Site Visits

This SOP has internal roles only.

Purpose

To enable NIAID to evaluate an organization that NIAID is anticipating or already awarding a grant, cooperative agreement, or contract.

Procedure

To conduct site visits, NIAID staff travel to grantee or contractor sites. In a reverse site visit, grantees or contractors come to NIAID.

NIAID can use site visits 1) before awarding a grant or contract to verify suitability for funding or to clarify details in an application or proposal or 2) during an award to monitor performance or resolve problems.

Program and Project Officers

• Decide the need for a site visit.
• Before planning a site visit, communicate with grants management or contracting officers. Decide with them whether staff will visit an organization or a reverse site visit will be sufficient.
• Identify a site visit team, which normally includes program staff, grants or contracting officers, and possibly other staff whose expertise would be beneficial.
• Make arrangements with grantees or contractors, working with grants or contracts staff.
• Write a letter confirming a site visit, including a list of participants and an agenda, and send it to the grantee or contractor.
• At contractor site visits, check performance and progress against scheduled and reported performance, determine if facilities and working conditions are adequate, verify that the number of employees charged to a cost-reimbursement contract are actually performing work, address problems, and address other agenda items.
• For grantee site visits, meet with PIs and staff to discuss work being done, problems, and other issues related to a grant and meet with research administrators to discuss other grant-related issues.
• Within 30 calendar days, prepare a site visit report summarizing major agenda items, documenting action items, and addressing a contract's or grant's status relative to its planned schedule. Submit copies to grants or contracting officers for the official file kept in DEA.
• Are not authorized to change terms or conditions of grants or contracts.

Grants and Contracting Officers

• Together with program officers or project officers, identify a need and make arrangements for site visits, determine site visit teams, and provide input into agendas.
• For grants, identify the need for a financial evaluation site visit, and advise program officers.
• Before a grant financial evaluation site visit, provide grantees a list of questions to be addressed.
• During site visits, ensure all business items in your agenda are addressed.
• After site visits, review and contribute to the site visit report. For financial evaluations, prepare a report of findings.
• Ensure receipt of final site visit reports from program or project officers and file them in electronic grant file or contract file.

Contacts

See the GMP Management list and OA staff listing.

If you have knowledge to share or want more information on this topic, email deaweb@niaid.nih.gov with the title of this page or its URL and your question or comment. Thanks for helping us clarify and expand our knowledge base.

Links

NIH Grants Policy Statement Web page

NIH Manual 6315-1, Review and Evaluation of R&D Contract Proposals Web site

Site Visit-Reverse Site Visit Report form