Writing a Capacity Building Case · 3 of 3
Services and training on a grant case
In short
- All funds must be obligated in the appropriation period whatever the service duration.
- Long lead installation and basic training must be written onto the equipment contract.
- Capacity building money cannot fund construction without specific statutory authority.
1. Services bought with appropriated money
When a capacity building program buys services rather than equipment, it meets a body of law that has nothing to do with defense trade. Appropriated money has a life and a service has a duration, and the two must be reconciled before anything is put on contract.
The hard part is time: "All BPC funds must be obligated during the POA for obligation regardless of the MOS for services" (SAMM C15.3.10.4), and the permitted duration "must not automatically extend to the maximum legally permissible MOS" (SAMM C15.3.10.4).
Pricing is straightforward. "Non-training services will be priced using the DoD FMR Volume 11A" (SAMM C15.3.10), and the surcharges familiar from a sale do not apply: "The IA must not apply the FMS Administrative surcharge, Contract Administration Services (CAS) surcharge, and accessorial charges to Title 10 funded BPC cases" (SAMM C15.3.10.1).
2. Severable and non-severable, and why it matters
Contractor services fall into two classes, and the classification carries legal weight. "Each category of service is subject to separate MOS restrictions with which the IA must comply to avoid Anti-Deficiency Act (31 U.S.C. 1341) violations" (SAMM C15.3.10.6).
The first class is work that can be cut at any point and still have delivered value. "Severable contractor services are generally performed within the year of funds availability" (SAMM C15.3.10.6.1), though a contract beginning inside the funding period may run on so long as the total does not exceed twelve months. One warning follows: "Option years on a contract are treated as new contracts" (SAMM C15.3.10.6.1). Training in tactics, techniques and procedures, and maintenance work, are generally severable.
The second class only makes sense whole. "Non-severable services are those performed via contractors that produce a single or unified outcome" (SAMM C15.3.10.6.2), the examples being software programming, basic new equipment training, initial fielding and refurbishment labor. These are paid for differently: "Non-severable contractor services will be funded entirely at the time the contract is awarded" (SAMM C15.3.10.6.2), and may then run across fiscal years until the funds are cancelled.
3. Training that arrives with the equipment
One consequence is practical and easy to miss. Where equipment has a long lead time, basic familiarization training and installation can happen after the normal cross year window has closed. The money must not have cancelled, and the work must be needed to install or operate what is being delivered (SAMM C15.3.10.6.2.1). Basic quality assurance testing is included.
The condition is a contracting one. "Such training must be included on the procurement contract for the equipment being delivered outside the CFY period" (SAMM C15.3.10.6.2.1). It cannot be added later.
4. Project orders, and a date in January
Where the work is done inside government, a project order is used, obligated during the funding period and then "may be executed like a contract in accordance with 41 U.S.C. 6307" (SAMM C15.3.10.3). Two tests keep it honest: "A bona fide need must exist in the FY in which the project order is issued" (SAMM C15.3.10.3.1), and "A project order should not be issued if work is contingent upon a future event" (SAMM C15.3.10.3.1).
There is a hard stop as well. "The project order must be cancelled if work does not begin before January 1 of the FY after the appropriation expiration date" (SAMM C15.3.10.3.2).
Under a continuing resolution the constraints tighten. Such resolutions "generally prohibit the initiation of projects for which appropriations, funds, or authority were not available during the preceding fiscal year" (SAMM C15.3.10.2), and the provider must be told in writing "that obligations are subject to the availability of funds" (SAMM C15.3.10.2).
5. Two ways to deliver training
Training sits on the case itself or runs as a grant, depending on who manages it. Where training field activities are not running the effort, training lines go on the case beside the equipment they support (SAMM C15.3.9.1.1).
Those lines are kept separate. "Training shall be a standalone training line on the BPC case using the FMS training MASL and may not be included in other service or materiel lines" (SAMM C15.3.9.1.1), and one further requirement follows: "A medical line will be included on BPC cases with training lines" (SAMM C15.3.9.1.1).
Preparation must be complete first. "The IA must establish training tracks in DSAMS-BPC prior to the BPC case being sent to the DSCA (IOPS/GEX/CWD) for countersignature and State approval" (SAMM C15.3.9.1.1), with the training in programd or scheduled status.
Where the field activities do manage it, a training grant is used instead, and the tracking rule is absolute: "There shall be only one Benefitting Partner on each Title 10 funded training grant" (SAMM C15.3.9.1.2).
6. What a place costs, and who looks after the student
Pricing follows a named rate. "The IA will apply Rate D for tuition-based training funded with DoD BPC program funds" (SAMM C15.3.9.2), and where the training needs dedicated resources, "the full cost of the training will be applied (excluding military pay and civilian unfunded retirement)" (SAMM C15.3.9.2). The rate structure is explained in how training is priced on a case.
Allowances can be added at the published rates without agency approval (SAMM C15.3.9.3.2). Healthcare is handled on the case rather than by insurance: "The provision of medical support is addressed by including a medical line on the BPC case or training grant" (SAMM C15.3.9.3.3), and what is covered appears on the travel order. Both are described in travel, living allowance and healthcare.
Costs past the estimate need an amendment, or a prior year adjustment where the money has expired (SAMM C15.3.9.3.3). Families are excluded by default: "Dependents are not authorized to accompany the IMS to BPC training unless they meet the requirements" set out elsewhere in the manual (SAMM C15.3.9.4).
7. Two limits worth knowing
The first keeps these programs out of construction. "BPC programs cannot be used for engineering or construction services to accomplish infrastructure projects within a Benefitting Partner that are in support of U.S. forces unless there is specific statutory authorization" (SAMM C15.3.10.5). Work of that kind runs under military construction law instead.
The second opens a source of manpower. "National Guard and Reserve personnel may provide services, including training, to support BPC cases, provided costs are sourced from authorized appropriations" (SAMM C15.3.10.7.1), with travel usually allowable and pay depending on the statute.
8. What a supplier can take from this
Whether a service is severable decides how it is funded and how long it may run. So the way a scope of work is written affects whether it can be bought at all. Work presented as a single unified outcome is funded in full at award and may cross fiscal years. The same work described as ongoing support is not.
The long lead exception is the one to design around. Basic installation and familiarization training can happen well after the funding year, but only if they were written onto the equipment contract at the outset. Adding them afterwards is not available.
And construction is out. A program needing facilities built to receive the equipment funds that another way, which is the gap a support provider ends up filling.
Key terms
| Severable service | Work delivering continuing value that can be cut at any point, generally funded within one year of availability. |
|---|---|
| Non-severable service | Work producing a single unified outcome, funded in full at award and able to run across fiscal years. |
| Project order | An internal government order needing a bona fide need in the year issued, cancelled if work has not begun by the January deadline. |
| Months allowed for services | The permitted duration, set by the appropriation and the requirement, never defaulted to the legal maximum. |
Every statement above links to the document behind it. The full source list for this piece is on the sources page.
This page describes public United States government programs for general information. It is not legal, regulatory or procurement advice, and it does not address the facts of any particular case.
How Sentfore supports this
Where a program cannot fund facilities, somebody still has to provide them. Sentfore provides secure movement, protective security, facilities and life support for defense programs in complex environments. Requirements can be sent through the contact page.