Subawards/Subcontracts
Distinguishing between a Subrecipient, Supplier and Consultant
Subrecipient Selection Process
The Principal Investigator is in the best position to select a subrecipient that will be included in a proposal. The Principal Investigator has a responsibility to ensure the subrecipient selected has the technical capabilities to perform the work and the proposed budget is reasonable.
What’s Needed At Time of Proposal
For all proposed subawards that will be included in a UVM proposal, Principal Investigators are asked to obtain from the subrecipient, an administratively approved subaward proposal. This authorized subaward proposal shall be submitted to SPA with the UVM proposal package.
At a minimum, a subrecipient's proposal should include the following:
1. Endorsement from the subrecipient’s Authorized Official. This endorsement is provided in many different formats. For example, signed budget pages, a letter of intent that covers the subcontract proposal, or a signed agency cover sheet or face page.
2. A clear Statement of Work to be performed by the subrecipient.
• Is the section of a subaward that describes the work to be undertaken by the subrecipient
• It should be a concise narrative summary of the work to be undertaken by the subrecipient
• Period of performance
• A list of detailed work requirements. List tasks and what is expected. This should provide both technical and performance specifications.
• Performance, quality and timeliness requirements. This includes required or acceptable levels of performance on each specific task measured in terms of accuracy, response time, and speed.
• Workload requirements. A description of levels or size of contractual effort.
• Personnel requirements. Minimum qualifications or skill levels expected in the contractor's staffing.
• Reporting requirements. Describe any reports to be submitted by the contractor to show progress.
3. A corresponding Budget and Budget Justification
4. A completed UVM Subrecipient Commitment & Audit Certification Form, unless subrecipient is participating in the FDP Expanded Clearinghouse Project. If that is the case, SPA will use the information available from that site for risk analysis purposes.
5. Additional Information, when required by funding agency, such as;
• Biographical Sketches of Key Personnel
• Current and Pending Support of Key Personnel
• Representations and Certifications
• Detailed Budget Information
• Negotiated Facilities and Administrative Cost Agreement
UVM Budgeting of Subaward or Subcontractor Costs.
When preparing the overall project budget, include the total costs of each subaward or subcontract (Directs + Indirects = Total costs), as one line item in the UVM direct cost budget.
When using the federal base of MTDC, only the first $25,000 of each subaward or subcontract is included in the calculation of UVM indirects.
Subaward Indirect (F&A) Costs (UG sections 200.331, 200.414)Under the Uniform Guidance, Facilities & Administrative (F&A) costs should be budgeted for subrecipients as follows:
• If the subrecipient has a federally negotiated F&A rate, the negotiated rate must be included in all proposed subawards.
• If the subrecipient does not have a federally negotiated F&A rate, under the Uniform Guidance no F&A can be budgeted or subrecipient may elect to charge a de minimis rate of 10% of modified total direct costs (MTDC) which may be used indefinitely.
• For Foreign Institutions, see Subawards to Foreign Institutions
Budgeting for Fixed Price outgoing Subawards (UG Sections 200.201, 200.332)
Federal sponsor prior approval will be required in order for UVM to issue a fixed price subaward rather than a cost-reimbursement subaward. The total cost of each fixed price subaward may not exceed $150,000.
UVM may consider using fixed price subawards with foreign subrecipients, clinical trial site agreements and occasionally with small businesses or other organizations. To expedite sponsor approval, Investigators who are contemplating a fixed price subaward must include the following or similar statement in the budget narrative:
"The budgeted subaward for (Insert Subrecipient name) will be issued as a fixed price subaward. The University of Vermont will consider this fixed price subaward approved if the award is made and no contrary guidance has been provided by the Sponsor to the University in the award notice."
Need Assistance?
If you need assistance in determining whether the anticipated subaward would be issued as a fixed-price subaward or cost-reimbursable, please contact the assigned SPA Research Administrator.