<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE dita
  PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Composite//EN" "ditabase.dtd">
<dita xmlns:ditaarch="http://dita.oasis-open.org/architecture/2005/"
      ditaarch:DITAArchVersion="1.2">
   <concept id="i1896990"
            ditaarch:DITAArchVersion="1.2"
            class="- topic/topic concept/concept ">
      <title class="- topic/title ">
         <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">501.601</ph> General.</title>
      <conbody class="- topic/body  concept/conbody ">
         <ol id="d25e13" class="- topic/ol ">
            <li class="- topic/li ">
               <p id="d24e18" class="- topic/p ">
                  <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(a)</ph>
                  
                  
                    Definitions.</p>
               <p id="d24e27" class="- topic/p ">“Acquisition Career Manager (ACM)” means the GSA
Agency official located in the Office of Acquisition Policy, responsible
for issuing and establishing GSA acquisition workforce certification
policy, implementation procedures, internal controls and conducting
periodic reviews. The ACM represents GSA on the Interagency Acquisition
Career Management Committee to ensure that workforce development
policies and opportunities meet the needs of the acquisition workforce.</p>
               <p id="d24e36" class="- topic/p ">“Bureau Certification Manager (BCM)”, means the
GSA agency official, appointed by the respective HCA, who serves as
a liaison between the contracting activity and the ACM, and ensures
consistency in the federal certification and GSA warrant programs.
The BCM provides guidance to the acquisition workforce on application
preparation for the federal certification programs and contracting
officer warrants. The BCM reviews and makes a recommendation on
any Federal Acquisition Certification package submitted electronically
in the Federal Acquisition Institute Training Application System (FAITAS)
or warrant packages prior to submission to the Contracting Officer
Warrant Board. This includes those applicants seeking to be certified
under fulfillment or equivalencies.</p>
               <p id="d24e45" class="- topic/p ">“Category
Manager” means the individual(s) and/or agency(ies) responsible
for areas of Governmentwide spend as described in OMB Memorandum
Transforming the Marketplace: Simplifying Federal Procurement to
Improve Performance, Drive Innovation, and Increase Savings dated
December 4, 2014 which can be found at 
                     <xref href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/management/office-federal-procurement-policy"
                        format="html"
                        scope="external"
                        class="- topic/xref ">https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/management/office-federal-procurement-policy</xref>.
               </p>
               <p id="d24e58" class="- topic/p ">“Contracting Officer Warrant Board (COWB)” means
a group of senior-level acquisition employees within a contracting activity
who receive, evaluate, and process requests for selection and nomination
of contracting officers at the basic, simplified acquisition, intermediate,
and senior levels.</p>
               <p id="d24e68" class="- topic/p ">“Contracting Officer Warrant
Program (COWP)” establishes the criteria for the appointment and
termination of GSA contracting officers. This ensures that GSA follows
a standardized process for qualifying and appointing individuals
as contracting officers based on the organization's needs for contracting
authority.</p>
            </li>
            <li class="- topic/li ">
               <p id="d24e77" class="- topic/p ">
                  <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(b)</ph>
                  
                  
                    Heads
of Contracting Activities (HCAs) as defined in GSAM <xref href="GSAM-LWSCCJYG.dita#LWSCCJYG"
                        outputclass="fm:ParaNumOnly"
                        class="- topic/xref ">502.101</xref> are
contracting officers by virtue of their position. Other contracting
officers are appointed under FAR 1.603 and GSA’s contracting officer
warrant program (See <xref href="GSAM-i1897072.dita#i1897072"
                        outputclass="fm:ParaNumOnly"
                        class="- topic/xref ">501.603</xref>). The Administrator
of GSA delegated Head of Contracting Activity (HCA) authority to
the Senior Procurement Executive (SPE). The SPE is authorized to
re-delegate the HCA authority and contracting authority to the Commissioners and
Deputy Commissioners of the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) and
the Public Buildings Service (PBS), and to the Chief Administrative
Services Officer (CASO). These officials serve within the limits
of their delegated authority.</p>
               <ol class="- topic/ol ">
                  <li class="- topic/li ">
                     <ol id="d25e89" class="- topic/ol ">
                        <li class="- topic/li ">
                           <p id="d24e97" class="- topic/p ">
                              <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(i)</ph>
                              
                              
                                The
SPE must be consulted prior to any re-delegation of HCA authority.</p>
                        </li>
                        <li class="- topic/li ">
                           <p id="d24e106" class="- topic/p ">
                              <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(ii)</ph>
                              
                              
                                 Any
delegation of HCA authority must be in writing with a copy forwarded
to the SPE.</p>
                        </li>
                     </ol>
                  </li>
               </ol>
            </li>
            <li class="- topic/li ">
               <p id="d24e119" class="- topic/p ">
                  <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(c)</ph>
                  
                  
                     <i class="+ topic/ph hi-d/i ">FAITAS</i>.
The Clinger-Cohen Act (Public Law 104-106 §4307) mandated federal
agencies to have a database containing education, experience, training
and other data about their acquisition workforce. FAITAS is the
official system of record for the federal civilian agency acquisition
workforce (<xref href="http://www.fai.gov"
                        format="html"
                        scope="external"
                        class="- topic/xref ">www.fai.gov</xref>) and is maintained by
the Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI).</p>
               <ol id="d25e127" class="- topic/ol ">
                  <li class="- topic/li ">
                     <p id="d24e136" class="- topic/p ">
                        <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(1)</ph>
                        
                        
                          The
following members of GSA’s acquisition workforce and their supervisors
must be registered in FAITAS:</p>
                     <ol id="d25e137" class="- topic/ol ">
                        <li class="- topic/li ">
                           <p id="d24e146" class="- topic/p ">
                              <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(i)</ph>
                              
                              
                                All
positions in the GS-1102 contracting series.</p>
                        </li>
                        <li class="- topic/li ">
                           <p id="d24e155" class="- topic/p ">
                              <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(ii)</ph>
                              
                              
                                All
contracting officers, regardless of series, with the authority to
obligate funds.</p>
                        </li>
                        <li class="- topic/li ">
                           <p id="d24e164" class="- topic/p ">
                              <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(iii)</ph>
                              
                              
                                Program
and project managers.</p>
                        </li>
                        <li class="- topic/li ">
                           <p id="d24e173" class="- topic/p ">
                              <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(iv)</ph>
                              
                              
                                Contracting
Officer’s Representatives (CORs).</p>
                        </li>
                        <li class="- topic/li ">
                           <p id="d24e182" class="- topic/p ">
                              <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(v)</ph>
                              
                              
                                Any
acquisition-related position identified by the Chief Acquisition
Officer (CAO), the Senior Procurement Executive (SPE), the HCA,
or equivalent.</p>
                        </li>
                     </ol>
                  </li>
                  <li class="- topic/li ">
                     <p id="d24e193" class="- topic/p ">
                        <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(2)</ph>
                        
                        
                          Individuals
are responsible for maintaining records supporting certification
or satisfaction of warrant requirements for quality assurance purposes</p>
                  </li>
                  <li class="- topic/li ">
                     <p id="d24e202" class="- topic/p ">
                        <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(3)</ph>
                        
                        
                          Supervisors
must ensure acquisition workforce members are registered in FAITAS
and verify the accuracy of data entered.</p>
                  </li>
               </ol>
            </li>
            <li class="- topic/li ">
               <p id="d24e213" class="- topic/p ">
                  <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(d)</ph>
                  
                  
                     <i class="+ topic/ph hi-d/i ">Federal
Acquisition Certification (FAC) program.</i>The FAC program is a
government-wide, competency-based certification program for the
acquisition workforce. The FAC program applies to contract specialists,
program and project managers, and contracting officers’ representatives.
The Office of Federal Procurement Policy established the training, education
and experience requirements for the FAC program across all civilian
agencies to align with the Department of Defense Acquisition Workforce
Improvement Act (DAWIA). The competencies, training, education and
experience requirements may be found at <xref href="http://www.fai.gov"
                        format="html"
                        scope="external"
                        class="- topic/xref ">www.fai.gov</xref>.</p>
            </li>
            <li class="- topic/li ">
               <p id="d24e229" class="- topic/p ">
                  <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(e)</ph>
                  
                  
                     <i class="+ topic/ph hi-d/i ">Maintaining
FAC and contracting officer warrants</i>. All FAC-certified members
of the GSA acquisition workforce and those appointed as contracting
officers are required to earn Continuous Learning Points (CLPs)
every two years from the date of issuance of the certification and/or
warrant. The requirements for CLP achievement can be found under
the Career Management tab of GSA’s Acquisition Portal at <xref href="https://insite.gsa.gov/acquisitionportal"
                        format="html"
                        scope="external"
                        class="- topic/xref ">https://insite.gsa.gov/acquisitionportal</xref>. All
CLPs must be in support of the competencies associated with the
certification.</p>
               <ol id="d25e237" class="- topic/ol ">
                  <li class="- topic/li ">
                     <p id="d24e246" class="- topic/p ">
                        <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(1)</ph>
                        
                        
                          Failure to complete
the required CLPs and obtain an approved Continuous Learning Achievement
Request prior to the ending date of the continuous learning period
will result in the expiration of the FAC certification.</p>
                     <ol id="d25e247" class="- topic/ol ">
                        <li class="- topic/li ">
                           <p id="d24e256" class="- topic/p ">
                              <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(i)</ph>
                              
                              
                                Expired
certifications may be reinstated when evidence of accumulation of
sufficient CLPs demonstrated.</p>
                        </li>
                        <li class="- topic/li ">
                           <p id="d24e265" class="- topic/p ">
                              <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(ii)</ph>
                              
                              
                                Expired
certifications may result in the suspension or termination of COR
delegations and Program/Project Manager assignments.</p>
                        </li>
                     </ol>
                  </li>
                  <li class="- topic/li ">
                     <p id="d24e276" class="- topic/p ">
                        <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(2)</ph>
                        
                        
                          Failure
to complete the required CLPS and obtain an approved Continuous
Learning Achievement Request prior to the ending date of the continuous
learning period for a contracting officer warrant will result in
the suspension or termination of the warrant.</p>
                  </li>
               </ol>
            </li>
            <li class="- topic/li ">
               <p id="id193BC0KL0A5" class="- topic/p ">
                  <ph props="autonumber" class="- topic/ph ">(f)</ph>
                  
                  
                     <i class="+ topic/ph hi-d/i ">Other
Federal agencies’ funds</i>. A GSA buying activity must not exceed
a fund limitation on a customer agency’s purchase request unless
authorized by supply support agreements. If a purchase request indicates
insufficient funds to cover all costs, the customer agency must
provide additional funds. Regardless of which Central Office or
Regional buying activity will make the acquisition, the office initially
receiving the requirement requests the additional funds.</p>
            </li>
         </ol>
      </conbody>
   </concept>
</dita>
