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<dita xmlns:ditaarch="http://dita.oasis-open.org/architecture/2005/"><concept id="GSAM_501_603_2" class="- topic/topic concept/concept "><title class="- topic/title " id="i2133576">
         <ph class="- topic/ph " props="autonumber">501.603-2</ph> Selection.</title><conbody class="- topic/body  concept/conbody "><ol id="d31e13" class="- topic/ol "><li class="- topic/li ">
               <p class="- topic/p " id="d30e18">
                  <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(a)</ph>
                  
                  <i class="+ topic/ph hi-d/i ">Contracting
Officer Warrant Board (COWB).</i>
               </p>
               <ol id="d31e26" class="- topic/ol "><li class="- topic/li ">
                     <p class="- topic/p " id="d30e31">
                        <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(1)</ph>
                        
                          The
COWB ensures that all of the applicable criteria have been met prior
to granting any GSA contracting officer warrant.</p>
                  </li><li class="- topic/li ">
                     <p class="- topic/p ">
                        <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(2)</ph>Composition of the COWB. The HCA appoints the Board
                        members and the Chair. The COWB shall include,
                        at a minimum, the following three voting members: COWB
                        Chair, Supervisor and Senior Procurement Professional.
                        Unanimous approval from Board members is required for
                        the candidate to obtain a warrant. </p>
                     <ol id="d31e45" class="- topic/ol "><li class="- topic/li ">
                           <p class="- topic/p ">
                              <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(i)</ph>COWB Chair. The COWB Chair (e.g.,
                              Contracting Executive or Contracting Director, or
                              Acquisition Career Navigator (ACN)) evaluates
                              the business
                              need for the candidate to hold a warrant (e.g.,
                              workload), the appropriate level (e.g., dollar
                              threshold, scope of goods/services), and
                              participates on the COWB to further evaluate the
                              candidate’s competency to hold the requested
                              warrant.</p>
                        </li><li class="- topic/li ">
                           <p class="- topic/p ">
                              <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(ii)</ph>Supervisor. The
                              candidate’s immediate supervisor or the individual
                              acting in the role shall serve as a voting member
                              of the COWB.</p>
                        </li><li class="- topic/li ">
                           <p class="- topic/p ">
                              <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(iii)</ph>Senior
                              Procurement Professional. The Senior Procurement
                              Professional shall be a senior contracting
                              officer, procurement policy analyst or subject
                              matter expert with knowledge and experience to
                              evaluate the candidate’s competency to hold the
                              requested warrant.</p>
                        </li><li class="- topic/li ">     
                           <p class="- topic/p ">
                              <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(iv)</ph>Other
                              Designee. The contracting activity may designate
                              additional acquisition personnel or
                              non-acquisition personnel as appropriate. </p>
                        </li><li class="- topic/li ">
                           <p class="- topic/p ">
                              <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(v)</ph> Limitation to Members.
                              The same individual cannot serve in multiple roles
                              (<i class="+ topic/ph hi-d/i ">e.g., </i>serve as COWB Chair and
                              Supervisor.</p>
                        </li></ol>
                  </li></ol>
            </li><li class="- topic/li ">
               <p class="- topic/p ">
                  <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(b)</ph>
                  <i class="+ topic/ph hi-d/i ">Nominations for appointment.</i> The candidate's
                  supervisor of record will submit the nominations
                  for appointment to the designated ACN. The designated  ACN must coordinate
                  with the candidate and COWB to facilitate approval by the
                  HCA.</p>
            </li><li class="- topic/li ">
               <p class="- topic/p ">
                  <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(c)</ph>
                  <i class="+ topic/ph hi-d/i ">Required documentation for warrant
                  package submission</i>. Incomplete warrant submission packages
                  will be returned without processing. All the following
                  documents must be completed and submitted to the
                  Administrative Warrant Issuing Agent (see 501.601) in
                  accordance with warrant information provided on the
                  Acquisition Portal:</p>
               <ol class="- topic/ol "><li class="- topic/li ">
                     <p class="- topic/p ">
                        <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(1)</ph>GSA Form 3409, Personal
                        Qualifications Statement for Appointment as Contracting
                        Officer. A current resume may be used to supplement the
                        GSA Form 3409 but cannot be used in lieu of this
                        document. </p>
                  </li><li class="- topic/li ">
                     <p class="- topic/p ">
                        <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(2)</ph>GSA Form 3410, Request for
                        Review, Approval &amp; Appointment. The GSA Form 3410
                        shall be used to document the COWB concurrences and HCA
                        approval.</p>
                  </li><li class="- topic/li ">
                     <p class="- topic/p ">
                        <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(3)</ph>College transcripts.
                        Redacted unofficial college transcripts are acceptable.
                     </p>
                  </li></ol>
            </li><li class="- topic/li ">
               <p class="- topic/p " id="d30e150">
                  <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(d)</ph>
                  
                  <i class="+ topic/ph hi-d/i ">Evaluation of candidates for
                  contracting officer warrants</i>. All GSA warrants are
                  valid across the agency and may be transferred pursuant to the
                  organization's delegated procurement authority.
                  The
                  supervisor may, but is not required to, conduct a new
                  COWB.
               </p>
               <ol id="d31e158" class="- topic/ol "><li class="- topic/li ">
                     <p class="- topic/p ">
                        <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(1)</ph>
                        <i class="+ topic/ph hi-d/i ">Experience requirements.</i>The COWB must conduct
                        a rigorous review process which may consist of any
                        combination of quality reviews of past contracts or
                        lease actions, interviews, written and/or oral testing
                        to assess and document the level of expertise
                        
                        for all candidates to
                        verify the nominee's contracting experience as defined
                        in <xref href="https://www.acquisition.gov/gsam/501.603-1#GSAM_501_603_1" format="html" scope="external" class="- topic/xref ">501.603-1</xref>(a)
                        .
                        This review shall be conducted
                        at all warrant levels, for all warrant types.
                        
                     </p>
                     <table frame="all" colsep="1" rowsep="1" class="- topic/table "><tgroup cols="2" colsep="1" rowsep="1" outputclass="Notitle_rule" class="- topic/tgroup "><colspec colnum="1" colname="1" colwidth="36*" rowheader="headers" class="- topic/colspec "/><colspec colnum="2" colname="2" colwidth="64*" rowheader="headers" class="- topic/colspec "/><thead class="- topic/thead "><row rowsep="1" class="- topic/row "><entry colname="1" class="- topic/entry ">
                                    <p class="- topic/p ">Warrant Level</p>
                                 </entry><entry colname="2" class="- topic/entry ">
                                    <p class="- topic/p ">Experience Required</p>
                                 </entry></row></thead><tbody class="- topic/tbody "><row rowsep="1" class="- topic/row "><entry colname="1" class="- topic/entry ">
                                    <p class="- topic/p ">Basic</p>
                                 </entry><entry colname="2" class="- topic/entry ">
                                    <p class="- topic/p ">At least 1 year of current (within last
3 years) contracting experience with progressively broader assignments</p>
                                 </entry></row><row rowsep="1" class="- topic/row "><entry colname="1" class="- topic/entry ">
                                    <p class="- topic/p ">Simplified</p>
                                 </entry><entry colname="2" class="- topic/entry ">
                                    <p class="- topic/p ">At least 2 years of current (within the
last 5 years) contracting experience with progressively broader
assignments</p>
                                 </entry></row><row rowsep="1" class="- topic/row "><entry colname="1" class="- topic/entry ">
                                    <p class="- topic/p ">Intermediate</p>
                                 </entry><entry colname="2" class="- topic/entry ">
                                    <p class="- topic/p ">At least 3 years of current (within the
last 7 years) contracting experience with progressively broader
assignments</p>
                                 </entry></row><row rowsep="0" class="- topic/row "><entry colname="1" class="- topic/entry ">
                                    <p class="- topic/p ">Senior</p>
                                 </entry><entry colname="2" class="- topic/entry ">
                                    <p class="- topic/p ">At least 4 years of current (within the
last 10 years) contracting experience with progressively broader
assignments</p>
                                 </entry></row></tbody></tgroup></table>
                  </li><li class="- topic/li ">
                     <p class="- topic/p ">
                        <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(2)</ph>
                        <i class="+ topic/ph hi-d/i ">Training requirements.</i> Warrant candidates
                        must
                        complete specific training for the applicable warrant
                        type as a condition of being issued that warrant as
                        identified on the Acquisition Career Management pages on
                        the GSA Acquisition Portal at <xref href="https://insite.gsa.gov/acquisitionportal" format="html" scope="external" class="- topic/xref ">https://insite.gsa.gov/acquisitionportal</xref>.
                     </p>
                  </li><li class="- topic/li ">
                     <p class="- topic/p ">
                        <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(3)</ph> 
                        <i class="+ topic/ph hi-d/i ">Educational requirements.
                        </i> Warrant candidates must complete
                        specific educational requirements for the applicable
                        warrant type as a condition of being issued that warrant
                        as identified on the Acquisition Career Management pages
                        on the GSA Acquisition Portal at <xref href="https://insite.gsa.gov/acquisitionportal" format="html" scope="external" class="- topic/xref ">https://insite.gsa.gov/acquisitionportal</xref>. </p>
                  </li><li class="- topic/li ">
                     <p class="- topic/p "> <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(4)</ph> <i class="+ topic/ph hi-d/i ">Credential requirements</i>. Candidates for warrants may be required to obtain Government-wide credentials through a recognized acquisition training curriculum (e.g., the Federal Acquisition Institute Cornerstone on Demand or Defense Acquisition University iCatalog) or GSA-specific credentials for professional or job-related business needs, as determined by the HCA and the candidate’s supervisor.</p>
                     <ol class="- topic/ol "><li class="- topic/li ">
                           <p class="- topic/p ">
                              <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(i)</ph>OMB requires contracting professionals involved in digital services acquisitions to obtain Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting Core-Plus Specialization in Digital Services (FAC-C-DS) (See OFPP Memo dated May, 18 2018). GSA’s IT Acquisition Credential (ITAC) is an acceptable alternative to FAC-C-DS (See https://insite.gsa.gov/itac )</p>
                        </li><li class="- topic/li ">
                           <p class="- topic/p ">
                              <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(ii)</ph>Additional information on Government-wide and GSA-specific credentials can be found on the GSA Acquisition Career Management page on the Acquisition Portal at https://insite.gsa.gov/acquisitionportal.</p>
                        </li></ol>
                  </li><li class="- topic/li ">
                     <p class="- topic/p "> <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(5)</ph><i class="+ topic/ph hi-d/i ">Senior Unlimited Acquisition Warrants</i>.</p>
                     <ol class="- topic/ol "><li class="- topic/li ">
                           <p class="- topic/p "> <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(i)</ph><i class="+ topic/ph hi-d/i ">Qualifications</i>. Effective October 1, 2025, new candidates for senior unlimited acquisition warrants, must possess one of the following:</p>
                           <ol class="- topic/ol "><li class="- topic/li ">
                                 <p class="- topic/p ">
                                    <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(A)</ph>Previously held a senior unlimited acquisition warrant within GSA or at another Federal agency; </p>
                              </li><li class="- topic/li ">
                                 <p class="- topic/p ">
                                    <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(B)</ph>Previously completed all the training required by the legacy FAC-C Level III program; or </p>
                              </li><li class="- topic/li ">
                                 <p class="- topic/p ">
                                    <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(C)</ph>Be FAC-C Professional certified and possess at least two credentials related to the work to be executed under the new warrant authority. </p>
                              </li></ol>
                        </li><li class="- topic/li ">
                           <p class="- topic/p "> <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(ii)</ph><i class="+ topic/ph hi-d/i ">Exceptions</i>. The HCA may grant an exception to the requirement to hold two credentials provided a plan and timeline to meet the requirement is established. </p>
                        </li><li class="- topic/li ">
                           <p class="- topic/p "> <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(iii)</ph> <i class="+ topic/ph hi-d/i ">Non-Compliance with Conditional Exception</i>. Failure of candidates for senior unlimited acquisition warrants to successfully complete and obtain credentials as outlined in any conditional exception may result in suspension or termination of the warrant.</p>
                        </li><li class="- topic/li ">
                           <p class="- topic/p "> <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(iv)</ph> <i class="+ topic/ph hi-d/i ">Exemptions</i>. Candidates for senior unlimited non-acquisition warrants (i.e., leasing, real property disposal, personal property disposal, and fleet sales) are exempt from the requirement to obtain two credentials. This requirement does not apply to warrants issued to make purchases for domestic and national security emergencies under 501.603-3(d). All other requirements (e.g., certification, training, experience, and education) must be satisfied before a warrant can be issued.</p>
                        </li></ol>
                  </li><li class="- topic/li ">
                     <p class="- topic/p "> <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(6)</ph> <i class="+ topic/ph hi-d/i ">Additional Guidance on Warrant Requirements</i>. Additional guidance on warrant requirements is provided on the GSA Acquisition Career Management page on the GSA Acquisition Portal at <xref href="https://insite.gsa.gov/acquisitionportal" format="html" scope="external" class="- topic/xref ">https://insite.gsa.gov/acquisitionportal</xref>.</p>
                  </li></ol>
            </li></ol></conbody></concept></dita>