According to the U.S. General Services Administration, Blanket Purchase Agreements are “agreements established by a government buyer with a contractor to fill repetitive needs for supplies or services.”
These agreements are crafted to simplify the acquisition of certain goods or services that are going to be required as time passe with the customer’s specific requirements in mind.
Are there different types of blanket purchase agreements?
Yes. There are two different types of Blanket Purchase Agreements.
- Traditional Blanket Purchase Agreements: These are regulated by the FAR part 13 and states what vendors the government buyer cannot purchase from.
Government entities use a traditional Blanket purchase agreements to buy goods and services that are over the Simplified Acquisition Procedures (SAP). You can find the SAP on the acquisition Government website, here.
- Blanket Purchase Agreements established under the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Program. These are not subject to SAP regulation, but rather the regulations on the FAR part 8.405-3. This dictates government buyers’ preferences toward multiple-award Blanket Purchase Agreement over single-award Blanket Purchase Agreements.
When may these Agreements be used?
The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) establishes that Blanket Purchase agreements may be used under the following circumstances:
- When the supplies needed are bought from a broad number of vendors.
- While the items are needed but the quantities, the exact items, and the delivery requirements are not known in advance and can vary.
- The use of this procedure would avoid of the need for numerous purchase orders.
- There are no existing requirements contract for the same supply or service that the contracting party is required to use.
Establishing Blanket purchase agreements
According to fedmarket, “Blanket Purchase Agreements may be established with: (1) more than one supplier for supplies or services of the same type to provide maximum practicable competition; (2) a single firm from which numerous individual purchases at or below the simplified acquisition threshold.”
Once a Blanket Purchase Agreement is in place, buyers must still have other optional vendors when the purchase exceeds $2,500. Buyers can satisfy this requirement by contacting at least three vendors to obtain quotes.
Benefits of a Blanket Purchase Agreement
Less Administrative Work
Since Blanket Purchase Agreements are a Simplified Acquisition, the contractor has less paperwork to fill out and therefore less administrative work. After the agreement has been signed; you just need to fill orders as they come in. Also, with less administrative work for the government buyer, it is a lot easier to place orders, creating more accessible cash flow for contractors.
Better Planning
With a Blanket Purchase Agreement, you can anticipate what goods and services will be needed and where to get them, letting you create an effective supply chain that provides what is needed.
All in all, Blanket Purchase agreements can benefit both Vendors and Government to be more efficient when dealing with Request for purchases.
