1. Office of Acquisition and Logistics Management
NIH Acquisition Career Program Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (Refresh)
Office of Acquisition and Logistics Management
Aaron Weimer
Acting Acquisition Career Manager
8/20/14

2. Agenda Brief History of the FAC-C Program Unchanged FAC-C Requirements
FAC-C Refresher
FAITAS
TIPS
Links
Questions

3. Brief History
OFPP Policy Letter est. the FAC programs. A joint effort of FAI and the CAO Council crafted the original FAC-C Program in December 2005
The FAC-C Program, as it is currently today, dates back to December This mandated the implementation of the current curriculum by FY2010 to bring inline with DAWIA requirements
10/1/2011 DAWIA overhauled their certification program and FAI did not.
May 7, 2014 OMB Memo established the FAC-C Refresh for all executive agencies to be implemented by 10/1/14 or sooner depending on agency guidance. (HHS is using the 10/1/14 date for implementation)
From 5/7/14 to 10/1/15 there will be two FAC-C program running concurrently: FAC-C (Legacy) & FAC-C (Refresh)

4. 5/7/14 OMB Memo The revised FAC-C Program is effective 10/1/2014
Previous curriculum will be accepted until 10/1/15
Aligns FAC-C levels with the current DAWIA levels
FAC-C Legacy holders will automatically be grandfathered into the FAC-C Refresh program as long as their CLP requirements are met and maintained.
AWF holding a CO warrant as of the effective date of this certification program, regardless of GS series, and other contracting professionals in the 1102 job series MUST be certified at an appropriate level pursuant to agency policy.
Those COs not required to be certified under the previous policy shall be given a period of two years to complete their certification requirements.

5. FAI
The FAI Board of Directors provides general oversight and administration of the FAC-C program.
The Board also ensures that the program meets the needs of the civilian agency AWF.
While HHS follows FAI’s FAC-C requirements policies and curriculum, they have supplemented these with additional training requirements such as the HHS Appropriations Law training.

6. Requirements Unchanged
The educational and experience requirements for the 3 FAC-C levels have remained unchanged with this refresh.
FAC-C Level I Requires 1 year experience and 24 business credits or a college degree in any field
FAC-C Level II Requires 2 years experience and 24 business credits or a college degree in any field
FAC-C Level III Requires 4 years experience and 24 business credits and a college degree in any field
Educational waivers will still not be issued by the SPE

7. FAC-C Level I (Refresh)
CON100 Shaping Smart Business Arrangements = Online 16 hours
CON121 Contract Planning = Online 10 hours
CON124 Contract Execution = Online 13 hours
CON127 Contract Management = Online 10 hours
CLC058 Intro to Contract Pricing = Online 2 hours
CLC057 Performance-Based Payments = Online 2 hours
CON170 Fundamentals of Cost/Price Analysis = Classroom 80 hours
FAC031 Small Business Module = Online 2 hours
FAC023 Basic Contracting for GSA Schedules = Online 4 hours
FCN190 FAR Fundamentals = Classroom Approx. 80 hours
Total = 219 hours (43 additional hours than Legacy)

8. FAC-C Level II (Refresh)
CON200 Business Decisions for Contracting = Online 25 hours
CON216 Legal Considerations in Contracting = Online 23 hours
CLC056 Analyzing Contract Costs = Online 17 hours
CON270 Intermediate Cost/Price Analysis = Classroom 80 hours
CLC051 Industrial Property = Online 2 hours
HBS428 Harvard Business Modules: Negotiating = Online 2 hours
CON280 Source Selection and Administration of Service Contracts = Classroom 80 hours
CON290 Contract Administration and Negotiation Techniques in a Supply Environment = Classroom 80 hours
Total = 309 hours (45 additional hours than Legacy)

9. FAC-C Level III (Refresh)
CON360 Contracting for Decision Makers = Classroom 76 hours
One HBS Module (except HBS428) = Online 2 hours
Two 16 hour Elective Trainings = Online/Classroom 32 hours*
Total = 110 hours (2 additional hours than Legacy)
*Cannot be a conference, symposium, or like
Ideally the 16 hours should not be broken down into anything smaller than 4 hour trainings courses.
There are excellent training courses that are less than 4 hours so the determination of what counts is at the ACMs discretion

10. HHS Appropriations Law
All 1102s and those warranted in the delegated community had to take this course in 2011 as mandated by former Sec. Sebelius.
All new employees with the same criteria as above must complete this training before being certified or warranted.
Every single FAC certification (FAC-C, FAC-COR & FAC-P/PM) request in FAITAS must have a copy of the HHS Appropriations Law completion certificate attached.
If the training was taken within the last two year, it can be used as one of the 16 hours electives (Level III)

11. FAITAS
Register for your CON, CLC, FAC, and HBS courses using FAITAS as a free source of training (not the only source for CON courses)
While FAITAS was supposed to be for free training, few agencies have been able to setup trainings for a cost (TAI) but there will be warnings that will not let you register without knowing it is a fee for training course
“No Shows” will be denied enrollment in any training in FAITAS for 6 months. (while the training is free to you, government funds were spent to procure your seat)

12. FAITAS Continued All applications must be submitted through FAITAS.
Supervisor = First reviewer
Bureau Certification Manager (BCM) = Second Reviewer
Agency Certification Manager (ACM) = Final Reviewer
BCM = NIH Acquisition Career Manager (ACM)
ACM = DHHS Certification Manager
Do NOT confuse the two ACM acronyms
Application and re-certification statuses can always be tracked in FAITAS

13. Tips Please do not attach PII to your applications or CL Requests.
CON090 is a DOD only course and all executive agencies are exempt from this month long FAR immersion course. FCN 190 is an approx. 80 hour substitute. (still awaiting FAI’s release of this course scheduled for late Fall 2014)
For workforce members signing up for CON 121, the CON 090 prerequisite has been waived for the non-DOD workforce. Those workforce members should follow the directions below when registering for CON 121:
CON 090 will still appear as a requirement during the CON 121 enrollment process.  The registration process can be completed despite the “warning/reminder” message.   This can be done by clicking the link titled “Continue with Application,” at the bottom of the prerequisite warning page.
Enter the following remarks in the text box at the bottom of the last registration page. “CON 090 has been waived for the non-DOD workforce.”

14. Tips
Prerequisites will not be waived by FAITAS for any courses. If you apply for a course that requires the completion of a capstone course from the previous certification, I’ll have to send you an invite to qualify for “fulfillment/equivalency” in FAITAS.
Ex: You are FAC-C Level I and you want to apply to CON200. The prerequisite for CON200 is CON170 but you took CON120 under the legacy program. In order to register, you will have to request an invite from our office to show equivalency using your FAC-C certificate to show you’ve met the requirements.

15. Important Links OALM’s ACP Website: http://oalm.od.nih.gov/about-acp
FAITAS:
FAI.GOV:

16. Aaron Weimer, Acting ACM:
Questions & POC
Aaron Weimer, Acting ACM: