Subrecipients under Federal Contracts (Not Grants)
In order to establish a subrecipient relationship under federal contracts, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR 35.009) states that "it is important that the contractor not subcontract technical or scientific work without the contracting officer's advance knowledge." The FAR goes on to state that "during the negotiation of a cost-reimbursement R&D contract, the contracting officer shall obtain complete information concerning the contractor's plans for subcontracting any portion of the experimental, research, or development effort." Thus, if a subrecipient relationship is not approved as part of a proposal submitted to the agency, written sponsor approval would be required before any unbudgeted subrecipient subcontract could be established.
