded a IDIQ task order contract. As a result, in the event of a tie, the total number of possible awards for the ASTRO program could be higher.