What is the GSA Furniture & Furnishings Category
After the GSA Consolidation, there are only 12 major categories left. The GSA Furniture & Furnishings category is one of them. The category replaces a number of legacy Schedules, such as Schedule 78, Schedule 71 II K, Schedule 72, as well as a range of SINs from other Schedules. The idea of the new category is to allow federal, state, municipal and tribal organizations to purchase furniture and furnishings under one dedicated Schedule. This measure is intended to simplify procurement and optimize acquisition budgets.
The Furniture & Furnishings Schedule includes the following subcategories:
- Fitness Solutions
- Flooring
- Furniture Services
- Healthcare Furniture
- Household, Dormitory & Quarters Furniture
- Miscellaneous Furniture
- Office Furniture
- Packaged Furniture
- Signs
What is the budget allocated for this? According to the official GSA sales statistics, in FY 2019 there were around 900 contractors who provided Furniture and Furnishing solutions and services to the government. The overall budget of all contracts under this category exceeded $960 million dollars in FY 2019. Surely, winning a contract in this category would be a great step forward for your company, so it is definitely worth an attempt.
What are SINs in the Furniture & Furnishing Category
Fitness Solutions
| 339920PARK | Park and Playground Equipment – Includes all park and playground equipment, such as grills, bike racks, playground equipment, gazebos, etc. Also includes related services and/or installation. |
| 339920S | Sporting Goods Equipment and Supplies – Includes all sporting goods equipment and supplies, such as protective sports gear, sport-specific products, sports bags, air pumps, etc. |
| 339930 | Doll, Toy and Game Manufacturing – Includes toys, dolls, and games, in addition to related services and/or installation. |
| 713940 | Fitness Center Management Services – Includes management and maintenance services for a government-owned gym or fitness room. The contractor must ensure optimal performance of all employed personnel, equipment, and amenities in the facility. |
| 713940PACK | Packaged Fitness Center – Includes all products and services necessary to design, plan, acquire equipment, and install a complete, fully operational fitness center in an agency-provided space. Agencies have one contractual document and point of contact to satisfy their requirements. |
| 812990 | Personal Trainer and Aerobic/Cardio Class Leader/Instructor – Includes a personal trainer and/or aerobic class instructor, who will develop personalized exercise plans, support clients in their health goals, and teach group fitness classes. |
Flooring
| 314110 | Carpet Flooring – Carpet flooring including but not limited to broadloom carpet, carpet tiles, carpet cushions, mats and matting with and without logos. |
| 314110SBSA | Carpet Flooring (SBSA) – Carpet flooring including but not limited to broadloom carpet, carpet tiles, carpet cushions, mats and matting with and without logos. |
| 321918 | Commercial Flooring – Hard surface flooring including but not limited to vinyl tile, rubber tile, linoleum, laminate wood flooring, sheet flooring |
| 321918PF | Portable Flooring Solutions – Includes all portable flooring solutions, such as floors installed as a result of damage and flooring suitable for emergency or disaster recovery efforts. |
Furniture Services
| 541614CF | Comprehensive Furniture Management Services – Comprehensive Furniture Management Services including but not limited to Project Management, Assets Management, and Furniture Design/Layout |
Healthcare Furniture
| 337127CSB | Chair, Convalescent (SBSA) – Includes high- and low-back models designed for use by physically impaired patients, such as ottomans, rocking chairs, etc. |
| 339113H | Healthcare Furniture – Includes furniture designed and marketed for hospital and/or long-term patient care use, such as hospital patient room furniture, hospital and geriatric chairs, medical head-walls, and patient service columns for general patient care. |
Household, Dormitory & Quarters Furniture
| 337121H | Household, Dormitory & Quarters Furniture – Furniture for use in a household or quarters. |
| 337122SBSA | Household, Dormitory & Quarters Furniture (SBSA) – Includes freestanding sleeping, studying and storage space system that allows a variety of configurations to suit specific room needs. Consists, at a minimum, of a bed box and storage unit, and may include other items such as a writing surface, shelf etc. |
| 3FURNISH | Commercial Office Furnishings (SBSA) – Commercial Office Furnishings including but not limited to lamps and shades, window treatments, coordinating bedspreads and comforters, cubicle curtains and hardware, wall art and artificial trees; includes international offerings under this category. |
Miscellaneous Furniture
| 332439MLB | Mail Lock Boxes – Includes mail lock boxes for apartments, dormitories, and post offices. Boxes may be for interior or exterior applications. |
| 33712 | Complete Daycare, Preschool and Classroom Solutions – Daycare, preschool, and classroom furniture including but not limited to storage units/cabinets, high chairs, cribs and accessories, desks and student chairs, toys and accessories. |
| 337122OSB | Park, Recreational & Outdoor Furniture (SBSA) – Includes Park and Recreational Tables, Benches, Outdoor Pool and Patio Furniture and Bleachers. |
| 337127 | Institutional Furniture – Includes laboratory furniture systems, industrial furniture systems, and storage. |
| 337127CFSB | Cafeteria and Food Service Furniture (SBSA) – Includes cafeteria and food service furniture, such as booth seating, cluster units, etc. |
| 337127CISB | Correctional Institution Furniture (SBSA) – Includes furniture and accessories specifically designed for use in correctional institutions. |
| 337127INT | International Furniture Products – Includes furniture to be used specifically in foreign destinations only. |
| 337127LFSB | Library Furniture (SBSA) – Includes furniture designed for library use. |
| 337127TLSB | Tables and Lecterns (SBSA) – Includes system-type table, accessories, and lecterns. |
| 337215MSB | Mail Sorting and Distribution Furniture (SBSA) – Includes tables, storage units, consoles, racks, workbenches and accessories designed to be used as interrelated components for the purpose of dumping, opening, reading, sorting, packing and/or wrapping both incoming and outgoing mail. |
| 337215SBSA | Wall Units and Displays SBSA – Includes wood construction with high-pressure laminate on all horizontal services, in addition to acoustic partitions, demountable walls, and vertical surface attachments and accessories. |
| 33721SBSA | Storage (SBSA) – Includes cabinet, wall unit, and hazardous material storage. |
| 33721T | Training Room, Auditorium and Theater Furniture – Training room, auditorium furniture and theater furniture including floor mounted ascending tier seating. Accessories designed to be used with the offered furniture are acceptable. Products meet applicable safety, performance and flammability requirements. |
| 532289 | Furniture Rental and Leasing – Rental and Leasing of furniture, including but not limited to household, dorm and quarters furniture; office furniture, and healthcare furniture. |
Office Furniture
| 33721 | Office Furniture – Includes all furniture placed in an office, such as chairs, desks, etc. |
Packaged Furniture
| 337121P | Packaged Household Dormitory and Quarters Furniture – Includes packaged furniture solutions necessary for customers to furnish sleeping rooms, suites, lounges, dayrooms, common areas, etc. |
| 337127P | International Packaged Furniture – Includes packaged furniture solutions to be used specifically in foreign destinations only. The contractor should be prepared to offer a total tenant outfitting solution for customers to furnish an entire office and/or room(s) within it. |
| 33721P | Packaged Office Furniture – Includes packaged furniture solutions for customers needing to furnish an office. |
| 339113P | Packaged Healthcare Furniture – Includes packaged furniture solutions necessary for customers to furnish an entire healthcare office, exam room, waiting room, long-term care room, etc. Contractors should be experienced in offering total tenant outfitting solutions. |
Signs
| 339950 | Signs – Includes all signage, such as directories, site/facility identification, scoreboards, exit signs, etc. |
How to get a Furniture and Furnishings Schedule contract
Getting onto a GSA Schedule was always difficult. Not because of the process itself; it is pretty much straightforward, but because tons of tiny details and nuances you must take into account and take care of. Even experienced companies sometimes fail to comply with all the requirements the GSA sets for legitimate contractors. And the Furniture GSA category is no different here.
The basic steps you need to fulfill in order to secure a government contract are listed below. However, you should understand that every Schedule is unique, there are a number of specific requirements within each GSA Schedule Large Category, and sometimes in particular SINs too. If you are not sure, where to start from, please don’t hesitate to contact us, we will be glad to help you get yourself familiar with the GSA contracting system and assist you in getting a Furniture and Furnishings contract.
1. First of all, make sure your company is a legitimate business. You see, while on the commercial market you can start doing business right off the bat, however, on the federal market your company must be registered properly before you can even attempt to sell to the government. Specifically, your company must have a Tax ID, and a DUNS number. Also, you, as a contractor, must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov).
2. Your next step is to prepare all documents needed to submit an application for a government contract. Actually, there are quite a number of them; legal and financial statements, loans.debts balance, pricelists, price narrative, Past Performance Report, as well as numerous other documents like certificates, licenses, properly filled standard forms, and so on. A single mistake in a document can easily render your application invalid, so you need to take special care when compiling your document package for submission to the GSA. Once you are ready, upload your documents through the federal eOffer platform.
3. After you submit your offer, you will have to wait. Eventually, a procurement officer will be assigned to your proposal. She will carefully review it to make sure all information is correct, accurate, and up to date. There are a number of checks the officer is obliged to perform, so don’t expect quick results. Also, if the officer thinks either some documents are missing, or the submitted information needs clarification, she will contact you.
4. Once the review is finished, the price negotiation step begins. The goal of the contracting officer is to negotiate the best prices for the government and then ask for even a deeper discount, if possible. Obviously, if you sheepishly agree to everything the GSA asks for, you may end up in a very disadvantageous position. The art of pricing and price negotiation is the art of setting a price high enough to make the contract profitable and low enough to make it look like the best deal for the government. And of course, your prices must be fair and reasonable, at the same time. Sometimes you may want to hire a third-party negotiator to help you get the most from the government during this step.
5. As soon as the negotiation step is finished, you can open the champagne. Your company is awarded with a hot and crispy GSA Furniture & Furnishings contract! However, your work does not end here. In fact, you need to manage your GSA contract, keep an eye on compliance issues, monitor competitors, put effort into marketing, and so much more.
