Procurement Overview
Federal assistance funds much of the work we do at GOHSEP – developing and implementing training and exercise opportunities and stakeholder education and outreach or obtaining and maintaining staff, emergency materials, supplies and equipment – most of those efforts are funded through Federal grants.
Federal assistance comes with laws, rules and regulations that must be followed to maximize opportunities for eligible reimbursements. Following the laws, rules and meeting regulatory requirements help to expedite needed funding and speed the delivery of preparedness, prevention, response, recovery and mitigation initiatives and programs for emergency management professionals, citizens and communities. For this reason, GOHSEP created several informational tools to educate our subrecipients in the various laws, rules, regulations and policies that apply to them.
It is important that when procuring any materials, goods or services with Federal funding that the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) be followed. This applies to all disaster and non-disaster grants funded by FEMA – Preparedness, Hazard Mitigation (HM) and Public Assistance (PA) Grants. Failure to comply with Federal regulations when procuring with Federal funds has been the biggest reason the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHS – OIG) has recommendations for deobligation of funding.
Application of Federal Regulations
For disasters occurring prior to December 26, 2014, the following Procurement Requirements and Cost Principles apply to the respective Subrecipient (Applicant):
Subgrantee
Procurement Requirements
Cost Principles
Local Quasi-government Agencies
44 CFR 13.36
2 CFR 225
Higher Education + Other Private Nonprofits (PNPs)
2 CFR 215.40-48
2 CFR 230
Educational Institutions
2 CFR 215.40-48
2 CFR 220
*For disasters occurring on or after December 26, 2014, all sub-grantees are required to apply the procurement requirements found at 200 CFR 200.317-399 and the cost principles stated at 2 CFR 200.400-475.
General Rule
A Subrecipient (Applicant) is allowed to use its own procurement process as long as that process conforms to the Federal procurement requirements as stated above. When the Subrecipient’s (Applicant’s) process is not as stringent as the above, the Subrecipient (Applicant) must comply with the requirements of Federal regulations. Many times, State law is more stringent than Federal regulations, in which case, the Subrecipient is required to apply State law to the procurement transaction.
Quick Reference Guide
For a brief overview of general procurement requirements is available for Subrecipients (Applicants). Click on the image to view our procurement brochure. For Subrecipients (Applicants) generally familiar with the procurement requirements, this is a great tool to reference for the specific requirements that apply.
Informational Videos
What Requirements Apply to You? Different types of applicants may face different procurement requirements. Our legal team has created entertaining videos to give applicants an overview of different scenarios they may face when procuring during disaster recovery. Click one of the images below to view the presentation or video that matches your status and enjoy the show!
Procurement Toolboxes
Once you are ready to dig in and learn more about procurement requirements, we welcome you click on one of the images of our "Procurement Toolbox". These toolboxes are customized to meet the individual needs of Local Government/Tribal, Private Nonprofit (PNP), and State Agency subrecipients. They provide in-depth guidance to ensure you know how to comply with local, state and federal requirements, and we have even provided examples of FEMA-compliant contracts, emergency contract templates, sample RFPs, and more!
Do's And Don'ts of Procurement
- Comply with FEMA, State, and local procurement laws, regulations, rules, and ordinances.
- Follow the most restrictive rule. Include all required contract provisions in your contracts, even your emergency contracts.
- Have pre-positioned contracts in place that you procured prior to the disaster incident period.
- These can be used right away and for the duration of the need.
- Regularly review and rebid your existing contracts to ensure that you are using reasonable, market-driven prices.
- If you do not have pre-positioned contracts, try to use proper procurement methods during the emergency or disaster event.
- Once an emergency or exigency period is over, be sure to use a competitive procurement with full and open competition.
- Coordinate with other jurisdictions to possibly undertake joint procurements.
- Undertake the six (6) required affirmative steps to include small, women-owned and minority-owned business enterprises, and labor surplus firms.
- Award time and materials (T&M) contracts only when necessary and always include a ceiling or not-to-exceed clause.
- Use pre-positioned contracts and then not review and rebid at least every three (3) years.
- Make cardinal changes to a contract scope or amount without re-procuring.
- Use geographic or local preferences in your contracts.
- Award contracts to those with whom you have a conflict of interest.
- Keep an improperly procured.
- Contractor simply because you do not want to undertake a full and open procurement.
- Award a cost-plus-percentage-of-cost or a cost-plus-percentage-of-construction-cost contract.
- Piggyback off of another jurisdiction's contract.
Failure to procure in compliance with Federal regulations may result in a loss or decrease of subrecipient funding.
We can help...
Understanding procurement rules can seem overwhelming without help. GOHSEP provides several resources to assist you in proper procurement: GOHSEP offers Stakeholder Education + Outreach training throughout the year to update Subrecipients (Applicants) on evolving procurement requirements and to offer Procurement guidance to stakeholders.
Contact our legal staff at [email protected] to review your contracts and requests for proposals to help you comply with federal regulations.
