Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

Quick guide to product and service codes in government contracting

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What is a PSC Code?  How is it used in federal contracting?

If you read Guy Timberlake’s previous post about the North American Industrial Classification System or NAICS, you know these codes represent one of the tools used by government agencies to classify acquisitions and procurements for goods, services and solutions.

“One of the tools” because there is another classification system in use that is frequently misunderstood by many companies, or worse, not known to them whatsoever.

Unfortunately, lack of knowledge and a lack of understanding of these classification systems can cost your company time, money, situational awareness and visibility.

Why?  They are key in how Government agencies describe requirements, and how Industry describes offerings agencies might buy in support of requirements.

Keep reading this article at: https://govconchannel.com/2015/03/15/product-and-service-code-govcon/

What federal contractors should do during the government shutdown

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Government employees aren’t the only ones who are wondering what they’ll be doing on Monday if Congress can’t reach a budget agreement; federal contractors are also facing a lot of uncertainty.

Depending on when their contract was funded, what agency they’re with, what they’re doing, and where they work out of, some contractors may continue working as if nothing has changed.

If the federal personnel the contractor works alongside is locked out, the contractor may be too.

There are a lot of variables at play and most of them look to be less than ideal for contractors, who in most cases will lose money during this ordeal. But while everyone hopes this will remain a short-term dispute, there are a couple of ways contractors can use the time away from federal job sites more productively.

Keep reading this article at: https://wtop.com/government/2018/01/federal-contractors-government-shutdown/

 

 

Impact of a shutdown on contractors means lost wages, project delays

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Government contractors are often overlooked when it comes to the threat of a government shutdown. And as the most current threat becomes more and more real, many are waiting for guidance from their agency customers.

“We are hearing there is a lack of communication,” said David Berteau, the CEO of the Professional Services Council, an industry association. “We saw cases in 2013 where the contracting officer and contracting officer representative for a program gave direction to the contractor and put them on the list of cleared individuals, but when they showed up at the base or installation, there was no guard or the guard didn’t let them in. There were a lot of those disconnects in 2013. If a shutdown happens this time, the same thing may happen.”

PSC, the IT Alliance for Public Sector and the Coalition for Government Procurement are offering resources centers for contractors as they plan for a possible partial shutdown.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsradio.com/government-shutdown/2018/01/impact-of-a-shutdown-on-contractors-means-lost-wages-project-delays/

Contractors object to parts of OMB’s agency reporting reductions

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A group representing 400 services and information technology contractors has asked the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to revamp several of the 59 changes announced on June 15 in its memo on easing the reporting burden on agencies.

The Arlington, Va.-based Professional Services Council, though supportive in general of the budget office’s bid to trim and update administrative requirements, sent a June 22 letter to OMB Director Mick Mulvaney seeking changes in the Trump administration’s handling of accelerated payments to small businesses, acquisition assessments and reporting of agency priority goals.

“If no one is asking for it, maybe it doesn’t have much value to it,” Mulvaney told reporters during the rollout of the June 15 memo to agency heads targeting a portion of what eventually could be 250 management directives that might be “duplicative, obsolete, redundant or low value.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2017/06/contractors-object-parts-ombs-agency-reporting-reductions/139023/

‘Buy American’ order draws mixed reviews from contractors

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Last Tuesday (Apr. 18, 2017) President Trump traveled to the Snap-On Tool manufacturing plant in Kenosha, Wis., to sign a previously announced executive order that tasks agencies and contractors with ramping up efforts to “Buy American” and “Hire American.”

Combined with a crackdown on unmerited high-level work visas and unfair trade practices, the order taps procurement specialists to propose contracting reforms to be assembled over 220 days by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to create a “more muscular” Buy American policy, as a senior administration official told reporters Monday.

“It’s time,” Trump told the crowd on Tuesday, for the government to “aggressively promote and use American-made goods and to ensure that American labor is hired to do the job.” The purpose of the order is to require “federal agencies to strictly uphold our Buy American laws and minimize waivers and maximize Made in America content in all federal projects,” he said. “We will fully monitor, uphold and enforce our Buy American laws, which we haven’t done.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2017/04/trumps-buy-american-order-draws-mixed-reviews-contractors/137129

For more on this topic, also see:

New DHS acquisition rules proposal could disrupt contracts, hurt small business

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President Donald Trump celebrated a new executive order designed to eliminate regulations on small businesses. But a series of new acquisition rules proposed weeks ago by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have Federal contracting experts worried about future governmentwide disruptions and a decrease in competition.

DHS’s Office of the Chief Procurement Officer on Jan. 18 issued three proposed rules that would require privacy training and security awareness training for contractors, and would add five new categories of Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)—unclassified information that is still sensitive—that contractors will need to secure and manage.

DHS’s proposed regulations are troubling to some Federal contracting experts because they disrupt the governmentwide standards that took years to set up, and may impose costs on small businesses that make it impossible for them to compete for DHS contracts.

Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president and counsel for the Professional Services Council (PSC), said the new CUI categories “don’t square” with the governmentwide rule that took six years to create.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.meritalk.com/articles/new-dhs-acquisition-rules-proposal-could-disrupt-contracts-hurt-small-business/

Which NAICS goes with this Product Service Code?

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What exactly is the function of a NAICS Code?

Not sure?

That’s interesting since so many on the industry side of government contracting have developed a significant dependency on it.

It’s true. Some companies use it as the sole basis for identifying new opportunities. Some incorporate other factors, like keywords, for example. Then there is the small segment of the government contracting community that blends NAICS Codes and Product Service Codes. Hopefully that segment continues to grow.

Product Service Code? What’s that? Looks like I opened up that can of worms again.

Actually, it wasn’t me for once. The other day someone did a search that landed them on the GovConChannel.com, our news site for small government contractors. The search phrase they entered asked the question ‘What is the NAICS for PSC Code 8145?” Well, if the answer being sought was based on activity occurring in FY2016, then the answer is there are:

‘Fair Pay, Safe Workplaces’ rule for federal contractors appears endangered

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DOLAmong the many Obama administration regulations that President-elect Trump plans to eviscerate could be the “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” rule the Labor Department finalized in August.

Labor’s goal was to protect workers against abuses such as wage theft and health violations by instituting additional disclosure and reporting requirements for federal contractors concerning their compliance with 14 labor laws. Industry viewed the impact as a burdensome “blacklisting” of contractors whose reputations, in some cases, could suffer from unproven allegations of past worker abuse.

In October, a Texas district judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking parts of the rule in response to a suit brought by a chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors. The judge decided that the rule’s reporting requirements reach beyond executive authority and are otherwise preempted by federal labor laws. She left only the paycheck transparency provisions intact to take effect Jan. 1, 2017.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2016/11/obamas-fair-pay-safe-workplaces-rule-federal-contractors-appears-endangered/133436

Contractors urge next President to upgrade acquisition workforce

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psc-45-agenda-sept-2016Under either a Clinton or Trump administration, the “on-demand” government of the future must be “responsive, agile, resilient, flexible, dynamic, flatter, more connected, less hierarchical, dynamic, seamless, more personalized, transparent and accountable.”

That’s according to the Professional Services Council’s blueprint for the incoming 45th president, released on Thursday under the title “PSC 45:  An Agenda for the Next President of the United States.”

The paper pushes for goals long part of the services contracting industry’s agenda—modernizing technology, embracing new business models, engaging more with the private sector and upgrading capacities of the federal acquisition workforce.

It also urges a robust presidential management agenda next year. “The mandate for change provides a moment of opportunity,” said David Wennergren, the council’s executive vice president for operations and technology. PSC has 400 member companies.

The report warns that recent administrations’ “failures around 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the initial roll-out of the Affordable Care Act make clear that management lapses can impose serious political consequences.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2016/09/contractors-urge-next-president-upgrade-acquisition-workforce/131578

Contractors group picks ex-Pentagon logistics exec as chief

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The 400-member Professional Services Council on Tuesday announced that it has selected David Berteau, onetime assistant secretary of Defense for logistics and materiel readiness, as its new president.

Professional Services Council - PSCEffective March 28, Berteau will replace Stan Soloway, another Pentagon veteran who left the contractors group in December after 15 years to launch a consulting firm called Celero Strategies LLC.

“I am excited to have the opportunity to lead such a respected organization in the fields of government technology and professional services,” Berteau said. “Stan Soloway did a great job growing and improving the Council. I’m eager to build on those accomplishments and to promote an open and competitive federal marketplace in which government benefits from the best solutions that industry has to offer.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2016/03/contractors-group-picks-ex-pentagon-logistics-exec-chief/126316

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