A blanket purchase agreement (BPA) is an acquisition method that allows government and agencies to fill anticipated repetitive needs for various supplies or services through a virtual line of credit with a trusted supplier. The key difference between BPA and GSA Schedules lies in the ability for the agencies to buy a variety of supplies or services that would typically require the agency to purchase through multiple GSA schedules or contracts. BPAs are negotiated on an individual agency level, and generally, only a small number of agency offices can place orders on them. Sales conditions are agreed upon ahead of BPA awards and include details of supplies or services needed and the price for each of them. As a comparison, GSA Schedules are negotiated directly and only with GSA and, once awarded, allows any federal agencies to purchase directly from them. BPA orders also often have an acquisition threshold where GSA Schedules do not.
Unifire currently holds two BPAs: