§1780.76. Contract administration. — Inbound Citations

Owners are encouraged to accomplish construction through contracts with qualified contractors. Owners may accomplish construction by using their own personnel and equipment provided the owners possess the necessary skills, abilities and resources to perform the work and provided a licensed engineer prepares design drawings and specifications and inspects construction and furnishes inspection reports as required by § 1780.76. Inspection services may be provided by individuals as approved by the State staff engineer. Payments for construction will be handled under § 1780.76(e).

(h) Grantees are responsible for ensuring that all activities are performed within the approved scope of work and that funds are only used for approved purposes.

(1) Grantees shall constantly monitor performance to ensure that:

(i) Time schedules are being met;

(ii) Projected work is being accomplished by projected time periods;

(iii) Financial resources are being appropriately expended by contractors (if applicable); and

(2) To the extent that resources are available, the Agency will monitor grantees to ensure that activities are performed in accordance with the Agency-approved scope of work and to ensure that funds are expended for approved purposes. The Agency's monitoring of grantees neither:

(i) Relieves the grantee of its responsibilities to ensure that activities are performed within the scope of work approved by the Agency and that funds are expended for approved purposes only; nor

(ii) Provides recourse or a defense to the grantee should the grantee conduct unapproved activities, engage in unethical conduct, engage in activities that are or that give the appearance of a conflict of interest, or expend funds for unapproved purposes.

(i) Financial and project performance reports must be provided by grantees and contain the information specified in paragraphs (i)(1) through (3) of this section.

(1) Between grant approval and completion of project (i.e., construction), SF-425, “Federal Financial Report” will be required of all grantees as applicable on a semiannual basis. The grantee will complete the project within the total sums available to it, including the grant, in accordance with the scope of work and any necessary modifications thereof prepared by grantee and approved by the Agency.

(2) Between grant approval and completion of project (i.e., construction), grantees must provide semiannual project performance reports and a final project development report containing the information specified in paragraphs (i)(2)(i) and (ii) of this section. These reports are due 30 working days after June 30 and December 31 of each year.

(i) Each semiannual project performance report must include the following:

(A) A comparison of actual accomplishments to the objectives for that period;

(B) Reasons why established objectives were not met, if applicable;

(C) Reasons for any problems, delays, or adverse conditions which will affect attainment of overall program objectives, prevent meeting time schedules or objectives, or preclude the attainment of particular objectives during established time periods. This disclosure must be accompanied by a statement of the action taken or planned to resolve the situation; and

(ii) The final project development report must be submitted 90 days after project completion and include:

(A) A detailed project funding and expense summary; and

(B) A summary of the project's installation/construction process, including recommendations for development of similar projects by future Applicants to the program.

(3) Once the project has been constructed, the grantee must provide the Agency as applicable via form RD 4280-3D “Annual Outcome Project Performance Certification”, a certification that their system has for the past year performed at the steady operating level as described in the technical report of their application, and whether projected jobs created or saved have occurred, or certify that it has not performed as described. If it has not performed, a description of the circumstances which have occurred and affected system performance must be reported, along with the actual performance of the subject REAP project, and the actual number of jobs created or saved as a direct result of the REAP project.

(i) Three total annual outcome project performance certifications or reports are required for RES projects. The first is due at the completion of the first full calendar year following the year in which the project was completed. The remaining are required for subsequent calendar years.

(ii) Two total annual outcome performance certifications or reports are required for EEI projects. The first is due at completion of the first full calendar year following the year in which the project was completed. The second is required for the subsequent calendar year.

(h) Contract administration must comply with 7 CFR 1780.76. If another authority, such as a Federal, State, or Tribal agency, is providing funding and requires oversight of inspections, change orders, and pay requests, the Agency will accept copies of their reports or forms as meeting oversight requirements of the Agency.

Owners are encouraged to accomplish construction through contracts with qualified contractors. Owners may accomplish construction by using their own personnel and equipment provided the owners possess the necessary skills, abilities and resources to perform the work and provided a licensed engineer prepares design drawings and specifications and inspects construction and furnishes inspection reports as required by § 1780.76. Inspection services may be provided by individuals as approved by the State staff engineer. Payments for construction will be handled under § 1780.76(e).