NIH
A grant recipient may, at his or her own risk and without NIH prior approval, incur obligations and expenditures to cover costs up to 90 days before the beginning date of the initial budget period of a new or renewal award if such costs are necessary to conduct the project and would be allowable under the grant without NIH prior approval.
- For specific expenditures that would otherwise require prior approval, the recipient must obtain NIH prior approval before incurring the cost
- NIH prior approval is required for any costs to be incurred more than 90 days before the beginning date of the initial budget period of a new or competing renewal award
- Recipients may incur pre-award costs before the beginning date of a non-competing continuation and transfer award without regard to the time parameters stated above
Of note
- The incurrence of pre-award costs in anticipation of a competing or non-competing award imposes no obligation on NIH either to make the award or to increase the amount of the approved budget if an award is made for less than the amount anticipated and is inadequate to cover the pre-award costs incurred
- Pre-award costs are generally not applicable to training grants or fellowships
- Individual NGAs may contain award-specific sponsor terms related to pre-award spending limits
Process
Pre-award spending requests should be submitted in PEER:
- Click on "Grants"
- Click on "Pre-Award Spending Request"
- Complete the form
Pre-Award Spending Request Checklist
Pre-award spending requests should be submitted in PEER:
- Review grant terms
- Complete request form
- Check grant number and center number on request
- Date requested should be within 90 days of start date (or other sponsor-defined limitation)
- *If grant has not yet been awarded, ensure that costs are allowable by grantee and note that the investigator will be responsible for all charges if grant is not awarded