On June 18, the General Services Administration published significant new procedures for procurements subject to the project labor agreement mandate on large-scale federal construction projects valued at over $35 million through a new Acquisition Letter and PLA Playbook.
The documents explain that moving forward, the agency is utilizing a ‘paired-proposal’ procedure where contractors are still required to submit a bid that includes a PLA, but can optionally also submit a non-PLA bid.
The guidance states that GSA will then compare the PLA and non-PLA prices. However, the PLA bid price is evaluated as if it is 10% lower than its true price (up to $15 million) to reflect the premium that GSA deems reasonable for a PLA.
If the non-PLA price is lower even after the PLA bid is reduced in price, GSA will consider that contractor's non-PLA bid. If the non-PLA bid wins the award, GSA will obtain a PLA mandate exception for that project.
As of now, this guidance appears to only apply to GSA contracts, representing a relatively small percentage of large-scale federal construction.
ABC is still analyzing the impacts of this change. Despite the indication of potential exceptions, the guidance still appears to favor the use of PLA mandates on GSA contracts.
ABC continues to strongly oppose the illegal, discriminatory and inflationary federal PLA mandate through ongoing litigation and advocacy.