(a) Contracting Officer Warrant Board (COWB).

(1)  The COWB ensures that all of the applicable criteria have been met prior to granting any GSA contracting officer warrant.

(2)Composition of the COWB. The HCA appoints the Board members and the Chair. The COWB shall include, at a minimum, the following three voting members: COWB Chair, Supervisor and Senior Procurement Professional. Unanimous approval from Board members is required for the candidate to obtain a warrant.

(i)COWB Chair. The COWB Chair (e.g., Contracting Executive or Contracting Director, or Acquisition Career Navigator (ACN)) evaluates the business need for the candidate to hold a warrant (e.g., workload), the appropriate level (e.g., dollar threshold, scope of goods/services), and participates on the COWB to further evaluate the candidate’s competency to hold the requested warrant.

(ii)Supervisor. The candidate’s immediate supervisor or the individual acting in the role shall serve as a voting member of the COWB.

(iii)Senior Procurement Professional. The Senior Procurement Professional shall be a senior contracting officer, procurement policy analyst or subject matter expert with knowledge and experience to evaluate the candidate’s competency to hold the requested warrant.

(iv)Other Designee. The contracting activity may designate additional acquisition personnel or non-acquisition personnel as appropriate.

(v) Limitation to Members. The same individual cannot serve in multiple roles (e.g., serve as COWB Chair and Supervisor.

(b) Nominations for appointment. The candidate's supervisor of record will submit the nominations for appointment to the designated ACN. The designated ACN must coordinate with the candidate and COWB to facilitate approval by the HCA.

(c) Required documentation for warrant package submission. Incomplete warrant submission packages will be returned without processing. All the following documents must be completed and submitted to the Administrative Warrant Issuing Agent (see 501.601) in accordance with warrant information provided on the Acquisition Portal:

(1)GSA Form 3409, Personal Qualifications Statement for Appointment as Contracting Officer. A current resume may be used to supplement the GSA Form 3409 but cannot be used in lieu of this document.

(2)GSA Form 3410, Request for Review, Approval & Appointment. The GSA Form 3410 shall be used to document the COWB concurrences and HCA approval.

(3)College transcripts. Redacted unofficial college transcripts are acceptable.

(d) Evaluation of candidates for contracting officer warrants. All GSA warrants are valid across the agency and may be transferred pursuant to the organization's delegated procurement authority. The supervisor may, but is not required to, conduct a new COWB.

(1) Experience requirements.The COWB must conduct a rigorous review process which may consist of any combination of quality reviews of past contracts or lease actions, interviews, written and/or oral testing to assess and document the level of expertise for all candidates to verify the nominee's contracting experience as defined in 501.603-1(a) . This review shall be conducted at all warrant levels, for all warrant types.

(2) Training requirements. Warrant candidates must complete specific training for the applicable warrant type as a condition of being issued that warrant as identified on the Acquisition Career Management pages on the GSA Acquisition Portal at https://insite.gsa.gov/acquisitionportal.

(3) Educational requirements. Warrant candidates must complete specific educational requirements for the applicable warrant type as a condition of being issued that warrant as identified on the Acquisition Career Management pages on the GSA Acquisition Portal at https://insite.gsa.gov/acquisitionportal.

(4) Credential requirements. Candidates for warrants may be required to obtain Government-wide credentials through a recognized acquisition training curriculum (e.g., the Federal Acquisition Institute Cornerstone on Demand or Defense Acquisition University iCatalog) or GSA-specific credentials for professional or job-related business needs, as determined by the HCA and the candidate’s supervisor.

(i)OMB requires contracting professionals involved in digital services acquisitions to obtain Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting Core-Plus Specialization in Digital Services (FAC-C-DS) (See OFPP Memo dated May, 18 2018). GSA’s IT Acquisition Credential (ITAC) is an acceptable alternative to FAC-C-DS (See https://insite.gsa.gov/itac )

(ii)Additional information on Government-wide and GSA-specific credentials can be found on the GSA Acquisition Career Management page on the Acquisition Portal at https://insite.gsa.gov/acquisitionportal.

(5) Senior Unlimited Acquisition Warrants.

(i) Qualifications. Effective October 1, 2025, new candidates for senior unlimited acquisition warrants, must possess one of the following:

(A)Previously held a senior unlimited acquisition warrant within GSA or at another Federal agency;

(B)Previously completed all the training required by the legacy FAC-C Level III program; or

(C)Be FAC-C Professional certified and possess at least two credentials related to the work to be executed under the new warrant authority.

(ii) Exceptions. The HCA may grant an exception to the requirement to hold two credentials provided a plan and timeline to meet the requirement is established.

(iii) Non-Compliance with Conditional Exception. Failure of candidates for senior unlimited acquisition warrants to successfully complete and obtain credentials as outlined in any conditional exception may result in suspension or termination of the warrant.

(iv) Exemptions. Candidates for senior unlimited non-acquisition warrants (i.e., leasing, real property disposal, personal property disposal, and fleet sales) are exempt from the requirement to obtain two credentials. This requirement does not apply to warrants issued to make purchases for domestic and national security emergencies under 501.603-3(d). All other requirements (e.g., certification, training, experience, and education) must be satisfied before a warrant can be issued.

(6) Additional Guidance on Warrant Requirements. Additional guidance on warrant requirements is provided on the GSA Acquisition Career Management page on the GSA Acquisition Portal at https://insite.gsa.gov/acquisitionportal.