OAMP Home Page

Project Officer Training and Certification

To Acquisition Training Page | To ACP Home Page

The Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) recently announced a new federal wide mandatory certification program for Project Officers. It creates a certificate called a FAC-COTR (Federal Acquisition Certificate for Contracting Officer Technical Representatives) that Project Officers must have, and a continuous learning requirement to maintain the validity of that certification.

HHS already had a PO certification program, so we have two programs now. We have some unanswered questions regarding how the new program will work and how HHS may change its program to better align with the OFFP requirements. Please be patient as we try to sort this all out. The information below is a summary of where things stand now.

FAC-COTR Information

  • A newly named PO has 6 months to get the FAC-COTR certificate.
  • A person currently serving as a PO has 12 months to get a certificate (from the effective date of the policy – so November 26, 2008 is the due date).
  • A PO must have 40 Hours of training in 24 competencies.
  • We don’t have guidance on specifically how to apply yet. We hope that we will be able to process FAC-COTRs based on the paperwork we already received for the Certificate of Eligibility, as well as setting up a new process.
  • Requirement is posted at http://www.fai.gov/pdfs/11-26-COTR-Memo.pdf (PDF require Acrobat Reader. Click here to download).

Required Initial Project Officer Training

  • You can meet both the HHS and the OFPP requirements by taking the courses listed below:
    • CLC106 – COR with a Mission Focus (8 CLPs)
    • CLM024 – Contracting Overview (8 CLPs)
    • CLC004 – Market Research (3 CLPs)
    • CLC007 – Contract Source Selection (2 CLP)
    • CLM003 – Ethics Training for Acquisition Technology and Logistics (2 CLPs)
    • CLM016 – Cost Estimating (8 CLPs)
    • CLC013 – Performance-Based Services (6 CLPs)
    • CLM031 – Improved Statement of Work (4 CLP)

      • All classes are free and online at the Federal Acquisition Institute. https://www.atrrs.army.mil/channels/faitas/student/logon.aspx?caller=1.

      We hope to get an equivalency determination for a number of previous training courses so that existing POs won’t have to take the basic PO training over again.

OFPP Policy on Continuous Learning

  • Be sure to get 40 hours of work related training between Oct. 1, 2008 and Sept. 31, 2010, and every two years thereafter. The requirement is to get 40 Continuous Learning Points, or CLPs. CLPs are roughly equal to hours and include many things beyond traditional classroom training. CLP’s include: Training , Rotational Assignments, Team Leadership Activities, Formal Education, Conference Attendance, and Professional Activities. This training should be documented in ACMIS. A list of available training is posted at http://oamp.od.nih.gov/Division/acp/POTraining/TrainingOppforRefresher.asp

HHS Policy on PO Certification

  • HHS will repeal the requirement for a PO Certificate of Eligibility now that there is a federal requirement for certification. We have stopped issuing PO Certificates of Eligibility. If you have taken the Basic Project Officer training, plus 40 hours of training during 2006 and 2007, then you can be named as a PO. If you were a PO on Nov. 26, 2007, then you have till Nov. 26, 2008 to get FAC-COTR certified. If you were named as a PO since then, you will need to get the FAC-COTR within 6 months of being named at PO.

HHS Policy for 2008-2009 Refresher Training

  • Refresher Training – Take the training that makes sense to your job requirements without regard to the policy set forth in the June 2007 Acquisition Training and Certification Handbook. This policy requires POs to take 80 Hours every 2 years from Jan. 1, 2008 – Dec. 31, 2009. 32 hours must be acquisition or project management related. It also requires all POs to take Writing Statements of Work or Performance Based Statements of Work and a Project Management course, as a once in a career requirement. Once the Handbook is updated, please pay strict attention to it again. Note that the OFPP training period starts on Oct. 1, 2008. Training taken after that will count toward both the OFPP and HHS continuous learning requirements.

ACMIS

  • The Acquisition Career Management Information System or ACMIS is a web database to track training and certification information for acquisition staff and project officers. It’s at www.acmis.gov, and a two page guide to the system is at http://oamp.od.nih.gov/Division/acp/ACMIS Registration2.pdf (PDF require Acrobat Reader. Click here to download). All POs are required to have current and accurate information in ACMIS. The ACMIS help desk can be reached at 703-805-2300 or questions@fai.gov.

PO Listserv

  • To get updates on Project Officer training and certification issues, you can sign up for the PO Listserv.

Contact Acquisition Career Program Staff
| Disclaimer | Accessibility | Email Us |