Course Overview, Course Goal, and Objectives

Welcome to the Scope of Work Development (Scoping and Costing) course.

This course provides information that will enable Applicants to make appropriate decisions when developing the scope of work and reviewing it.

Upon completion of this course, the participants will be able to:

  • Define scope of work and cost estimates for Public Assistance grants
  • Identify the necessary information for developing the scope of work and options for development
  • Identify necessary information for developing cost estimates
  • Explain the scope of work validation process and how an Applicant approves the scope of work and cost estimate in Grants Portal
Select this link to access the Public Assistance acronym list.
Lesson 1 Overview and Objectives

This lesson provides an overview of administrative requirements, course goal and objectives, and the background of scope of work and cost estimate development.

By the end of the course, State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Applicants and Recipients will be able to develop a scope of work and accurate cost estimate.

Upon completion of this lesson, participants will be able to:

  • Identify the administrative requirements of the course
  • State the goals and objectives of the course
  • Define scope of work and cost estimate
Phase III: Scoping and Costing

This is Phase III of the Public Assistance process: Scoping and Costing. Recall that during Phase II, the Applicant and FEMA Site Inspector conducted a site inspection of the damaged facility. The information gathered in the Site Inspection Report is entered into FEMA Grants Manager and automatically formulates the Damage Description and Dimensions, which the Applicant can view and approve in Grants Portal. The project's Damage Description and Dimensions must be approved in order for the scoping and costing process to begin.

The diagram below is the Phase III process.

Select this link for a full image description.

Please refer to appendix 1-1
Defining the Scope of Work

The scope of work is the result of the codified damages in the Damage Description and Dimensions and describes what work the Applicant will undertake to address their damages. At the beginning of Phase III, the Applicant will decide between two choices for scoping and costing their project(s):

  • FEMA (via the personnel at the Consolidated Resource Center) can develop the scope of work and cost estimate based on the Damage Description and Dimensions on the Applicant's behalf
  • The Applicant can choose to develop the scope of work and cost estimate themselves and submit to FEMA for review

When the Applicant chooses to develop their own scope of work and cost estimate, FEMA will validate both items and conduct a compliance review. Personnel from environmental and historic preservation, hazard mitigation, and insurance may also conduct a review if necessary.

If additional information is required during the scoping and costing process or during FEMA's review, the Consolidated Resource Center will process a Request for Information which has a specific deadline date. The Applicant will receive a notification of this through Grants Portal via email. The Applicant will be able to monitor the progress through the program compliance review process on Grants Portal.

A Pyramid with three tiers: “Detailed Damage Descriptions” is the base, “Scope of Work” is the second tier, and “Cost” is the top tier.
Defining Cost Estimate

The cost estimate is closely linked with the scope of work for the project because it identifies the estimated amount of money required to complete the scope of work.

Requirements to Develop the Scope of Work and Cost Estimate

Once FEMA and the Applicant agree on the Damage Description and Dimensions, the Applicant provides the proposed scope of work, including its hazard mitigation proposal or, if the work is finished, the completed scope of work for each project.

For Emergency Work, the scope of work includes work required to address removal of debris and reduction of immediate threats. For Permanent Work, the scope of work includes a description of how the Applicant plans to repair, or has repaired, the damage(s), including repair dimensions and any proposed hazard mitigation measures.

If the scope of work has a potential of impacting environmental or historic resources, FEMA Environmental and Historic Preservation staff review the scope of work to determine if modifications would reduce potential impacts. Some projects may require an engineering analysis to determine the method of repair. In these cases, FEMA may provide funding for engineering and design services. Once the Applicant determines its preferred method of repair, it submits a scope of work and cost estimate for FEMA's review.

Requirements for developing the scope of work and cost estimate:

  • FEMA and the Applicant must concur on the Damage Description and Dimensions
  • For work to be completed, the Applicant signs the Damage Description and Dimensions
  • The development of the scope of work must be based on the approved Damage Description and Dimensions
  • The scope of work must define how the work will be completed
  • The cost estimate must be based on work in the scope of work
Lesson 1 Summary

In this lesson, the participant learned what is the scope of work and the requirements to begin it's development.

The next lesson reviews the options to develop the scope of work and what documentation is required in the scope of work.