# 501.601 General.

(a) Definitions.

“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.

“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.

“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 https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/procurement/memo/simplifying-federal-procurement-to-improve-performance-drive-innovation-increase-savings.pdf.

“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.

“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.

(b) Heads of Contracting Activities (HCAs) as defined in GSAM 502.101 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 501.603). 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.

(i) The SPE must be consulted prior to any re-delegation of HCA authority.

(ii) Any delegation of HCA authority must be in writing with a copy forwarded to the SPE.

(c) FAITAS. 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 (www.fai.gov) and is maintained by the Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI).

(1) The following members of GSA’s acquisition workforce and their supervisors must be registered in FAITAS:

(i) All positions in the GS-1102 contracting series.

(ii) All contracting officers, regardless of series, with the authority to obligate funds.

(iii) Program and project managers.

(iv) Contracting Officer’s Representatives (CORs).

(v) Any acquisition-related position identified by the Chief Acquisition Officer (CAO), the Senior Procurement Executive (SPE), the HCA, or equivalent.

(2) Individuals are responsible for maintaining records supporting certification or satisfaction of warrant requirements for quality assurance purposes

(3) Supervisors must ensure acquisition workforce members are registered in FAITAS and verify the accuracy of data entered.

(d) Federal Acquisition Certification (FAC) program. 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 www.fai.gov.

(e) Maintaining FAC and contracting officer warrants. 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 (https://insite.gsa.gov/portal/category/534186). All CLPs must be in support of the competencies associated with the certification.

(1) 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.

(i) Expired certifications may be reinstated when evidence of accumulation of sufficient CLPs demonstrated.

(ii) Expired certifications may result in the suspension or termination of COR delegations and Program/Project Manager assignments.

(2) 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.

(f) Other Federal agencies’ funds. 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.