Defining BPAs A Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA), or “charge account,” is an “agreement” between the government and a contractor. BPAs are typically used when the government anticipates requirements for supplies or services on a recurring basis or does not know the exact items, quantities, or delivery requirements. The BPA contains pre-negotiated terms and conditions that will apply only if an Order (or “Call”) is placed against the BPA. An Order placed against a BPA obligates funds and forms a contract.Defining IDIQs An Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) is a contract between the government and a contractor where the government’s exact requirements for delivery and quantity are not yet known, they have a specific requirement for supplies, and/or they do not yet have a timeline defined. The government must state minimum and maximum ordering limitations and a fixed period in which to place orders and obligate the funds for the minimum guaranteed amount but may delay placing orders.How Unison Marketplace Can Help Unison Marketplace is an online acquisition platform that assists Buyers in purchasing the goods and services needed to fulfill their procurement strategies. Marketplace streamlines the proposal process and increases the efficiency of repetitive purchasing and order monitoring by establishing a community of Seller(s) who can provide the requested goods or services. Unison Marketplace offers a variety of ways to support you with your BPA and IDIQ solicitations:
- Access existing BPA or IDIQ programs
- Additional BPA or IDIQ programs onboarded at the discretion of an agency
- Ways to compete BPAs or IDIQs to establish a Seller community and ceiling pricing
- Solicit subsequent Calls from established programs
- Full documentation on all actions taken within the Marketplace provided in a PDF package for easy e-filing resources
- Option to run Compete (subsequent buy) or Purchase (single instance buy) task orders among pools of competing suppliers
- Creation of a closed Seller community with available BPAs or IDIQs for Buyers to simply select desired line items and quantity
- Establish BPAs or IDIQs through initial competition, then instigate a second round of competition for Buyers to make awards under the original terms of the BPA or IDIQ
Find Unison’s free whitepaper, the ABCs of BPAs and IDIQs,here.Click here to watch Unison’s webinar on the ABCs of BPAs and IDIQs.
