The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has come under scrutiny for bypassing competitive bidding requirements in a $5.6 million pavement services contract at several northern U.S. border stations. The GSA’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) criticized the agency for using an inappropriate preexisting contract for the work, which included road and parking lot construction at six land ports of entry along the U.S.-Canada border.
Improper Use of Preexisting Contract
The GSA’s Public Buildings Service for the Northeast and Caribbean Region (PBS Region 2) used an operations and maintenance services blanket purchase agreement to handle the pavement project, a contract that specifically excluded new construction and non-routine repair services. According to the OIG’s Tuesday report, the project fell outside the contract’s scope and should have been subject to competitive bidding, as required by the Competition in Contracting Act.
The GSA justified its approach by citing the need to expedite the project due to weather conditions in New York State and the deteriorating condition of the border roads. However, the OIG dismissed these reasons, stating they did not justify bypassing federal competition rules.
Small Business Pass-Through Issue
The watchdog report also highlighted concerns that PBS Region 2 created a “pass-through” environment. The women-owned small business that held the original maintenance contract subcontracted nearly all the work to larger firms, undermining the small business contracting set-aside.