Army MAPS Amendment 01: Updates to Evaluation Criteria Small Businesses Need to Review

The Army released Amendment 01 to the MAPS solicitation, updating both submission instructions and evaluation factors, and revising the cover letter requirements and all four scorecards. MAPS is the Army’s $50B multiple-award IDIQ consolidating legacy contracts RS3 and ITES-3S into a single professional services vehicle across five domains, with proposals due May 1, 2026.

Firms that have already begun building their submission packages should review these changes carefully — particularly the Qualified Project (QP) recency date changes and the passthrough rate scoring structure, which could significantly affect which projects are worth submitting and how teams are structured.

OPPORTUNITY SNAPSHOT

  • Opportunity: MAPS (Marketplace for the Acquisition of Professional Services)
  • Agency: S. Army Contracting Command (ACC), Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM)
  • Estimated Value: $50B
  • Proposals Due: May 1, 2026
  • Expected Awards: September 2026
  • Contract Type: Multiple-award IDIQ
  • Duration: 5-year base + 1 five-year option (10 years total)
  • Number of Awards: 350 total (70 per domain)
  • Set-Aside (per domain): 25 Small Business, 30 Large Business (15 reserved for Emerging Large Business), 15 Commercial-Sector Vendors (CSV)
  • Scope: Program Management, Engineering, IT & Digital Services, Data & Analytics
  • Place of Performance: CONUS and OCONUS

KEY CHANGES IN AMENDMENT 01

  1. QP Recency Date Is Now Anchored to May 1, 2026

The recency window for qualifying projects has been updated across Section L, Section M, and the amendment 1 QP form. The reference date is now explicitly set as three years prior to May 1, 2026 — meaning only projects with performance completed on or after May 1, 2023 will qualify.

The scoring distinction matters: LOE-Based QPs with at least one year of completed performance within the last two years (on or after May 1, 2024) earn 1,000 points. Projects completed within the broader three-year window but outside the two-year window still qualify but earn fewer points. Outcome-Based QP’s must have a realized final delivery date within the same windows — ongoing projects will not be accepted and will not be evaluated further.

Firms will want to re-check their QP’s identified before this amendment, to ensure that their projects identified meet the May 1, 2026 anchor date requirements. Projects that qualified prior may fall outside the qualifying window under the updated language.

  1. Passthrough Rate Scoring Now Applies to Both Prime and Subcontractor QPs

Amendment adds important clarification to how passthrough rate is calculated depending on whether the offeror performed as a prime or as a subcontractor on a given QP.

For QP’s where the offeror:

  • was the prime, the total incurred labor dollars reflect the full team — prime and subcontractor labor combined.
  • performed as a subcontractor, the total incurred labor dollars reflect only the offeror’s own labor plus any second-tier subcontracts they let under their subcontract.

The new scoring structure will screen out many teams that rely heavily on subcontractors for delivery. Firms should calculate their passthrough rate for each candidate QP before deciding which projects to submit and how to structure their team.

  1. Task Order Level of Effort Documentation Expanded

Section L.2.3.2 has been updated to allow a Task-Generated Letter (TGL) to be submitted as supporting documentation for a QP. This expands the documentation options available to offerors when substantiating the scope and effort of a qualifying project, particularly for task orders where a standalone PWS or SOW may not exist at the task level.

  1. CUI Supporting Documents Now Require Separate Submission via DoD Safe

Attachment 0001 (Cover Letter) has been updated to include a new section requiring offerors to identify how many supporting documents are Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). Those documents must be submitted separately through DoD Safe rather than through CHESS.

HOW OST CAN HELP

The Amendment 01 changes are specific enough that firms that were already in preparation will need to reevaluate their scoring and QP’s. The recency anchor and passthrough rate scoring may change which projects are worth submitting and whether certain team structures are competitive.

OST supports firms preparing for MAPS with:

  • QP re-evaluation: Reviewing your candidate qualifying projects against the updated May 1, 2026 recency anchor and the LOE vs. Outcome-Based framework to confirm which projects still qualify and at what point value
  • Passthrough rate analysis: Calculating the subcontracted labor percentage for each candidate QP under the updated prime vs. subcontractor methodology, and identifying which projects score best under the new structure
  • Scorecard rebuild: Updating your scoring assumptions across all four scorecard types — Small Business, Emerging Large Business, Large Business, and Commercial-Sector Vendor — to reflect the Amendment 01 revisions
  • Proposal development: Writing, compliance review, and document management through final submission

If this interests you, please book a call with OST Partner and President Bill Schalik via the button below.

Schedule a discussion today.