Subcontract Request Form for Northeastern-Issued Subcontracts

1.Request to Issue (check one): / 2. Project Title:
a.[ ] New Subcontract
b. [ ] Amendment to Subcontract
c.[ ] Termination of Subcontract
3.Subcontractor Name: / 4. NU PI; Dept./College Grant Administrator:
5.Sponsor: / 6. Grant #; CFDA #; NU Grant Code #; NU Fund #:
7.Incremental $ Amount: / 8.Cumulative $ Amount (Cumulative & Incremental are the same in Period/Year 1):
9.Incremental Period of Performance: / 10.Cumulative Period of Performance (Cumulative & Incremental are the same in Period/Year 1):
11.Subcontractor PI (s) Contact Info: / 12. Subcontractor Grant Administrator Contact Info (i.e. to whom will the subcontract agreement be emailed for review):

As NU Principal Investigator I certify that:

·  The services of the subcontractor are essential to the project and cannot be provided by individuals currently employed by Northeastern University and/or the physical capabilities do not exist at the University to perform the project tasks.

·  This subcontractor is the sole source, defined as the only source known to perform the services needed for this project or is one source among others that is most advantageous for the purpose of this project.

·  The project or relationship with this subcontractor (check one) ____ does or ____ does not present a potential for a conflict of interest or investigators with a potential conflict have provided complete disclosure of this matter as instructed by current University policy and/or Federal Regulations.

·  The Subcontractor’s proposed costs have been reviewed and are reasonable for the technical effort proposed.

·  Funding is available for this subcontract and is an allowable cost under the terms and conditions of the Prime Award.

·  The information listed on this form is accurate.

PI Signature: Date:

Please submit this completed form to the Subcontracts Office, ORAF, 960 RP, and attach the following:

1.  Subcontractor’s Statement of Work

2.  Subcontractor’s Budget and Budget Justification

Key for Northeastern-Issued Subcontracts Form

Category/Item on Form / Definition/Notes
1.  Request to Issue / Subcontracts (subs) are awarded on a yearly basis, so yearly renewals in the form of Amendments need to be requested using this form if the subs are more than one year in length. Subs terminate at the end of the Period of Performance as stated on the original sub agreement or most recent Amendment (Modification). Normally, there is no need to request Termination of a subcontract, unless the subcontract will terminate earlier than expected. Subs can be outgoing (Northeastern issues the sub) or incoming (Northeastern is the sub). The ORAF Grant Officers manage the incoming subs. The Subcontracts Manager manages the outgoing subs.
2.  Project Title / The Project Title of the subcontract agreement is usually identical to the Title listed on the Notice of Award document.
3.  Subcontractor; Subcontractor Co-PI(s) / A Subcontract is defined as contractual agreement between NU and a third party organization (the Subcontractor e.g. University, Medical Center, Corporation, Design Firm, etc.) to perform a material portion of the University’s sponsored project. The Co-PI (Co-Principal Investigator) is often called the Project Director at the subcontracting organization.
4.  NU PI; Dept/College Grant Administrator / The Grant Administrator is the professional who works directly with the PI to submit a grant proposal (pre-award) and/or manage the grant after it has been awarded (post-award). Some PI’s have their own Grant Administrator, while some share Grant Administrators in a Department or in the Dean’s Office.
5.  Sponsor / The Sponsor is the organization awarding the research funds to Northeastern. A sponsor can be a government agency (NSF or NIH for example) or a foundation (Ford Foundation for example)
6.  Award #; CFDA #; NU Grant Code #; NU Fund # / The Award # is issued to Northeastern from the Sponsor and is located on the notice of award. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) provides a full listing of all available Federal programs. Each program has an unique CFDA # and is located on the notice of award if the award is federal. Visit https://www.cfda.gov/ for more information. A 9-digit inception-to-date NU Grant Code # is assigned to all awards. An award will have one Grant Code # but may have multiple fund/index #’s. The NU Fund # (often called index #), identifies the source of funds, is six digits, and always begins with a 5.
7.  Incremental $ Amount and 8. Cumulative $ Amount / The Incremental $ Amount is the dollar value of funding provided to the subcontractor for each year of the subcontract (Year 1 Incremental $ Amount - $100K, Year 2 Incremental $ Amount $50K, Year 3 Incremental $ Amount $150K, etc.). The Cumulative $ Amount will accumulate by each yearly increment of funds (Add together Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3 Incremental $ Amounts for the Year 3 Cumulative $ Amount = $300K).
9.  Incremental Period of Performance and 10. Cumulative Period of Performance / The Incremental Period of Performance (PoP) is the time span for each period (normally in years i.e. 12 month increments) of the subcontract (Year 1 PoP = 01-01-13 through 12-31-13, Year 2 PoP = 01-01-14 through 12-31-14, Year 3 PoP = 01-01-15 through 12-31-15, etc.). The Cumulative Period of Performance will accumulate by each PoP increment (Add together Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3 Incremental PoP’s for the Year 3 Cumulative $ Amount = 01-01-13 through 12-31-15 ).

Determining Subcontracts versus Vendor Agreements

Key components of subcontracts versus vendor agreements, which can be used to define the contractual relationship.

NOTE: Determining whether or not the contractual relationship is sub or vendor should occur at the pre-award stage i.e. before the grant proposal is submitted to the sponsor.

Subcontract / Vendor Agreement
Subcontractor services are uniquely designed in response to each project, and not provided commercially. / Vendor provides the goods or services commercially.
Subcontractor technical lead is usually a scientific collaborator or a co-PI on the Northeastern project. / Vendor operates in a competitive environment.
Subcontractor usually retains rights to intellectual property. / Vendor retains no rights to intellectual property.
Subcontract participates in development and execution of statement of work. / Vendor provides the goods or services ancillary to the operation of the federal program.
Subcontract results are likely to be published in scientific literature and/or subcontractor is likely to be a co-author in a Northeastern publication. / Vendor results are not likely to be published.

Rules and restrictions that apply to a subcontract versus a vendor agreement:

Subcontract / Vendor Agreement
Requires prior approval of the sponsor, if not originally included in proposal. / Generally does not require prior approval of the sponsor, subject to re-budgeting restrictions imposed on the particular category of cost.
Indirect costs in Northeastern’s accounting system are only assessed on the first $25,000 of transactions of each subcontract. No additional indirect costs will be assessed on this subcontract during the approved period of the award under which it was issued (e.g., during the 3 year lifespan of an NSF award). However, if there is follow-on funding beyond the originally approved period of the award (e.g., competitive renewal), then indirect costs will again be assessed on the first $25,000 of each subcontract. It is particularly important to keep this in mind when preparing proposal budgets. / Indirect costs are assessed on entire expended amount, just as with most other direct costs.
Is exempt from sole-source justification or open-bid requirements (unless issued under a federal contract). / Is subject to sole-source documentation or open-bid requirements.
Is subject to federal subcontract monitoring requirements. / Is not subject to federal subcontract monitoring requirements.

In some cases, it may be difficult to tell the difference between a subcontract and a vendor agreement, but the budget and statement of work will usually provide enough information to make the determination. However, if you have any questions when preparing a proposal budget, please contact your ORAF grant officer for guidance.