When people first hear “CMAS,” their eyes tend to glaze over. I get it. “California Multiple Award Schedules” sounds like the kind of phrase that belongs in a filing cabinet, not a conversation. But once you understand what it actually does, it stops looking like paperwork and starts looking like one of the smartest tools available to a California public agency that needs audio-visual technology without losing months to a formal bid process.
I’ve worked with CMAS for well over a decade now, first at another company and for the last several years here at Vizual Symphony, and I still tell people the same thing: it’s one of the better-kept secrets in public procurement. Not because anyone is hiding it; it’s published right on the California Department of General Services (DGS) website. It’s one of the best-kept secrets because so few buyers ever get a plain-English answer about how it actually works. So here it is.
What CMAS Actually Is
CMAS stands for California Multiple Award Schedules. It’s administered by the DGS, and it belongs to a broader category of purchasing tools called Leveraged Procurement Agreements, or LPAs.
Here’s the mechanism in plain terms: a vendor first has to hold a federal General Services Administration (GSA) Schedule contract, which means the government has already gone through a competitive process to determine that vendor’s pricing is fair and reasonable. DGS takes that already-vetted federal contract and layers California-specific terms and conditions on top of it, creating a CMAS agreement.
Because the heavy lifting of price competition has technically already happened at the federal level, the state allows its own public agencies to buy directly from that vendor. There’s no need to repeat a full competitive process at the state or local level.
Why This Matters If You’re the One Buying
A traditional public purchase usually means publishing a formal solicitation, waiting for proposals, evaluating them, and awarding a contract. Depending on the agency and the size of the purchase, that process can easily take several months from start to finish.
A CMAS purchase skips most of that. If a vendor holds a CMAS agreement that covers what you need, you can generally work with that vendor directly and issue a purchase order. Some agencies still require getting a second quote once a purchase crosses a certain dollar threshold, but that’s a phone call and a comparison, not a formal advertised bid.
For anyone who has ever tried to get technology installed before a fiscal-year deadline,
that difference is enormous.
Who Can Actually Use CMAS?
CMAS is available to essentially any California public agency, including:
● State departments and agencies
● Counties and cities
● Special districts
● K–12 school districts
● Community colleges, the California State University system, and the University of California system
If your organization falls into one of those categories, you’re eligible to purchase through a vendor’s CMAS agreement without running your own competitive bid, subject to your own agency’s internal purchasing policies.
How Agencies Actually Find a CMAS Vendor
Every CMAS contractor is listed in a searchable database maintained by the state. Each vendor’s agreement specifies a set of categories (up to ten per agreement) describing exactly what that vendor is authorized to sell or provide, pulled directly from the underlying GSA schedule it’s based on. A buyer can search by category (say, “projectors” or “audio-visual installation”) and see which registered vendors, and which specific agreement numbers, cover that need.
Vizual Symphony currently holds multiple active CMAS agreements covering audio- visual products, installation, programming, and design services. You can see our current agreement numbers, term dates, and categories on our CMAS page.
A Few Ground Rules Worth Knowing
CMAS is generous, but it isn’t unlimited, and understanding the boundaries up front saves everyone a headache mid-project. A CMAS purchase order is meant to be built primarily from CMAS-eligible items. DGS does allow a small amount of “Not Specifically Priced” material on the same order (up to $5,000 for purchase orders of $250,000 or less, and up to 5% of the order (or $25,000, whichever is lower) for larger orders) but it’s meant to fill small gaps, not to carry a project.
It’s also worth knowing that GSA and CMAS eligibility is tied to where a product is manufactured. Items sourced from certain restricted countries aren’t eligible, which is one reason you’ll sometimes see a manufacturer’s product line shift in and out of CMAS availability as their manufacturing footprint changes. A good CMAS vendor tracks this closely so it doesn’t become your problem mid-project.
What This Looks Like With Vizual Symphony
We’re an audio-visual integrator, so our CMAS agreements cover the categories you’d expect: projectors and displays, control systems, audio equipment, video conferencing, and the installation and programming work that ties it all together. We work with major manufacturers whose products are eligible under GSA and CMAS, and we design projects for education, municipal, corporate, house-of-worship, and museum clients across California.
One thing that surprises a lot of buyers: CMAS isn’t reserved for enormous national vendors. Small businesses hold CMAS agreements too, and there’s a real financial advantage baked into that fact, one significant enough that it deserves its own explanation, which we’ll cover next.
Ready to Put CMAS to Work?
If you’re planning an AV project and want to know whether it can move through CMAS, we’re happy to walk through it with you. Schedule a consultation and we’ll tell you exactly what’s possible.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What does CMAS stand for?
CMAS stands for California Multiple Award Schedules, a purchasing program administered by the California Department of General Services (DGS) that allows public agencies to buy from pre-approved vendors without running a full competitive bid.
Is a CMAS purchase the same as a competitive bid?
No. CMAS is a Leveraged Procurement Agreement built on top of a vendor’s existing GSA Schedule contract, which has already been through a federal competitive process. That lets a California public agency purchase directly, though some agencies still require a second quote above certain dollar amounts.
Who is eligible to buy through CMAS?
Any California public agency, including state departments, counties, cities, special districts, K–12 school districts, community colleges, and the CSU and UC systems, subject to that agency’s own internal purchasing rules.
How do I find a vendor’s CMAS agreement and confirm what it covers?
DGS maintains a searchable public database of CMAS contractors and their agreement
categories. You can also ask a vendor directly for its current CMAS agreement number,
term dates, and category list. For example, Vizual Symphony publishes ours on our
CMAS page.
Does using CMAS cost the agency anything extra?
State purchases can carry a small administrative fee, but that fee is waived when the vendor is a California-certified small business. We cover exactly how that works in our next post.
Does Vizual Symphony’s CMAS agreement list change over time?
Yes. CMAS agreements are tied to underlying GSA contracts, which have their own expiration and renewal cycles, so our active categories shift periodically. The current, up-to-date list is always posted on our CMAS page.
What is a Leveraged Procurement Agreement?
A Leveraged Procurement Agreement, or LPA, is the broader category of contract CMAS belongs to. It lets a government entity use the state’s collective buying power to purchase directly from a vendor under pre-negotiated terms, instead of running a separate competitive process for every purchase.
Can non-CMAS items be included on a CMAS purchase order?
In limited amounts. DGS allows a small percentage of Not Specifically Priced items on a CMAS purchase order, up to $5,000 on orders of $250,000 or less, and up to 5% of the order or $25,000, whichever is lower, on larger orders.
