Highlights of changes from old regs to 2 CFR 200
The publication of 2 CFR 200 in 2014 introduced some important changes to the rules for administration of federal awards. The changes with greatest impact on recipients occurred in two key practice areas: procurement and subawards.
Important New Requirements on Recipient Procurement Policy
- Explicit requirement to maintain written standards of conduct covering organizational conflicts of interest when dealing with a parent, affiliate or subsidiary organization. (§ 200.318(c)(2)).
- Expanded requirements for documentation of procurement actions, including the following:
- requirement to document the selection of type of contract (fixed price/fee, cost plus fee, etc.) - § 200.318(i);
- specific limitations on the use of time-and-materials type of contract - § 200.318(j);
- expanded requirements regarding competition in awarding contracts - § 200.319.
- Required micro-purchase threshold of $3000 - §§ 200.67 and 200.320(a).
- Clear definition of the federal Simplified Acquisition Threshold - § 200.88.
- Expanded language detailing the requirements for use of small purchase procedures (those greater than the micro-purchase threshold and smaller than the simplified acquisition threshold) - § 200.320(b).
- Requirement to use sealed bids whenever appropriate - § 200.320(c).
- Specific requirements on the use of competitive proposals - § 200.320(d).
- Specific limitations on and requirements for the use of non-competitive (sole source) proposals - § 200.320(f).
- Requirement to perform and document cost or price analysis on every procurement in excess of the Simplified Acquisition Threshold - § 200.323(a).
- Requirement to negotiate profit as a separate element of the price in the absence of competition or whenever cost or price analysis is conducted - § 200.323(b).
- Requirement to follow the Cost Principles in Subpart E of 2 CFR 200 whenever negotiating or reimbursing costs under cost-type contracts - § 200.323(c).
- New requirement for contract provisions to be included in procurement contracts - § 200.326 and Appendix II.
Important New Requirements on Recipient Subaward Policy
- New terminology:
- Clarification that subawards (§ 200.92) are federal awards (§ 200.92);
- Definitions of the terms “pass-through entity” (§ 200.74) and “subrecipient” (§ 200.93).
- New clarity and limitations on the use of Fixed Amount Awards by federal awarding agencies (§ 200.201).
- New requirement for pass-through entities to distinguish between assistance and acquisition when issuing contracts and subawards under federal awards (§ 200.330).
- Specific requirements for the contents of subaward agreements (§ 200.331).
- New requirement to provide for subrecipient indirect costs, with provision for a de minimis rate of 10% of MTDC (§ 200.331(a)(4)).
- New clarity and limitations on the use of Fixed Amount Subawards (§ 200.332):
- Requirement for prior approval by the federal awarding agency for the use of fixed amount subawards;
- Limitation on size of fixed amount subawards of up to the Simplified Acquisition Threshold. (See also general rules on the use of Fixed Amount Awards at §§ 200.45 and 200.201.)
- New applicability of mandatory audit requirements (Subpart F) to non-US recipients/subrecipients who expend cost-reimbursable federal award funds in excess of the $750k per fiscal year (§ 200.101). (Non-US entities were previously exempt from the audit requirements of Circular A-133.)
Also…
The requirements for announcement of opportunities and the specific contents of such announcements (Appendix I), while not required of pass-through entities, may be instructive for PTEs in crafting their own subaward policy.
page revision: 2, last edited: 08 Jul 2021 16:30