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GSA FAQs

To get answers to the most frequently asked questions about GSA, GSA purchasing, and how the Metalith H2O flood control barriers can be purchased through the GSA, please select one of the links below:

What is the GSA?
How big is the GSA?
Does the GSA buy a lot?
Where are the regional GSA offices?
What is a GSA Schedule?
Can Infrastructure Defense Technologies Metalith H2O flood control barriers be purchased on a GSA schedule?
What are the GSA Schedule advantages?
What kind of organizations purchase using the GSA schedules?
What is a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA)?
Have the Metalith barriers been assigned Special Item Numbers (SIN)?
What Federal Supply Group are the Metalith H2O flood fighting barriers listed under?

What is the GSA?

The General Services Administration is a federal agency of the United States government, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of the ever-growing tangle of federal agencies. The GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. government offices, provides transportation and housing to federal employees, and develops government wide cost-minimizing policies, among other management tasks. GSA secures the buildings, products, services, technology, and other workplace essentials federal agencies need. The GSA is the major supply arm of government which does most of the government's buying.

How big is the GSA?

GSA employs around 13,000 federal workers and has an annual operating budget around $16 billion, of which approximately 1% is appropriated from tax-payer dollars.

Does the GSA buy a lot?

GSA oversees $66 billion of procurement annually and contributes to the management of about $500 billion in U.S. Federal property, mostly divided among 8,000 owned and leased buildings and a 130,000 vehicle motor pool.

Where are the regional GSA offices?

The table that follows shows the current location of the regional Offices of the GSA.

Region # Region Name Complex Location

1 New England Thomas P. O'Neill Jr. Federal Building Boston, MA

2 Northeast and Caribbean 26 Federal Plaza New York, NY

3 Mid-Atlantic The Strawbridge Building Philadelphia, PA

4 Southeast Sunbelt 77 Forsyth Street Atlanta, GA

5 Great Lakes 230 South Dearborn Street Chicago, IL

6 Heartland Bannister Federal Complex Kansas City, MO

7 Greater Southwest 819 Taylor Street Fort Worth, TX

8 Rocky Mountain Denver Federal Center Denver, CO

9 Pacific Rim 450 Golden Gate Avenue San Francisco, CA

10 Northwest/Arctic 400 15th St. SW Auburn, WA

11 National Capital 301 7th St. SW Washington, DC

What is a GSA Schedule?

A GSA schedule is an unfunded, five-year contract listing the prices the federal government has agreed to pay for a vendor's commercial products and services. The contract may be renewed for three five-year periods resulting in a 20-year contract if all renewals are executed.

A GSA schedule contract is an official federal contract but it is not funded and it does not have products or services to deliver immediately. Funding occurs when an order is signed by a federal agency.

There are 62 categories of commercial products and services that vendors may apply for a GSA contract under. Known as schedules, these categories cover everything from industrial products, vehicles, computers and office products, to most categories of professional services.

Can Infrastructure Defense Technologies Metalith H2O flood control barriers be purchased on a GSA schedule?

Yes, soon. The Metalith H2O barriers will be able to be ordered using a standard GSA Schedule shortly..

What are the GSA Schedule advantages?

There are a number of advantages to both the entities buying using the GSA Schedule and the vendor offering its services through the GSA. Some include:

Immediate start up - The award is based purely on best value to the customer. Orders can be placed in one day, or less.

Unlimited ordering size and type - There are no minimum or maximum size limitations imposed on Government Ordering Offices. Orders can be placed as either firm fixed price, or as labor hour or time and materials if time is not easily quantifiable.

Best pricing - The GSA has already approved schedule prices as fair and reasonable. Normally there are special contract provisions for discounts and other pricing options available. There are no additional "surprise" costs in the GSA rates. The contractor pays all GSA usage fees directly. The published rates represent the maximum rates that agencies will always expect to pay.

Multiple orders - For repetitive needs or for agencies with multiple ordering offices, a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) can be established.

What kind of organizations purchase using the GSA schedules?

Everyone in the federal government, the U.S. military, certain international organizations, and others. Examples include:

American Red Cross

Army Corp of Engineers

Bureau of Land Management

Department of Agriculture

Department of Commerce

Department of Defense

Department of Education

Department of Energy

Department of State

Department of the Air Force

Department of the Army

Department of the Navy

Environmental Protection Agency

Federal Trade Commission

North American Treaty Organization (NATO)

U.S. Forest Service

United Nations

World Health Organization

What is a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA)?

A Blanket Purchase Agreement, or a BPA, is an agreement entered into by the Government and a contractor, allowing the Government to issue multiple task orders to a vendor after determining an initial best value. BPAs normally require a vendor to provide a discount deeper than that contained in the GSA Schedule.

Have the Metalith H2O flood control barriers been assigned Special Item Numbers (SIN)?

Not yet. The Metalith H2O flood control and erosion control barriers have applied for SIN numbers.

What Federal Supply Group are the Metalith H2O flood fighting barriers listed under?

This information will be available shortly. Please refer back to this site for updates.

Read details comparing the Metalith H2O flood control barriers versus other systems tested by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

For more information about Infrastructure Defense Technologies' flood barriers and erosion control barriers and applications, please call us at 1-800-379-1822, email us at info@metalithH2O.com, info@infrastructure-defense.com or fill out our contact form.

The Metalith H2O
A Division of Infrastructure Defense Technologies
3575 Morreim Drive • Belvidere, Illinois 61008
Phone: 1-800-621-5617 • Fax: 1-815-323-1317
Email: info@MetalithH2O.com

Please fill out our
contact form or speak directly to a Metalith H2O representative at:
1-800-379-1822.

For more information about the Metalith H2O flood fighting barriers, please request our FREE BROCHURE by mail.

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