Information on Contracting for Interpreter and Translation Vendors
The California Multiple Award Schedule (CMAS) contracts are established using products, services and prices from existing competitively assessed, cost-compared multiple award contracts. The products, services and prices are primarily from the Federal General Services Administration (GSA) multiple award schedule program. The contracts are utilized statewide by both California state and local government agencies under delegated authority from the Department of General Services. Agencies make best value purchasing decisions according to their own business needs such as price, warranty, and supplier performance.
State departments should ensure that interpretation and translation vendors utilize individuals that are: (1) qualified to perform the requested work, and (2) follow a code of conduct/ethics that ensures they maintain a recommended level of professionalism and confidentiality. The SPB recommends that state department request documentation from contract vendors certifying that the bilingual language fluency skills of their interpreters and translators have been appropriately assessed. The following document was developed by the SPB to assist state departments in ensuring qualified interpreters and translators are utilized by contractors:
CMAS Interpreter and Translation Vendors
To located available interpreter and translation vendors, departments should utilize the CMAS search by Product/Service Description. This contains a listing of CMAS contractors by the type of products or services they are awarded under the CMAS contract. Once you access the CMAS Web site, you will need to type in the service description (i.e., Translation) before you initiate your search.
State Contracting Manual
The State Contracting Manual contains valuable information on the competitive bidding methods. You may select the chapter dealing with this topic by clicking on Chapter 5.
Recommended Performance Standards
The SPB recommends that whenever a state department enters into a contract for interpreter and/or translation services, that it ensures it has adequately identified the specific services to be rendered. This would include a description of the work to be performed under the service order including the quality, accuracy and cost for the product and/or services. The SPB has prepared the template below, to assist state departments in outlining the scope of work to be performed:
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