The Department of Veterans Affairs is one of the largest federal customers for grounds maintenance services in the country. With more than 170 VA medical centers and over 1,000 outpatient sites across the United States, the agency routinely awards multi-year recurring grounds contracts for landscape maintenance, mowing, edging, irrigation, snow removal, and seasonal cleanup. For veteran-owned firms with genuine landscape capability, the VA is one of the most accessible and reliable federal customers available.
This article walks through how the VA structures these awards through its Network Contracting Office system, why the multi-year base-plus-options structure matters, what contracting officers and contracting officer's representatives actually evaluate, and how A5N Prime approaches this work.
How the VA Buys Grounds Maintenance: The NCO Structure
The VA centralizes most of its operational contracting through Network Contracting Offices, or NCOs, organized geographically. NCO 7, for example, covers the Southeast and includes facilities across Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and South Carolina. NCO 23 covers the Midwest, including Iowa where the VA Central Iowa Health Care System operates. Each NCO has its own contracting officers, contracting officer's representatives (CORs), and small business advocates, and each NCO maintains its own pipeline of recurring service contracts.
Grounds maintenance contracts are typically awarded by the local VA medical center's COR working with the regional NCO contracting officer. Solicitations are posted to SAM.gov, often as SDVOSB or VOSB set-asides under the Vets First mandate. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code most commonly used is 561730 (Landscaping Services), with a small business size standard of $9.5 million in average annual receipts.
Why multi-year base-plus-options matters
Most VA grounds contracts are structured as a base year plus four option years, for a total potential performance period of five years. This structure benefits both sides. The VA gets price certainty and continuity of service without re-competing every year, and the contractor gets a multi-year revenue stream that justifies investment in equipment, workforce development, and on-site supervision.
Option years are not automatic. The VA must affirmatively exercise each option, usually 60 days before the current period of performance ends. Strong contractor performance — measured through CPARS, COR feedback, surveillance reports, and absence of complaints — is the single biggest factor in whether options get exercised. A contractor that mobilizes well in the base year and delivers consistently typically gets all four options exercised. A contractor that struggles in the base year may see the VA decline to extend, even on a contract that was won at a competitive price.
What the COR Actually Evaluates
The CO writes the contract, but the COR runs it day to day. CORs are typically facility operations staff at the medical center — engineering managers, grounds supervisors, facility directors. They walk the site, they receive complaints from staff and patients, and they write the surveillance reports that drive CPARS evaluations.
What CORs care about, in rough order of importance:
- Reliability. Does the contractor show up on the scheduled days? Are mowing cycles maintained through the growing season? Are seasonal transitions (fall cleanup, spring startup, winter readiness) executed without prompting?
- Communication. When weather, equipment failure, or staffing issues disrupt the schedule, does the contractor communicate proactively? Or does the COR have to discover problems by walking the grounds?
- Quality. Are edges clean? Are mulch beds maintained? Are dead plants replaced under the warranty terms in the contract? Is the property fit for patients, visitors, and staff?
- Compliance. Does the contractor's crew wear identification? Are background checks and security paperwork current? Are subcontractors properly disclosed and approved?
- Documentation. Are monthly service reports submitted on time and in the format the COR requires? Are invoices clean, accurate, and submitted through the correct payment portal?
What the CO Cares About
The contracting officer is the one who writes the contract, approves modifications, and ultimately makes the decision on option exercises. COs care about the same things CORs care about, but they look at the program through a different lens — one focused on contract compliance, audit trail, and risk.
For a CO, a clean contractor is one whose subcontracting plan matches reality, whose insurance is current and properly named, whose certified payroll on Service Contract Act (SCA) covered work is filed on time, whose CPARS submissions don't generate appeals, and whose invoices match the contract line items without explanation needed. A messy contractor is one who triggers audits, modifications, and corrective action.
A5N Prime's Approach to VA Grounds Maintenance
A5N Prime LLC currently performs landscape maintenance for VA Medical Center customers, with multi-year recurring grounds contracts as a core part of the firm's federal portfolio. The approach is straightforward: hire local W-2 crews near the site, maintain company-owned equipment that doesn't depend on subcontractor availability, communicate proactively with the COR rather than waiting for complaints, and treat option-year continuation as the goal of every base-year performance period.
Continuity of crew matters. CORs who watch the same supervisor and the same crew show up every week for five years become advocates for that contractor inside the VA system. That advocacy is what drives option exercises, drives positive CPARS, and drives the agency-side relationships that make the next bid easier.
For Other SDVOSBs Considering VA Grounds Work
The VA grounds market is one of the most accessible federal opportunities for veteran-owned firms with landscape capability. The barriers to entry are real but not prohibitive: a clean SDVOSB certification, a workforce that can be deployed to the site, equipment appropriate to the scope (typically commercial mowers, edgers, blowers, irrigation, and seasonal equipment), insurance at the levels VA specifies (typically $1M general liability minimum), and the discipline to perform reliably across a multi-year contract.
The firms that fail at VA grounds work usually fail in one of three ways: they underbid the work and can't sustain crews; they over-rely on subcontractors who are not reliably available; or they treat the contract as transactional rather than as a multi-year relationship with the COR and CO.
For more on A5N Prime's federal grounds and facilities work, see our capabilities and past performance portfolio. To discuss a teaming opportunity or a subcontracting relationship, contact us.