Coalition objects to Alliant provisions

Coalition for Government Procurement wants GSA to change provisions regarding the way prime contractors will bill for subcontractors' work on the forthcoming Alliant contracts.

The General Services Administration should rewrite the draft solicitations for the Alliant contracts so that they reveal nothing about the way prime contractors may bill agencies for work performed by subcontractors, the Coalition for Government Procurement recommended.

The comment period for the draft requests for proposals ends today. The RFPs are for Alliant, a governmentwide acquisition contract, and Alliant SB, a companion contract for small businesses.

"We feel strongly that the RFP should remain silent on this point until the issuance of a much-anticipated rule on time and material contracting is released," the coalition said in a public written statement. "That rule will spell out how subcontractor work may be billed for by primes."

The coalition also urged GSA to:

* Adopt a sliding scale cap on user fees.

* Provide more information on what GSA means by best in class submissions so that offers from medium-size businesses will be considered fairly.

* Rethink and improve the proposed alignment of labor categories.

GSA plans to consider comments received about the drafts and issue final RFPs in October. The contracts will be awarded next summer, under the current timetable.