Subrecipients v Contractor Determination

Related Terminology and Distinctions

Uniform Guidance (UG) spells out requirements for institutions that receive a federal award directly or indirectly from a federal agency, among which is a "case-by-case determination" of whether BMC is engaging a sub-recipient or a contractor to do work related to an SP (2 CFR 200.331).  Interrelated UG definitions are complicated  Below we provide informal meanings for those new to subawards.

A pass-through entity or prime awardee is an institution that receives federal funding directly from a federal agency to conduct a sponsored program (SP) and engages in a subaward agreement with another entity to conduct some of the work of the SP.  

A subaward is an award that the prime awardee provides to a subawardee institution; UG clearly states in the definition of "subaward" that payment to a contractor does not constitute a subaward.

A subrecipient carries out some of the SP work in compliance with applicable terms and conditions of the primary award and is not a contractor. 

A contractor provides ancillary goods and services that are purchased by an awardee. The BMC agreement with a contractor must follow UG procurement requirements but the contractor is not bound to the full set of terms and conditions. A contractor may be further distinguished as a consultant or a vendor. Both may provide services, but the consultant provides unique scientific services.

Consultants advise, assist or provide services and may also participate significantly in the research or sponsored program. Consultants often assist by supplying software, providing technical assistance, or setting up instruments for precision measurement in accordance with data requirements of the research plan. Consultants can be listed as senior/key personnel only if they will contribute substantively and measurably to the scientific development or execution of a project. Consultants cannot be Boston Medical Center (BMC) or Boston University employees and therefore do not receive salary and fringe benefit support. Consultants may receive a fee for their services.

Vendors provide goods or services that are not uniquely required for the performance of the award.

Steps in the Subaward Issuance Process

Proposal Submission

Upload of required documents into InfoEd

In addition to other documents required by sponsor guidelines, the following are required from all sub-recipient sites during the proposal phase:

• A signed Statement of Intent
• A detailed budget, and
• A Scope of Work.

These documents are crucial to the BMC subcontracting and monitoring process. The PI/PD/DA uploads them to the InfoEd record. Absence of these documents may result in subcontract issuance delays at the award management phase.

Award Management 

Step 1: Submission of the BMC subaward agreement request web form

Before submitting the request form, the PI/PD/DA must verify that the  documents mentioned just above had been saved in the project’s InfoEd record. If any changes were needed to be made to those documents since the time of proposal submission, the outdated documents must be replaced with the revised versions.

If a subaward was not included in the original proposal, PI/PD/DA must provide all subaward proposal components and confirm with SPA if prior approval is required.  Typically, prior approval is needed for a foreign subrecipient or a change in scope.

Incomplete or inaccurate requests cannot be processed.

Step 2: Drafting of the subaward agreement

Upon receipt of the subaward agreement request form and supporting documents, the assigned Grants and Contracts Administrator (GCA) draft the agreement. At this time, the GCA may need to reach out to the requestor with questions. This process takes appropriately 15 business days.

During this step, the Grants and Contracts Administrator will request a new PO, or an increase/decrease to the current PO.

Step 3: Provision of the agreement to the subrecipient site

Via DocuSign, the GCA sends the agreement to the sub-recipient site's authorized signing official, the BMC PI/PD and any BMC and subrecipient DAs listed on the request from

No action is required on DocuSign from the BMC PI/PD/DA. The sub-site will receive an automatic follow-up e-mail five days after the original e-mail and every seven days thereafter until the agreement is partially executed. The sub-site can request revisions by contacting the GCA via subaward@bmc.org.

Step 4: Execution of the agreement

After the sub-site partially executes the agreement via DocuSign, the agreement is automatically routed to SPA’s signing official for signature. During this time, the GCA inserts the purchase order (PO) number into the agreement in DocuSign. Once the agreement is fully executed, a copy of the agreement is automatically sent to the following individuals:

• BMC PI/PD
• BMC DA(s) listed on the request form
• Sub-recipient signing official, and
• Sub-recipient DA listed on the request form.

Step 5: Fully executed agreement is uploaded to InfoEd

Award Collaborator Determination Table

The federal regulation overseeing federal awards distinguishes between subrecipients and contractors, as described above.  At BMC, contractors are subdivided between vendors, who provide goods and services, and consultants, who provide specialized scientific/clinical services that do not fit the requirements of the subrecipient designation. Both are contractors by federal terminology.

Supply Chain Operations (SCO) handles the procurement requirements related to vendors of goods and services and Human Resources (HR) handles the procurement requirements of consultants.

Subrecipient v Contractor Determination

During the proposal stage, an initial determination is made as to the treatment of collaborators as a subrecipient or contractor. Before entering into a business relationship with another entity, a determination must be made as to the nature of the relationship and the legal agreement required to document the relationship. The decision will inform the allocation of responsibilities and influence the application of IDC rates.

SPA must make a determination at the time of proposal submission. The PI/PD/DA must submit a completed subrecipient v contractor guidance and determination form along with proposal documents.

Determination  Guidance Table

The following table serves as guidance to determine whether a collaborator should be treated as a subrecipient, a consultant, or a vendor. Each situation is unique and must be reviewed as a whole. Review each in the context of the overall project when making the determination.