Federal Contracts or subcontracts of certain classes (in general, any Contract with a total value greater than $500k) require that a subcontracting plan be submitted, and that plan becomes part of the Contract itself. The contracting officer will typically request a plan, when needed, as part of the final negotiation or award processes, though this varies.
The plan itself is a spending plan. To create it, we examine the goods and services being purchased (or 'subcontracted'), and determine, often on an item- by-item basis, what is likely to be available from businesses which are Small Businesses, Small-Disadvantaged Businesses, and so on.
Depending on the specific things to be purchased, a SBC or SDBC supplier may or may not be available. For example, we have an arrangement with a Small Business which sells SGI equipment, but no such arrangement exists for Sun Micro equipment. Thus changes in spending plans which may seem minor can have a significant effect on the subcontracting plan.
The analysis involved is usually straightforward, but nonetheless takes some amount of time. Moreover, this analysis cannot really begin until Procurement has the complete set of details regarding the things to be purchased. Thus a high-level budget does not really help very much, except to confirm or deny that a plan is needed. In particular, we usually require details regarding equipment to be purchased, supply and materials to be purchased, travel plans (specifically separating airfare from other travel costs), subcontracts and consulting agreements anticipated, and other external costs. Costs which are internal to Stanford are generally excluded from the plan, so these costs need to be clearly identified as well.
Typically these budgets and related information are provided to Procurement by the cognizant representative in Sponsored Projects or Research Management group. PIs are sometimes called upon to provide detailed information, especially when questions arise regarding scientific or other special equipment. Once all the necessary budgets and supporting materials have been received in Procurement, a plan can usually be generated in a couple of days.
The plan itself consists of a document, usually 6-7 pages in length, supported by a spreadsheet containing a summary of the goals described in the plan. This document is prepared by Procurement staff, and typically provided to the cognizant SPO or RMG representative for transmission to the sponsoring agency. Procurement can, and often does, transmit the plan document directly to the sponsoring agency; our preference is to work through the SPO/RMG rep, to avoid duplication of effort or confusion.
PIs or research staff can help make this process smoother by providing budget information to Procurement early, and in a format that is easy to decipher. A template of the kinds of categories used is available, though it is important to include detail within each category. This Checklist may also be helpful.
The process of creating these plans, more so than other Procurement activities, tends to involve variations and special considerations. Questions about any given plan should be directed to the Procurement Department. For help, create a HelpSU ticket .