| Canadian Furniture Task Group | |
| BACKGROUND | |
| Click here for history of task group and formation of the Government Office Furniture Advisory Committee (GOFAC). | |
| CALENDAR | |
| The next conference call of the BIFMA Canadian Furniture Task Group will be on Wednesday, June 1, 2011 from 9:00 to 10:00 am Eastern Time. We have moved our regular meeting date of the month to the first Wednesdays for the foreseeable future. Please send suggestions for additional agenda items to Brad Miller of BIFMA (bmiller@bifma.org). |
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| NEWS | |
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2010-12-08 Notes from BIFMA Task Group Meeting Task Group Co-Chairperson Greg Rapier reported on a conversation he had recently with April Charron of PWGSC where she said they are trying to set up a GOFAC meeting for January. They may switch to longer, possibly day-long meetings, on a quarterly basis. She told him they are reviewing their furniture procurement process and want to bring a new plan forward for industry to comment on. They may return to a process where companies could qualify in an ongoing basis rather than the "one-shot", you are qualified or not, basis they have been attempting. The Desking RFSO may be issued early next year. This would be an RFSO only for one year that would then roll into the new framework they want to establish. The Freestanding RFSO process is not completed and no one had new information on that. The task group discussed the idea of quarterly GOFAC meetings including conference call access for non-GOFAC members so that everyone could listen in. Brad Miller of BIFMA will explore that idea with PWGSC. The next task group call was scheduled for January 12, 2011. |
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| 2010-01-22 GOFAC Meetings Suspended Until Solicitations for Desking, Freestanding and Office Seating Completed From: "Marc Carriere" <Marc.Carriere@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca> Date: January 22, 2010 11:37:38 AM EST To: "Brad Miller" <bmiller@bifma.org> Cc: "William Dubroy" <William.Dubroy@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca>, "Guy Ranger" <Guy.Ranger@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca>, "Jill Biesenthal" <Jill.Biesenthal@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca>, "Pierre Tremblay (R)" <Pierre.R.Tremblay@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca>, "Bianca Gauthier" <Bianca.Gauthier@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca> Subject: RE: Government Office Furniture Advisory Committee Issues Mr. Miller, I offer the following in response to your e-mail of January 15, 2010 and your letter of January 9, 2010. PWGSC is pleased that you are getting positive feedback from the Office Furniture industry representatives who attended the recent GOFAC meetings. As Mr. Tremblay indicated to you, I have been chairing the GOFAC meetings since last fall as A/Senior Director responsible for the Office Furniture division. PWGSC understands that industry representatives would like to continue having monthly GOFAC meetings as indicated in your letter. This issue was also brought up at our most recent GOFAC meeting. After due consideration, unfortunately, PWGSC will be halting the GOFAC meetings once the RFSO/RFSA solicitations for Desking, Freestanding and Office Seating are issued, which we anticipate will occur in the coming weeks. In order to be, and appear to be, fair and transparent, PWGSC does not want to risk creating the perception that GOFAC members from industry may have an unfair advantage over other industry representatives who are not part of the GOFAC membership. In your letter, you indicated four additional points for discussions which we will consider for future meetings. However, I would like to make the following comments. Continuity of Government GOFAC membership |
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| 2010-01-13 The Canadian Government's "Mandatory Environmental Checklist for Office Furniture" is open for additional comment. The Checklist references the BIFMA e3 Furniture Sustainability Standard and proposes dates where various credits need to be complied with individually. They are asking for feedback by January 27 and will implement this for the Seating Request For Standing Offer (RFSO) that they hope to issue in March. The task group is exploring the possibility of a conference call with experts on the standard for early next week. Anyone interested in participating in that call should contact bmiller@bifma.org.
The number of products currently certified to BIFMA’s Furniture Sustainability Standard surpassed 200 in November of 2009. Launched in June of 2009, the level™ Certification Program is a third party certification for products that meet various "levels" of the sustainability standard. BIFMA licenses the use of the level™ conformance mark to certification bodies and there are now six organizations licensed to certify products. Those organizations are Bureau Veritas, Intertek, LGA, NSF International, SCS, and UL Environment. A free copy of the standard, a complete list of all certified products, and further information on level™ can be found at the website: http://www.levelcertified.org Please RSVP for these meetings by sending an email to Roxanne DeBoer of BIFMA (email@bifma.org). |
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| 2010-01-12 From: "Jill Biesenthal" <Jill.Biesenthal@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca> Date: January 12, 2010 1:32:59 PM EST To: "Brad Miller" <bmiller@bifma.org> Cc: "William Dubroy" <William.Dubroy@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca> Subject: Documentation from Recent GOFAC Meetings Brad: I have attached the committee approved minutes from these meetings for posting. |
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| 2009-12-01 Below is correspondence from PWGSC with information from the last GOFAC meeting and an agenda for the next meeting.
From: Jill Biesenthal Brad: As you know, there have been recent meetings of the Government Office Furniture Advisory Committee (GOFAC). To that end, PWGSC are requesting that BIFMA post the relevant documentation on their web site for all suppliers to have access to the information. I have attached the handouts and committee approved minutes from the September meeting for posting. > GOFAC presentation sep 29 draftpage4titlechanged.ppt Thanks for your assistance in this matter. Jill Biesenthal The next meeting of the Government Office Furniture Advisory Committee (GOFAC) is scheduled for December 8, 2009. Agenda: English and French. |
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| 2009-09-25 The task group held a face to face meeting during IIDEX in Toronto today. More details will be available soon but it was a good session and it was confirmed that the GOFAC would be meeting the following Tuesday, September 29. Contact Brad Miller of BIFMA (bmiller@bifma.org) for a summary of that session and details of our efforts going forward. | |
| 2009-03-04 From The Clerk: The enclosed document (following link) is an unofficial and unedited transcript of a meeting of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates. This document is being sent for information purposes only and may not be quoted, as it may contain transcription errors. The edited, translated transcript will be available on the Committee’s website within the next two weeks. 07 Procurement 2009-03-03.doc If you have any correction to signal, I would suggest you direct your demands to "Publications" to the care of Bruce Young (YoungB@parl.gc.ca) or Sylvie McDermott (McDerS@parl.gc.ca). Meeting transcripts are available on the committee’s website once they have been verified and translated. Other information related to the work of the committee is also available on the committee’s website at the following address: http://www2.parl.gc.ca/CommitteeBusiness/CommitteeMeetings.aspx?Cmte=OGGO&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=40&Ses=2 Furthermore, public meetings are accessible in a live audio feed from the House of Commons Web casting Service (ParlVu), at the following address: http://parlvu.parl.gc.ca/parlvu/upcomingevents.aspx |
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| 2009-03-03 BIFMA Canadian Furniture Task Group remarks before the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates (both Word Documents): English French Greg Rapier of Knoll (co-chair of this task group and one of our representatives to the GOFAC) represented our concerns with the recent procurement for Freestanding Furniture Request for Standing Offer (RFSO). |
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| 2009-02-11 BIFMA Canadian Furniture Task Group protests to The Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister, Public Works and Government Services Canada: PDF version of letter | |
| 2008-10-16 The big news at this month's CFTG meeting was release of the Freestanding Furniture RFSO. Detail on MERX. | |
| 2008-10-08 Copy of communication from Joy Sellers of PWGSC: Good Afternoon Brad, We have just received approval to go out with the RFSO. The anticipated posting date for the new NMSO Freestanding Commodity should be within the next week or so. At that time the finalized baskets of goods will be posted onto MERX. Regards, Joy Joy Sellers Technical Advisor - Furniture Division Commercial Acquisitions and Supply Management Sector Public Works and Government Services Canada tel: (819) 956-3946 fax: (819) 956-7353 |
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| 2008-09-17 At today's meeting of the Canadian Furniture Task Group, Brad Miller of BIFMA reported the following communication from PWGSC about the status of the Freestanding Furniture Request for Standing Offer:
On Sep 17, 2008, at 7:39 AM, Raymond Paquette wrote: Hello Brad, The next meeting of the task group will be one day later than usual due to the Federal Election on Tuesday and Environment Subcommittee meeting on Wednesday. Our Task Group call will occur at 9 am Eastern Time on Thursday, October 16, 2008. |
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| 2008-08-27 Copy of communication from Jill Biesenthal, Technical Consultant in the Furniture Division of PWGSC: Attached is a summary of the comments received on the draft purchase description for Interconnecting Panels and Supported Components (PD-4) . Could you please post this on the web site. <<FR_COMMENT_SHEETPANELS.doc>> <<COMMENT SHEETPANELS.doc>> Thanks Jill Biesenthal |
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| 2008-08-06 Copy of communication from Jill Biesenthal, Technical Consultant in the Furniture Division of PWGSC:
Please be advised that additional changes have been made to the purchase description for Desking Systems as a result of comments received from during the last two weeks. I have attached the revised "Comment Sheet" for your information. The changes have been made in red on the attached document. (French version) Brad: It would be appreciated if you could post the revised comment sheet on the Canadian Government section of the BIFMA web site, so that all suppliers can be informed of these changes. Thanks for your assistance and support. Jill Biesenthal |
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| 2008-08-05 Copy of communication from Jill Biesenthal, Technical Consultant in the Furniture Division of PWGSC:
To GOFAC Members: During the last GOFAC meeting held July 8th, members brought up several issues that were of a concern to industry on the proposed procurement strategy for Panel Systems. PWGSC has taken these issues under advisement and where feasible have revised the panel system procurement strategy accordingly. The final procurement strategy for panel systems is attached. Since GOFAC have completed their current schedule of work, which was to provide assistance on the development of the procurement strategies for the three (3) upcoming Standing Offer Programs (Desking Systems, Freestanding Furniture, Panel Systems), there will be no further GOFAC meetings scheduled until some time in the fall. At that time, work will commence on the development of the procuremenet strategy for office seating. Have a pleasant summer. Jill Biesenthal Membres du CCGMB, Au cours de la dernière réunion du CCGMB, qui a eu lieu le 8 juillet, les membres ont soulevé différentes questions qui préoccupaient l’industrie relativement à la stratégie d’approvisionnement proposée pour les systèmes de cloisons. Travaux publics et Services gouvernementaux Canada a examiné ces questions avec soin et a révisé la stratégie d’approvisionnement des systèmes de cloisons en conséquence, lorsqu’il était possible de le faire. La stratégie d’approvisionnement finale pour les systèmes de cloisons est jointe à ce courriel. Comme les membres du CCGMB ont terminé tout ce qu’il y avait à leur horaire de travail actuel, qui consistait à aider à l’élaboration de stratégies d’approvisionnement pour les trois (3) prochains programmes d’offres à commandes (Systèmes de bureau, mobilier autoportant, systèmes de cloisons), aucune autre réunion du CCGMB n’aura lieu avant l’automne. Le travail commencera alors par l’élaboration d’une stratégie d’approvisionnement pour des sièges ergonomiques. Passez un bel été. Jill Biesenthal Conseillère technique, Division des produits de l’ameublement |
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| 2008-07-13 Communication from Jill Biesenthal, Technical Consultant in the Furniture Division of PWGSC: From: "Jill Biesenthal" <Jill.Biesenthal@pwgsc.gc.ca> Date: July 14, 2008 8:23:39 AM GMT-04:00 To: "Connie Hartley" <connie_hartley@hermanmiller.com>, <greg_rapier@knoll.com>, <bmiller@bifma.org> Cc: "Lindsay Monaghan" <Lindsay_Monaghan@hermanmiller.com>, "Pauline Blanchard" <Pauline.Blanchard@pwgsc.gc.ca> Subject: RE: Interconnecting Panel Draft Connie: |
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| 2008-07-13 Communication from CFTG Chairperson Connie Hartley:
From: Connie Hartley [mailto:connie_hartley@hermanmiller.com] Questions for consideration for the next meeting. 1. I think it may be useful to add a requirement for a freestanding worksurface in the mix. Ususally, a floorplan will require a surface along the window wall that does not use panels. This specific criteria is not met with the freestanding furniture draft. 2. Could you please carefully look at the impact of the last statement of the DRAFT-PD-4. "The manufacturer shall have a buy-back or take-back program." This just shifts the local problem to become someone else's problem. I think we need to be moving in the direction of "disassembly for reuse capability" vs take-back. A few manufacturers are currently working with some states in the US to provide training for prisoners to learn this new trade. In Canada it would be our hope that our industry could work with Corcan to develop a similar plan. Since we are not there yet, could this item be tabled for the next NMSO in 2 years? We should be farther along with a program that works by then. Currently, the local dealerships have been providing take-back programs that best suit their community. |
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| 2008-07-07 Documents for the June 8, 2008 GOFAC meeting: 1) L'ordre du jour / Agenda <<agendajuly8FR.ppt>> <<agendajuly8.ppt>> 2) Présentation / Presentation 3) Procès-verbal de la rencontre du 17 juin 2008 / Minutes of the meeting of June 17, 2008 4) Stratégie sur les Systèmes de bureau pour information ( version anglaise seulement - la version française suivra ) / Desking Systems Strategy for information 5) Comment Sheet for PD-2: Desking Systems-purchase description ( version anglaise seulement - la version française suivra ) |
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| 2008-07-02 Communication from Jill Biesenthal, Technical Consultant in the Furniture Division of PWGSC: The GOFAC's Environmental Sub-Committee is comprised of the following individuals Sue MacKenzie - PWGSC office of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME,s) Caroline MacIntosh (Chairperson) - PWGSC - Office of the Greening of Government Operations Eli Gilbert - CAF Dominic Afonso/Rob Fairs - Steelcase to be named - Global representative Judi Murtogh - PWGSC Real Property Services Andre Clement - Asokan Jean Barbeau - Artopex Raymond Paquette - PWGSC - Furniture Division I am not a member of the committee but attending at the present time to take notes - disseminate information - etc. (Shortly after receiving the above list, Doug Hietkamp of Teknion was named as the BIFMA representative to the Sub-Committee and Karen Worthy of Global is expected to be involved. Both Doug and Karen have been involved in development of the BIFMA E3-2008 Furniture Sustainability Standard which should prove helpful to the Sub-Committee's work.) |
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| 2008-06-23 Communication from Greg Rapier: Here is last document from the June 17 GOFAC meeting (PDF File). This is the sample floor plan they provided for use on the median price calculation for Interconnecting Panels. Greg Rapier |
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| 2008-06-19 Communication from Jill Biesenthal, Technical Consultant in the Furniture Division of PWGSC: GOFAC is currently reviewing the draft purchase description for panel systems (Word Document). All comments, suggestions etc. should be sent to my attention at my e-mail address: jill.biesenthal@pwgsc.gc.ca. I would like to receive all comments by July 15th., so that a document can be prepared for release to all GOFAC members. |
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| 2008-06-18 Notes From June 17, 2008 GOFAC Meeting: (Word Document). Below are the documents referenced in the meeting. Obviously, some of the points in these documents have changed based on decisions made in the meeting yesterday. • Series Definition (PowerPoint) • Basket of Goods - Desking Systems (Word Document) • Desking Procurement Strategy (PowerPoint) • Draft Panel Systems PD (Word Document) • Freestanding Procurement Strategy (PowerPoint) • GOFAC Meeting Minutes of May 13, 2008 (final) (Word Document), French (Word Document) • GOFAC Agenda – June 17, 2008 (PowerPoint), French (PowerPoint) • Desking Systems PD (Word Document) |
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| 2008-06-17 The Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association (BIFMA) International and NSF International (NSF) have announced the release of BIFMA E3-2008 Business and Institutional Furniture Sustainability Standard to the NSF consensus ballot process and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) public comment period. The draft standard is downloadable here: BIFMA E3-2008.pdf. For more information, the BIFMA news release is at http://bifma.org/news/index.html; the NSF news release is at http://www.nsf.org/business/newsroom/press_releases/press_release.asp?p_id=16061; and anyone can comment on the standard at http://standards.nsf.org/apps/group_public/document.php?document_id=1626&wg_abbr. |
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| 2008-06-02 Communication from Jill Biesenthal, Technical Consultant in the Furniture Division of PWGSC: At the recent GOFAC meeting, members had requested information on obtaining copies of the Committee approved Draft of C**/CGSB 44.227 "Freestanding Office Desk Products and Components", as all freestanding desk products will have to meet the technical requirements of this document for the upcoming National Master Standing Offer Program for Freestanding Office Desk Products and Components. A copy of the Draft C**/CGSB 44-227 is available at no cost from: |
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| 2008-05-16 Communication from Jill Biesenthal, Technical Consultant in the Furniture Division of PWGSC: GOFAC is currently reviewing the documentation for desking systems. In order to cover a broader supplier base, it would be appreciated if you could post the draft purchase description and basket of goods for desking on the BIFMA Canadian Government section of your web site. All comments, suggestions etc. should be sent to my attention at my e-mail adddress: Ideally, I would like to receive all comments by June 6th., so that a document can be prepared for release/discussion at the GOFAC meeting scheduled for June 17th. |
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| 2008-05-08 Approved minutes and presentation made at April 29th, 2008 GOFAC meeting in both official languages. • Presentation (English) (French) • Approved Minutes of April 29, 2008 GOFAC Meeting (English) (French) |
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| 2008-05-08 Agenda and materials for May 13, 2008 GOFAC meeting • Presentation (including the agenda at page 2) • Record of Decisions of the meeting of April 29, 2008 (English) (French) • Desking Systems - Purchase Description / Basket of Goods |
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| 2008-04-29 Materials from April 29,2008 GOFAC meeting: • 2007-11-20 Record of Decisions EN (meeting minutes); 2007-11-20 Record of Decisions FR • GOFAC Presentation (PowerPoint with meeting agenda) • Mandatory Environmental Requirements |
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| 2008-04-24 Urgent letter from the Canadian Furniture Task Group to Mme. Liliane Saint Pierre, Assistant Deputy Minister of the Acquisitions Branch, outling our concerns. (PDF file) |
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| 2008-04-23 From Jill Biesenthal <Jill.Biesenthal@pwgsc.gc.ca>, Technical Advisor, (819) 956-3340: In order to keep the office furniture industry abreast of developments occuring within Public Works and Government Services Canada, we are requesting that the following notice be posted on BIFMA's website related to Canadian Federal Government news/issues. A similar notice has been sent to all current National Master Standing Offer Holders for freestanding office desk products and components. All firms offering freestanding office desk products, both general office type and executive office type, under the upcoming National Master Standing Offer Program will be required to meet the acceptance criteria provided in the most recent version of ANSI/FBIFMA X5.5 -2008 "Desk Table Products" and CAN/CGSB 44.227 "Freestanding Office Desk Products and Components", when tested in accordance with the appropriate tests from the standards. All firms offering pedestals and freestanding storage units under the Freestanding office desk products National Master Standing Offer Program will also be required to meet the acceptance criteria provided in ANSI/BIFMA X5.9-2004 "Storage Units" and CAN/CGSB 44.227 "Freestanding Office Desk Products and Components" when tested in accordance with the appropriate tests from the standard. |
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| 2008-04-16 The next meeting of the GOFAC will be on April 29. Click here for a list of Metal Filing Cabinet contracts: NMSO Contracts Awarded |
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| 2008-02-22 We understand that Celine Bedard has taken a new position. Congratulations Celine, your help in launching the GOFAC was invaluable. We wish you the best with your new responsibilities at National Defence and look forward to working with your successor, Pierre Tremblay. |
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| 2007-12-14 Denise LeBlanc has resigned from the group and will transfer over to the construction side of PWGSC on Monday. The new manager is Raymond Pacquette. | |
| RESOURCES | |
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• PWGSC website for Government Office Furniture Advisory Committee Meeting minutes and related documents: http://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/app-acq/rccgmb-gofacm/index-eng.html NOTE: The most recent update to the PWGSC website (as of 2008-02-19) was 2008-01-23. Included in the "Related Documents" available there are the following. * GPD - 10 Metal Filing and Storage Cabinets |
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| • Freestanding Basket of Goods: * Nov. 2007 Basket executive.doc * Nov. 2007 basket seated position.doc * Nov. 2007 basket fixed.doc |
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| This page updated 2011-05-16 | |
