Federal Agencies located within the contiguous United States of America, including, Alaska, American Samoa, Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, Saipan, the Virgin Islands, and the remaining Northern Mariana Islands.
Section C.1.5 of the contract states, "The contractor shall enable the Designated Agency Official (DAO) to submit orders in accordance with the specifications of Section G using the following media: Online/ Internet-accessible/browser-based infrastructure, Electronic mail, Facsimile, Telephone."
Section G.4 of the contract states, "A delivery order is an order for supplies placed against an established contract or with Government sources, and a task order is an order for services placed against an established contract or with Government sources."
Those placing orders against CONNECTIONS must follow Fair Opportunity procedures as described in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 16.505(b). In CONNECTIONS, Fair Opportunity is applied to the subset of contractors in each of the three award categories (Equipment, Support Services and Solutions). See the CONNECTIONS Fair Opportuntiy Guide in our Document Library for further details. Additionally, E-mail Distribution Lists are available to help ordering officials distribute delivery/task order requests to the appropriate CONNECTIONS contractors.
The FAR states at 22.402(b)(2) that, for nonconstruction contracts involving some construction work, the Davis Bacon Act (as well as other labor standards involving construction) does not apply if:
The construction work is incidental to the furnishing of supplies, equipment, or services (for example, the requirements do not apply to simple installation or alteration at a public building or public work that is incidental to furnishing supplies or equipment under a supply contract; however, if a substantial and segregable amount of construction, alteration, or repair is required, such as for installation of heavy generators or large refrigerator systems or for plant modification or rearrangement, the requirements of this subpart apply); or
The construction work is so merged with non-construction work or so fragmented in terms of the locations or time spans in which it is to be performed, that it is not capable of being segregated as a separate contractual requirement.
Thus, the Davis-Bacon Act is not applicable to Connections. If, as noted above, a substantial and segregable amount of construction, alteration, or repair is required, then a separate construction contract outside the Connections program must be issued.
Connections accommodates the use of ODCs but sets basic parameters at the contract level and provides for further limitations at the individual order level. The Designated Agency Official (DAO) has the authority to established maximum allowable amounts with the following limitations: For orders placed under Category 1, ODCs in excess of $10 million must be referred to the GSA Procuring Contracting Officer for review and approval; for Category 2, $15 million; and for Category 3, $30 million. Typically the DAO will consider a number of factors when setting ODC thresholds for their individual orders such as Agency policies and procedures, precedence of earlier procurement decisions, professional judgment and experience, and the special circumstances of the individual order.
ODCs are to be specified in individual orders and reimbursed in accordance with the "Compensation" and "Payments" clauses. The DAO must determine, using the policies and methods set forth in FAR Subparts 15.4 and 16.505(b), that the prices for such items are fair and reasonable.
Additionally all ODCs must fall within the scope of the applicable contract category (i.e., Category 1, 2 or 3) that has been chosen for the order.
