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The FAC-COR Certification is the only
certification HHS
recognizes as meeting the eligibility standards to be appointed as a
Contracting Officer Representative (COR) for all contracts in HHS
and its Operating Divisions. NIH
strictly follows HHS
guidance and adheres to all policies and procedures set forth in the HHS
FAC-COR Handbook. A COR is authorized,
in writing, by the Contracting Officer to perform specific technical and/or
administrative functions.
The FAC-COR Program is divided into three
tiers based on complexity and dollar thresholds of the total contract
value. Each tier is independent of the
others and does not require perquisite certifications to obtain a higher
level. Please Note: The thresholds set
forth below are NIH-specific as determined by the Head of the Contracting
Activity, Diane Frasier, in conjunction with the HHS
policy directive issued in January 2012 by the Senior Procurement Executive, Dr.
Angela Billups, which allows for OPDIVs under HHS
to set specific threshold levels.
All certification are handled by the Federal
Acquisition Institutes Training Application System (FAITAS). You must be register in this system in order
to be eligible for any acquisition certifications at NIH. FAITAS
Website Click Here
INITIAL FAC-COR CERTIFICATION
Level I: Entry
Level/Apprentice (No Prior Experience Required)
Appropriate for individuals serving on
technical evaluation panels or supporting low risk contract vehicles such as
firm fixed price and services/supply contracts and orders that do not exceed
$150,000. Training includes completion of 26 CLPs of specific
courses. Complete the following steps in
order to be approved.
STEP
1: Register in the
FAITAS System. FAITAS
Website Click Here
STEP
2: Complete the required training (in any order):
A. 8+ hour Intro to COR Training (DAU: CLC
106 or FCR-100 or ASI
Sequence)
B. 16
hour HHS Appropriation Law training
C. 2 hour Green Purchase training
STEP
3: Apply for
certification in the Federal Acquisition Institute Training Application System
(FAITAS) through the following commands. Please Note: All
applications have three sections that require an attachment to be added in
order to submit. “Education” and
“Experience” are not required for Level I so attach a word document stating
“Not required” to bypass this error.
Top Toolbar>>Manager
Career>>Certification>>My Certification Request>>Add
Certification Requests
STEP
4: Subscribe to the
NIH PROJECTOFFICER ListServ for program updates and training opportunities. Click Here for FAC-COR listserv
What Happens Next? The application will be routed, in the system, to
your supervisor who will approve or disapprove.
Once approved, it will be routed to the NIH Acquisition Career Program
Office for review and approval/disapproval.
Once approved, it will then be routed to the HHS Agency Certification Manager for final review and
approval/disapproval. Once approved, you
will be notified through FAITAS and your certification will be available in the
FAITAS system. You must maintain your
certification every two years by meeting all the re-certification requirements.
Level II:
Mid-level/Journeyman (One Year Experience Required)
Appropriate for individuals supporting
contract vehicles of moderate to high complexity with threshold values ranging from
$150,000 to $25,000,000. Training includes
completion of 60 CLPs of specific trainings. Complete the following steps in order to be
approved.
STEP
1: Register in the FAITAS System.
FAITAS
Website Click Here
STEP 2: Complete the required training (in any order):
A. 40 hour Basic COR training
B. 16
hour HHS Appropriation Law training
C. 2 hour Green Purchase training
D. 2
hour Acquisition Elective
STEP
3: Complete Appendix G
STEP
4: Apply for
certification in the Federal Acquisition Institute Training Application System
(FAITAS) through the following commands. Please Note: All
applications have three sections that require an attachment to be added in
order to submit. “Education” is not
required for Level II so attach a word document stating “Not required” to
bypass this error. Appendix G will be uploaded into the “Experience” section.
Top Toolbar>>Manager
Career>>Certification>>My Certification Request>>Add
Certification Requests
STEP
5: Subscribe to the
NIH PROJECTOFFICER ListServ for program updates and training opportunities. Click Here for FAC-COR listserv
What Happens Next? The application will be routed, in the system, to
your supervisor who will approve or disapprove.
Once approved, it will be routed to the NIH Acquisition Career Program
Office for review and approval/disapproval.
Once approved, it will then be routed to the HHS Agency Certification Manager for final review and
approval/disapproval. Once approved, you
will be notified through FAITAS and your certification will be available in the
FAITAS system. You must maintain your
certification every two years by meeting all the re-certification requirements.
Level III:
Senior/Expert (Two Years Experience on
Federal Projects Required)
Appropriate for highly complex and mission
critical contract vehicles requiring significant acquisition investment for
contracts exceeding $25,000,000. Training includes completion of 98
CLPs of specific trainings. Complete
the following steps in order to be approved.
STEP
1: Register in the FAITAS System.
FAITAS
Website Click Here
STEP 2: Complete the required training (in any order):
A. 40 hour Basic COR training
B. 16
hour HHS Appropriation Law training
C. 2 hour Green Purchase training
D. 16 hour Intro to Project/Program Management –
complete suggested
sequence through FAI/DAU or other source such as ASI
E. 8
hour Earned Value Management training – Complete CLB
016, CLB
018 & CLM 013 through FAI/DAU or other source such as ASI
F. 8 hour Risk Management training – Complete CLM
017 through FAI/DAU, the NIH Training Center, or other source such as ASI
G. Complete any 8 hour IT/Construction/Advanced
R&D training via FAI/DAU,
via the NIH Training Center or other source such as ASI
STEP
3: Complete Appendix G
STEP
4: Apply for certification
in the Federal Acquisition Institute Training Application System (FAITAS) through the following commands. Please Note: All
applications have three sections that require an attachment to be added in
order to submit. “Education” is not
required for Level III
so attach a word document stating “Not required” to bypass this error. Appendix
G will be uploaded into the “Experience” section.
Top Toolbar>>Manage Career>>Certification>>My
Certification Request>>Add Certification Requests
STEP
5: Subscribe to the
NIH PROJECTOFFICER ListServ for program updates and training opportunities. Click Here for FAC-COR listserv
What Happens Next? The application will be routed, in the system, to
your supervisor who will approve or disapprove.
Once approved, it will be routed to the NIH Acquisition Career Program
Office for review and approval/disapproval.
Once approved, it will then be routed to the HHS Agency Certification Manager for final review and
approval/disapproval. Once approved, you
will be notified through FAITAS and your certification will be available in the
FAITAS system. You must maintain your
certification every two years by meeting all the re-certification requirements.
FREE ONLINE TRAINING OPTIONS
There are currently
two free online vendors that provide numerous training options to complete the
certification and re-certification requirements.
FAI/DAU: The Defense Acquisition University (DAU) offers several courses related
to acquisition and budget. These courses
can be registered for through FAITAS and a complete listing of their courses
with the number of CLPs awarded for each can be found at www.dau.mil.
ASI: ASI’s Applied Learning
Online (ALO) modules offer several course related to
acquisitions. The licenses for this
vendor are paid for annually by HHS. They are reusable so HHS limits the enrollment time one has to complete the trainings to 21
days. Send enrollment requests to FAC-COR@mail.nih.gov.
FAITAS INSTRUCTIONS
The links below
provides the FAITAS User Guides for both Employee and Supervisor actions in
FAITAS. These are step-by-step instructions to all the actions employees or
supervisors will do in the FAITAS System. The instructions to the most common
action are provided below with HHS/NIH specific details.
Click
Here for FAITAS Employee User Guide
Click
Here for FAITAS Supervisor User Guide
Submitting
a new certification request: This process
covers new certification requests, requests for a different FAC-COR
certification level, and for FAC-COR certifications that have lapsed. This process
is NOT for re-certification requests.
Please follow the command
chain below to locate the initial certification request form. Please upload
the necessary training and experience documents into each of the
sections. The certification request is approved by your immediate
supervisor, the NIH ACM, and the HHS ACM.
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Toolbar>>Manage Career>>Certification>>My Certification
Request>>Add Certification Requests
Questions? Send to
FAC-COR@mail.nih.gov