When UAB is the prime recipient of a federally funded grant or contract, it may allocate a portion of the scope of work for the project to another organization (subrecipient). UAB will generate an outgoing federal subaward to the subrecipient organization detailing terms and conditions of the award including funding obligations and scope of work requirements.
The Third Party Agreement Determination Form has been developed to help determine whether a third party organization meets the definition of a subrecipient or a contractor.
Submission Process
UAB Policy - Establishing a Subrecipient Agreement
The UAB Letter of Intent to Establish Subaward should be submitted for each subaward at the time the application is submitted to the sponsoring agency at
Once awarded, department personnel should submit the UAB Federal Grant Subaward Request Form. The UAB Subrecipient Questionnaire should be submitted if the subrecipient is not a member of the FDP Clearinghouse along with a finalized Statement of Work and budget. These forms should be attached to the subaward request form and sent to
Subrecipient vs. Contractor
Guidance on Appropriate Classification
Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200.330
Effective Date: December 26, 2014
When UAB provides funds from a federal award to another party, the other party receiving these funds must be classified as either a subrecipient or contractor based on the nature of the relationship and agreement, which is mandated by federal law 2 CFR §200.330 OMB Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards, which went into effect on 12/16/2014. Section 200.330 Subrecipient and Contractor Determinations, as well as section 200.22 Contractor and 200.92 Subaward of the Uniform Guidance provide guidance on making subrecipient and contractor determinations.
Responsibilities
Principal investigators and grant administrators are responsible for determining whether an entity that will assist with research under a sponsored award represents a subrecipient or a contractor (vendor). Advice may be sought from OSP.
OSP will review, negotiate and sign subawards, assuring that appropriate signatures and approvals have been obtained from the other entity.
Why is the determination important?
- Before commencing a relationship with another party under a sponsored award in which the other party will provide goods or services or substantive, programmatic work to UAB as the prime recipient of funding, a determination must be made as to the nature of the legal relationship of UAB and the other party.
- It is important that the correct agreement determination is made early in the process of preparing a grant application, as overhead treatment and monitoring requirements for these types of agreements vary and will impact the grant budget and, in some cases, the grant narrative.
- This is a significant decision because it determines the allocation of responsibilities and influences the appropriate application of F&A cost reimbursement rates. This decision then drives the type of legal agreement required to document the relationship.
- In addition, if specified in the award terms and conditions (as sometimes occurs), sponsor approval may be required prior to executing a subaward; sponsor pre-approval is rarely, if ever, required for UAB to enter into a contractor agreement for purchase of services.
- In the case of a subaward, it is incumbent upon UAB to ensure that subrecipients conduct their portions of research projects in compliance with all applicable terms and conditions of awards and subawards and that project costs incurred by subrecipients are reasonable and allowable.
- Agreements with contractors (vendors) for the purchase of services, however, typically do not bind vendors to the full set of sponsor terms and conditions, and are subject to competitive bidding procurement practices, to assure that funds paid to vendors do not exceed fair market value.
Framework
The criteria used for determining the type of relationship are set forth below:
Subrecipient
A subrecipient relationship is appropriate when:
- Substantive, programmatic work or an important or significant portion of the research program or project is being undertaken by the other entity.
- The research program or project is within the research objectives of the entity.
- The entity participates in a creative way in designing and/or conducting the research.
- The entity retains some element of programmatic control and discretion over how the work is carried out.
- The entity commits to a good faith effort to complete the design or conduct of the research.
- The entity makes independent decisions regarding how to implement the requested activities.
- A principal investigator has been identified at the entity and functions as a “Co-Investigator”.
- There is the expectation that the entity will retain ownership rights in potentially patentable or copyrightable technology or products that it produces in the course of fulfilling its scope of work.
- Publications may be created or co-authored at the entity.
- The entity provides cost sharing or matching funds for which it is not reimbursed by UAB.
- The entity regards itself, and/or is regarded by UAB, as “engaged in research” involving human subjects under the Common Rule and therefore requires approval for its interactions with human subjects.
Subawards should have a detailed scope of work and a budget that specifies salary, fringe, supplies, and other direct costs, as well as appropriate F&A costs consistent with the subrecipient’s F&A cost rate. Terms and conditions from a prime award are typically imposed on the subrecipient to the same degree that they are imposed on UAB; in other words, terms and conditions are flowed down to the recipient.
Contractor
It is the responsibility of the principal investigator to determine whether the price is competitive and reasonable for agreements with both subrecipients and vendors. In either case; however, the agreed-upon cost is not relevant in determining whether the relationship is that of subrecipient or vendor. It is required by federal grant terms and conditions and by good business practices that competitive bids are sought for goods and services from multiple vendors, whenever possible and when the cost exceeds $5,000. Sole source contractor (vendor) relationships may be prohibited by the conditions of the prime award, and if allowed, are typically subject to specific conditions and procedural requirements.
A contractor relationship (including that of an individual acting as a vendor of consulting services) is appropriate when:
- The entity is providing specified services in support of the research program.
- The entity has not significantly participated in the design of the research itself, but is implementing the research plan of the UAB investigator. Little or no independent decision-making is involved in the design and conduct of the research work being completed.
- The entity is not directly responsible to the sponsor for the research or for determining research results.
- The entity commits to deliverable goods or services, which if not satisfactorily completed will result in nonpayment or requirement to redo deliverables.
- The entity does not expect to have its employees or executives credited as co-authors on papers that emerge from the research.
- The expectation is that the work will not result in patentable or copyrightable technology or products that would be owned by the entity.
- The entity markets its services to a range of customers, including those in non-academic fields.
- The agreement only specifies the type of goods/services provided and the associated costs.
In the case of an individual vendor of consulting services, the person has no employment relationship with UAB, either academic or administrative in nature.
Other Subaward Forms
NIH Annual Progress Report (RPPR) Review Plan
NIH RPPR and Final RPPR progress reports must be reviewed and approved by the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) prior to submission to NIH.
Submission Process & Requirements
The progress report must be submitted electronically via eRA Commons. Please see NIH RPPR Guidance for more information.
In addition, a UAB Expedited Checklist must be submitted to the Office of Sponsored Programs (
For information regarding At Risk Account setup, please see the At Risk Accounts section below.
Submission Timeline
Draft progress reports must be submitted to OSP seven (7) business days before the progress report due date. Final progress reports must be submitted to OSP two (2) business days before the progress report due date.Failure to comply with this process may result in progress report submission to NIH after the recommended progress report deadline date. Failure to submit complete and accurate progress and financial reports to NIH may affect future funding to UAB and may result in a delay of continued support.
Determining Progress Report Due Dates
Award Type | Due Date |
---|---|
Streamlined Non-Competing Award Process (SNAP) | Progress reports are due on the 15th of the month preceding the month in which the budget period ends. For example, if the budget period ends on 9/30, then the progress report is due on 8/15. If the 15th falls on a Federal holiday, the due date is automatically extended to the next business day. |
Non-SNAP | Progress reports are due approximately sixty (60) days prior to the start date of the next budget period. |
At Risk Accounts
- Submit the UAB Expedited Checklist for a Non-Competing Continuation submission to
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Within the Expedited Checklist, indicate in the comments section that the submission is for setting up an At Risk Account. This must be done before submitting a request to Grants Accounting in step 2. - Submit an At Risk Request form to Grants Accounting (
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) for processing. For additional information, please review these Frequently Asked Questions.
Additional Information
Regarding complete, timely and accurate progress reports, NIH states:
[Source: NOT-OD-17-074]
PurposeThis Notice reminds NIH recipients about their responsibilities and the requirement to submit complete, timely and accurate progress and financial reports to the NIH which is a term and condition of all NIH awards. PolicyNIH award recipients have a responsibility to submit complete, timely and accurate progress and financial reports as required by the NIH Grants Policy Statement, a term and condition of all NIH grant awards. A summary of required progress and financial reports, including due dates for their submission, is provided below: Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR): Progress reports document grantee recipient accomplishments and compliance with terms of award. Progress reports usually are required annually as part of the non-competing continuation award process and are submitted through the eRA Commons RPPR module. For awards under Streamlined Non-Competing Award Process (SNAP), progress reports are due the 15th of the month preceding the month in which the budget period ends (e.g., if the budget period ends 11/30, the due date is 10/15). If the 15th falls on a weekend or Federal holiday, the due date is automatically extended to the next business day. Non-SNAP RPPRs are due approximately 60 days before the next budget period start date. Multi-year funded (MYF) RPPRs are due annually on or before the anniversary of the budget/project period start date of the award. Financial Expenditure Report - Federal Financial Report (FFR): Reports of expenditures are required as documentation of the financial status of grants according to the official accounting records of the recipient organization. Financial expenditure reports (domestic and foreign) are submitted using the electronic FFR system located in eRA Commons. Except for awards under SNAP and awards that require more frequent reporting, the FFR is required on an annual basis. When required on an annual basis for non-SNAP awards, the report must be submitted for each budget period no later than 90 days after the end of the calendar quarter in which the budget period ended. The reporting period for an annual FFR will be that of the budget period for that particular grant; however, the actual submission date is based on the calendar quarter. Additional information about NIH reporting requirements described above can be found in the NIH Grants Policy Statement under section 8.4 Monitoring and 8.6.1 Final Federal Financial Report at https://grants.nih.gov/policy/nihgps/index.htm. Additional information on the eRA Commons Modules, User Guide, and documentation for submitting progress and financial reports is available at https://era.nih.gov/modules_user-guides_documentation.cfm. Compliance Reminder:Failure to submit complete and accurate progress and financial reports may affect future funding to the organization and may result in a delay of continued support. |
A Federal Grant is a funding mechanism for a broad programmatic objective with standard and acceptable terms and conditions which are preset by a federal entity.
Some Federal Agencies:
- National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- National Science Foundation (NSF)
- US Department of Education (DOED)
- US Department of Justice (DOJ)
- US Department of Energy (DOE)
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
The Industry team within OSP is responsible for the administration of UAB research related activities which are made possible by funding received from for-profit sources. The Industry team reviews proposals for funding, reviews and negotiates contracts for execution and assists with coordination of internal and external requirements to initiate sponsored programs for UAB.
OSP is organized into teams. Each team operates under the direction of an Associate Director. The Industryteam is headed by Associate Director of Industry Area who reports to the AVP of Sponsored Programs, who in turn reports to the Vice President for Research.
Innovations and Entrepreneurship
"The Bill L. Harbert Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship fosters an entrepreneurial ecosystem at UAB and provides the infrastructure required for students, staff, and faculty to commercialize innovation on campus, within the community, and beyond. Through partnerships with UAB schools, colleges, programs, and the local business community, the HIIE works to increase innovation and entrepreneurial opportunities for students, faculty, staff, and businesses to launch sustainable startups with new or disruptive technologies."
Please see the Bill L. Harbert Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (HIIE)