In September 2015, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) issued Lease Acquisition Circular (LAC) 2015-06, which required GSA's Lease Contracting Officers (LCOs) to cease the use of earlier Request for Lease Proposal (RLP) and Lease forms – including Streamlined Leases (GSA Forms R101B and L201B), Standard Leases (GSA Forms R101C and L201C) and Succeeding/Superseding Leases (GSA Forms R102 and L102) – in favor of the new Global RLP (GSA Form R100) and Global Lease Template (GSA Form L100). The LAC was effective last fall at the time of its issuance, but these new Global RLPs and Lease Templates are now hitting the streets in large numbers. The primary change as it relates to lessors is that the new forms act as a menu of lease provisions that LCOs can pick and choose from depending upon the circumstances.

This move to consolidate the lease forms is a marked departure from the years-long development of the forms that the Global RLPs and Lease Templates have replaced. The GSA's Public Buildings Service had previously overseen a large, multiyear lease reform effort that resulted in the split of GSA leases into five different models, which took effect in 2012. Last fall, GSA directed a shift from this multi-form, tailored-lease policy back toward a single set of lease documents in an effort to provide more flexibility in drafting RLP packages.

Other GSA Changes Expected

This shift in lease policy and creation of new leasing forms is only the first step in GSA's long-term strategic plan to streamline some of the processes involved with government leasing. GSA's National Office of Leasing is already actively working to create an Online Offeror Portal and a "clause builder" that will require the consolidation of lease models and logic into one RLP/Leasing platform. As per LAC 2015-06, the new Global RLP and Global Lease Template, along with a modified Form 1364, represent GSA's first move toward this ultimate goal.

The only exceptions to the blanket requirement for use of the new Global RLP and Global Lease Template are for Simplified Leases, On-Airport Leases and Warehouse Leases. But changes are coming to those leases as well, and they are expected to be incorporated into the consolidated lease forms in Fiscal Year 2016.