Winning a 5-year GSA contract as a supplier to the U.S. Government is a big responsibility. The GSA Schedule acquisition process involves a stringent application, but the evaluation of your company doesn’t end once your contract has been awarded. To ensure that contractors are fulfilling their obligations year after year, the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) was established.
- What is a CPARS rating?
- Is CPARS required for everyone?
- What does a CPARS rating mean for your company?
- What are the steps of a CPARS evaluation?
- Need help with your CPARS rating?
What is a CPARS rating?
A CPARS rating is an annual performance review of your GSA contract, which is carried out by a government Assessing Official on CPARS.gov. According to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 42.1503, the official must assess a GSA Schedule contractor according to several factors:
- Technical quality of the product or service
- Cost control
- Schedules and timeliness
- Management and business relations
- Small business subcontracting
- Other (e.g. tax, accordance with T&Cs, any suspensions or terminations).
The official writes a detailed report based on their evaluation, and for each of the assessment factors they assign one of the following ratings: Exceptional, Very Good, Satisfactory, Marginal, or Unsatisfactory. Each annual evaluation is independent, so one ‘Satisfactory’ year won’t influence your rating the following year.
Is CPARS required for everyone?
CPARS evaluations are mandatory for GSA Schedule holders with one of the following:
- Construction contract of above $750,000
- Architect-engineer services contract of above $35,000
- Single-agency or multiple-agency contract above the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT) of $250,000.
What does a CPARS rating mean for your company?
Contractor information on CPARS can enhance your competitiveness in the government marketplace, so GSA contractors should take their rating seriously. If you have 3 or more CPARS ratings, you can use these as past performance evidence in future GSA Schedule proposals, and a high or low rating will influence your proposal’s success. To give you the best possible chance in your CPARS evaluation, a Contractor Representative from your company will review, comment and agree/disagree with the Assessing Official’s evaluation, and if necessary, send it to a Reviewing Official, who has the final say.
What are the steps of a CPARS evaluation?
There are several steps of a CPARS evaluation, all of which take place on CPARS.gov.
- Contract registration: basic information about the company and contract/order award is entered into CPARS. This should be done no later than 30 days after receiving the contract/order.
- Enter proposed ratings: the Assessing Official evaluates a GSA contractor’s performance, and enters the proposed ratings and narratives.
- Validate proposed ratings: the Assessing Official checks that the narratives are detailed, accurate, and supported by enough evidence to warrant the proposed rating. They then send the evaluation to the Contractor Representative.
- Contractor comments: the Contractor Representative can make comments and indicate whether or not they agree with the evaluation. They have a maximum of 60 days to do so.
- Review Contractor comments: in case the Contractor Representative agrees, the Assessing Official can close the evaluation. If not, the evaluation is sent to the Reviewing Official.
- Reviewing Official comments: the Reviewing Official looks at both sides, makes comments, signs and closes the evaluation.
Need help with your CPARS rating?
At Price Reporter we help businesses like yours not only with winning a GSA Schedule, but with post-award maintenance. Contact our consultants today to learn more.
