About NITAAC FAQs

Yes. Government-wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs) were authorized pursuant to the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 (formerly known as the Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996) designed exclusively to streamline Federal procurement of Information Technology (IT).

Reverse auctions using the NITAAC GWACs are permitted through the use of any third-party provider working in concert with the government. However, you must also post the requirement in the appropriate NITAAC competition management system (e-GOS or RFQ).

Although you do not need to send NITAAC a copy of your award document, we request that you upload a copy into the e-ordering systems.

You do not need approval from NITAAC to issue a no-cost extension. It is up to the task order contracting officer to approve a no-cost extension.

Yes. You must activate a user name and password for each system.

Yes. You may add agency specific Terms & Conditions to your individual task/delivery orders.

A waiver is not required because orders are placed directly by your agency when using one of the NITAAC vehicles.

Vendors cannot be added to this contract as primes. However, if a vendor is interested in performing under one of the NITAAC vehicles, they may do so as a subcontractor. Businesses interested in forming a teaming agreement should go directly to the prime contract holder(s).

Yes. The NIH contracts are structured in accordance with the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) principles for government-wide acquisitions of information technology. This ensures structuring of orders that promote the use of performance-based acquisition where practicable, maximum utilization of small and small disadvantaged business, fair opportunity and transparency, and provide the management controls necessary for responsible contract and financial management. NIH provides OMB an annual Executive Agent Designation Contract Activity Report highlighting operational and usage information of its GWACs including: contract activities, customer satisfaction and small business participation.

In accordance with the FAR, each eligible NITAAC contract holder shall be provided a fair opportunity to be considered for each Delivery Order, unless one of the exceptions cited in FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii) applies. The four exceptions are:

(A) The agency need for the supplies or services is so urgent that providing a fair opportunity would result in unacceptable delays.
 
(B) Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized.
 
(C) The order must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order.
 
(D) It is necessary to place an order to satisfy a minimum guarantee.
 
(E) For orders exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, a statute expressly authorizes or requires that the purchase be made from a specified source.

When using an exception to the fair opportunity process, a justification shall be included in the official task or delivery order file. Guidelines for writing the justification for an exception to the fair opportunity process are specified in Far Subpart 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(A) or (B).

Consistent with the Office of Management and Budge/Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OMB/OFPP) June 2008 guidance “Interagency Acquisitions”, the CIO-SP2i GWAC is an indefinite delivery vehicle (IDV) through which interagency acquisition is conducted. Interagency acquisition typically involves two government agencies: the requesting agency which is the agency with the requirements, and the servicing agency which provides the acquisition support, and administers the GWAC for others agencies use, or both.   Additionally, it is important to note there are two types of IDVs: direct acquisitions and assisted acquisitions. 

In a direct acquisition, the requesting agency places an order directly against the IDV (the CIO-SP2i GWAC). The participation of NITAAC is limited ensuring that all GWAC awardees receive fair opportunity to participate, and in the pre-award phase NITAAC will review the SOW primarily checking for scope issues. Requesting agencies must be prepared to take on the various responsibilities in the acquisition lifecycle, from acquisition planning and order execution to contract administration. So while NITAAC manages the GWACs themselves, it does not participate in administration of the task order after award.
In an assisted acquisition, the servicing agency and requesting agency enter into an interagency agreement pursuant to which the servicing agency performs acquisition activities on the requesting agency’s behalf, such as awarding the contract, task order, or delivery order (NITAAC no longer does assisted acquisitions.)

The contractor is responsible for paying the appropriate fee to NITAAC.

FAR Subpart 17.5(2) states that the Economy Act applies when more specific statutory authority does not exist. Examples of interagency acquisitions to which the Economy Act does not apply include acquisitions using government-wide acquisition contracts.