FAC-C Course Descriptions
FAC-C LEVEL I REQUIREMENTS
CON 100
Shaping Smart Business Arrangements
Description:
This course is a FAC-C Level I certification training course. Employees who are entering the acquisition career field will gain a comprehensive understanding of the environment in which they will serve. Students will develop professional skills for making business decisions and for advising other acquisition team members in successfully meeting customers' needs. Knowledge management and information systems will be introduced as well.
Objectives:
Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:
- Describe the acquisition/contracting mission and its impact on the American economic system;
- Describe the importance of the oversight roles of the Government Accountability Office.
- Explain the characteristics and responsibilities of the contracting professional in the role of a business advisor;
- Explain the distinctive interests of both the buyer and seller and the role those interests play;
- Describe commercial acquisition and government unique requirements of market research in identifying the best arrangements to meet mission requirements; and
- Explain e-business and information technology in supporting business processes.
Who Should Attend: Employees who are entering the contracting workforce or those new to the government.
Prerequisites: None
Length: 4 or 5 class days depending on the course provider
CON 120
Mission Focused Contracting
Description:
This course is a FAC-C Level I certification training course. Mission Focused Contracting is the Capstone Course for Level I Certification. This course engages the students in the entire acquisition process from meeting with the customer to completing the contract closeout process. Students will have an opportunity to learn and apply leadership, problem-solving, and negotiation skills. Using an integrated case study approach, students will apply the knowledge and skills.
Objectives:
Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:
- Provide contracting advice based on market research;
- Prepare a solicitation package;
- Prepare, award, and debrief a contract requirement;
- Evaluate price reasonableness and conduct price negotiations;
- Plan and conduct a post-award conference; and
- Modify a contract, exercise a contract option, and complete the contract closeout process.
Prerequisites: CON 100 and CON 112
Who Should Attend: Students must complete the assignments prior to the class start date. This material will be covered on the final exam. Details will be provided prior to the class start date.
Length: 10 class days
FAC-C LEVEL II REQUIREMENTS
CON 214
Business Decisions for Contracting
Description:
Business Decisions for Contracting builds on contracting Level I pre-award business and contracting knowledge necessary to process complex procurements. The emphasis of this course is on planning successful mission-support strategies and executing an acquisition that optimizes customer mission performance. Professionals will learn the techniques for building successful business relationships, the benefits of strategic sourcing and spend analysis, and the ins and outs of providing contract financing. Also, professionals will take an in-depth look at subcontracting, how to conduct a formal source selection, and how to analyze the information necessary to determine contractor responsibility.
Objectives:
Those who successfully complete this course will be able to:
- Identify how business relationships affect customer support
- Identify a strategic sourcing recommendation based upon the results of a spend analysis
- Identify contract risks and appropriate management strategies
- Select the appropriate contract financing terms and/or conditions for a given contract
- Determine subcontract requirements
- Identify the source selection processes and procedures
- Determine if a contractor is responsible
Who Should Attend: This course is for intermediate-level contracting personnel who are Level I certified in Contracting and have 2 years of contracting experience.
Prerequisite(s): CON 112, Mission-Performance Assessment, if assigned to an Industrial/Contract Property Management position
Predecessor Course(s): CON 202, Intermediate Contracting
Course Length: You have 60 calendar days to complete this course. The course consists of 9 lessons that could be completed in approximately 19 hours.
Method of Delivery: Distance Learning
CON 215
Intermediate Contracting for Mission Support
Description:
Intermediate Contracting for Mission Support is a case study in which students apply the knowledge and skills learned in the Level I Contracting courses and CON 214. Students demonstrate their ability to develop and execute business strategies to meet customer requirements. This case helps to develop critical thinking, customer needs analysis, procurement strategy development, and source selection skills necessary for successful contract performance.
Objectives:
Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:
- Develop a variety of options/alternate strategies to meet mission needs and promote customer satisfaction
- Apply appropriate laws, regulations, and policies to a complex procurement
- Apply formal source selection procedures
- Conduct a competitive discussion
- Execute the appropriate contract arrangement to support customer needs
Who Should Attend: Intermediate-level contracting personnel with Level I Contracting certification and minimum 2 years of contracting experience.
Prerequisites: FAC-C Level I and CON 214.
Length: 8 days
CON 216
Legal Considerations in Contracting
Description:
This course focuses on legal considerations in the procurement process. Participants are introduced
to the basic principles and sources of law relevant to procurement, including fiscal law. The course also addresses various other legal issues that may develop during the course of a contract, such as protests, assignment of claims, disputes, fraud, contractor debt, performance issues, and contract termination.
Objectives:
Those who successfully complete this course will be able to:
- Identify the legal and ethical principles that apply to government contracts
- Identify different processes through which challenges may be filed against a federal acquisition
- Identify the legal obligations of both parties when a contract performance issue arises
- Identify formal dispute-resolution procedures under the Contract Disputes Act
- Identify criminal, civil, and administrative remedies for contract fraud
- Identify the tools for recovering monies owed the government
- Select the process and procedures for terminating a contract
Who Should Attend: This course is for intermediate level contracting personnel who are Level I certified in Contracting and have 2 years of contracting experience.
Prerequisite(s): CON 112, Mission-Performance Assessment, if assigned to an Industrial/Contract Property Management position
Predecessor Course(s): CON 210, Government Contract Law
Recommended: CON 215, Intermediate Contracting for Mission Support
Course Length: You have 60 calendar days to complete this course. The course consists of 11 lessons that could be completed in approximately 23 hours.
Method of Delivery: Distance Learning
CON 217
Cost Analysis and Negotiation Technique
Description:
Cost Analysis and Negotiation Techniques builds on the basic pricing skills covered in the Level I
Contracting curriculum and introduces methods and techniques necessary to analyze a contractor’s cost proposal and to develop a government negotiation objective. Students will apply the cost analysis techniques to analyze a contractor’s proposal and develop a cost objective. The course also introduces negotiation terminology, styles, and techniques.
Objectives:
Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:
- Determine when cost analysis should be used
- Identify the use and application of a contract audit
- Make a determination on a contractor’s estimating and accounting systems
- Calculate a cost objective for direct material, direct labor, other direct costs, indirect costs, facilities cost of money, and profit/fee
- Calculate a price/cost objective using simple regression analysis, learning curve analysis, and statistics
- Outline the process for conducting contract negotiations
Who Should Attend: This course is for intermediate-level contracting personnel who are Level I certified in Contracting and have 2 years of contracting experience.
Prerequisites: CON 112, Mission-Performance Assessment
Predecessor Course(s): CON 204, Intermediate Contract Pricing
Course Length: You have 60 calendar days to complete this course. The course consists of 13 lessons that could be completed in approximately 32 hours.
Method of Delivery: Distance Learning/Resident
CON 218
Advance Contracting for Mission Support
Description:
In this course students apply the knowledge and skills learned in the Levels I and II courses. Students demonstrate their ability to negotiate fair and reasonable prices and to consider the legal implications for various contract situations.
This case study helps to develop critical thinking, cost analysis, negotiation, and contract administration skills necessary for successful contract performance.
Objectives:
Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:
- Develop a proactive strategic approach to satisfy the customer’s evolving requirements
- Take appropriate action to resolve various situations with legal implications
- Use a DCAA audit report to prepare a negotiation objective
- Apply the full range of contract pricing techniques to develop a pre-negotiation objective
- Develop a negotiation strategy for a noncompetitive negotiation
- Conduct a noncompetitive negotiation
- Manage contract performance in accordance with the contract
Who Should Attend: Intermediate-level contracting personnel with Level I Contracting certification and minimum 2 years of contracting experience.
Prerequisites: CON 214, CON 215, CON 216, and CON 217.
Length: 10 days
FAC-C LEVEL III REQUIREMENTS
CON 353
Advanced Business Solutions
Description:
This course is a FAC-C Level III certification training course. Through realistic scenario-based learning, students work in teams to practice developing sound business solutions as a valued strategic and expert business advisor. Student course work is designed to contribute solutions to senior leadership and local supervisors and to provide resources for the Contracting career field via the course community of practice.
Objectives:
Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:
- Effectively participate with project teams, exercise business leadership, and apply expertise (technical, business, and financial) resulting in business solutions that improve mission support;
- Innovate and use best practices in combination with critical thinking, problem solving, and dilemma resolution skills for improved planning, execution, and performance management outcomes;
- Develop business solutions that reflect consideration of risk and impacts on performance and synthesize policy as well as interests of functional team members and the marketplace; and
- Contribute to the development and implementation of change through an improved understanding of the legislative, regulatory, and policy processes.
Who Should Attend: Experienced Contracting professionals with Level II certification.
Prerequisites: CON 218 and FAC-C Level II Certification
Length: 10 class days
PBA
Performance-Based Acquisition
Description:
The training course addresses the unique aspects of acquiring services and embodies the 7 Steps to Performance-Based Service Acquisition.
Objectives:
After successful completion of this training course, the student will be able to:
- Discuss the unique aspects of service acquisition;
- Analyze requirements with respect to the ability to contract based on performance
- Determine if the requirement document is performance based;
- Select the method of contracting and source selection process in a performance-based environment;
- Prepare a QASP; and
- Administer a performance-based service contract.
Who Should Attend: Personnel who have a general understanding of the acquisition process.
Length: 5 days
ERR 200
Objectives:
Emergency Response and Recovery
Description:
This course leads to certification in Emergency Response and Recovery (ERR) Contracting and membership in the ERR Cadre. In addtion, it provides members with the knowledge necessary to procure goods and services required to support emergency and disaster recovery activities.
Objectives:
After succesful completioin of this training course, the student will be able to:
- Describe the responsibilities of key players in the ERR contracting process
- Explain the acquisition process at a disaster and describe how it differs from standard contracting
- Analyze procurement requests
- Understand the required documents and process for completing and filing those documents at a JFO
- Procedure needed goods and services during a disaster
- Describe flexibilities in the FAR Part 18 permitted for disaster contracting as well as limitations
Who Should Attend: Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C) certified GS-1102 contracting professionals, or others performing similar functions, who have volunteered to assist FEMA and other agencies during the recovery phase of national emergencies and disasters will benefit from attending this course.
Prerequisites: IS 100 -Introduction to Incident Command System
IS 800B -National Response Framework, An Introduction
Contracting Level I certification
Read the OFPP Emergency Acquisition Handbook
Length: 2 days