2 CFR 200 Subpart B (General Provisions)

2 CFR 200 Subpart B (“General Provisions,” §§200.100–200.113) is the opening subpart of the OMB Uniform Guidance — the part that establishes what the rest of 2 CFR 200 is, who it binds, and how it relates to other federal guidance, before any administrative, cost, or audit rule actually applies. Where Subpart D governs how an award is administered, Subpart E governs whether a specific cost is allowable, and Subpart F governs audit requirements, Subpart B sits above all of them: it is the scope-and-authority layer the other subparts assume is already in place.

What Subpart B Establishes

Subpart B’s fourteen sections fall into three functional groups.

Purpose, Scope, and Legal Basis (200.100-200.105)

• 200.100 Purpose states that Part 200 establishes uniform administrative requirements, cost principles, and audit requirements for federal awards to non-federal entities, replacing the patchwork of OMB circulars (A-21, A-87, A-102, A-110, A-122, A-133, and related guidance) that governed federal awards before 2014.
• 200.101 Applicability defines which federal agencies and which types of federal financial assistance the guidance covers, and identifies categories of awards — certain training awards, some awards to individuals, and other statutorily distinct instruments — that fall outside its scope.
• 200.102 Exceptions allows OMB to approve exceptions to the guidance on a case-by-case or class basis, for example where a statute or program’s structure conflicts with a uniform requirement.
• 200.103 Authorities identifies the statutory authority (principally the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act and related budget and procurement statutes) under which OMB issued Part 200.
• 200.104 Supersession and 200.105 Effect on other issuances together establish that Part 200 supersedes the prior circulars and that, where an authorizing statute or program-specific regulation conflicts with Part 200, the more specific statute or regulation controls.

Implementation and Administration (200.106-200.110)

• 200.106 Agency implementation requires each federal awarding agency to adopt Part 200 in its own regulations (with limited, OMB-approved exceptions), which is why a recipient’s obligations look consistent across NSF, NIH, DOE, and other funders rather than varying agency by agency.
• 200.107 OMB responsibilities assigns OMB the ongoing role of interpreting Part 200, coordinating with agencies, and issuing amendments — OMB last revised the guidance in April 2024, effective for non-federal entity fiscal years beginning on or after October 1, 2024.
• 200.108 Inquiries directs questions about the guidance to OMB.
• 200.109 Review date commits OMB to periodically reviewing Part 200 for currency.
• 200.110 Effective date/Effect on federal awards made prior to the effective date addresses how and when the requirements apply to awards issued before a given revision took effect, generally through agency implementing regulations and award terms rather than automatic retroactive application.

Cross-Cutting Obligations (200.111-200.113)

• 200.111 English language requires that all Part 200 documents, and the awards issued under it, be in English unless a federal statute specifically provides otherwise.
• 200.112 Conflict of interest requires non-federal entities to maintain written standards of conduct covering conflicts of interest in the selection, award, and administration of contracts, and to disclose in writing to the federal awarding agency or pass-through entity any real or apparent organizational conflicts of interest. This is distinct from — though related to — the individual financial-conflict-of-interest disclosure regime under 42 CFR 50 Subpart F and the institutional definitions in terms like Significant Financial Interest (SFI); 200.112 is an entity-level procurement/administration standard, not the individual investigator-disclosure rule.
• 200.113 Mandatory disclosures requires applicants and recipients (and, by extension, subrecipients) to disclose in writing, in a timely manner, all violations of federal criminal law involving fraud, bribery, or gratuity violations potentially affecting a federal award. Failure to disclose can itself be grounds for suspension or debarment, independent of the underlying violation.

Why Subpart B Matters in Practice

Research administrators rarely cite Subpart B directly the way they cite specific cost or administrative sections — but it is the reason those other citations are consistent across funders and enforceable at all. Three practical touchpoints stand out: agency implementing regulations (verify a specific agency’s codification under 200.106 rather than assuming Part 200 language applies verbatim without agency adoption); conflict-of-interest policy language in a subrecipient or procurement policy manual, which should trace back to 200.112; and mandatory-disclosure procedures for suspected fraud, bribery, or gratuity violations, which under 200.113 create an affirmative reporting duty distinct from — and broader than — research-misconduct or financial-conflict-of-interest reporting obligations elsewhere in an institution’s compliance program.

How Subpart B Relates to the Rest of 2 CFR 200

The Uniform Guidance’s six subparts build in sequence: Subpart A defines terms; Subpart B (this page) establishes scope, authority, and cross-cutting duties; Subpart C governs the pre-award and award-making process; Subpart D governs post-award administration through closeout; Subpart E sets the cost-allowability criteria behind terms like Unallowable Cost; and Subpart F governs audit requirements, including the Single Audit threshold. For the full structure and a general-purpose overview, see CASRAI’s Uniform Guidance / 2 CFR 200 guide.

Related Terms

• 2 CFR 200 Subpart D (Post-Federal Award Requirements)
• 2 CFR 200 Subpart E: The Cost Principles
• 2 CFR 200 Subpart C (Pre-Federal Award Requirements)
• 2 CFR 200 Subpart A (Definitions and Acronyms)
• Unallowable Cost (2 CFR 200)
• Cognizant Federal Agency
• Types of Conflict of Interest

When this last changed, and how you find out next time

Subpart B’s own text is current as of OMB’s most recent revision, effective October 1, 2024. Section 200.107 (OMB responsibilities) is itself the provision committing OMB to interpret and amend Part 200 — and OMB last exercised that authority on April 22, 2024, publishing the revision in the Federal Register at 89 FR 30046.

OMB publishes every change to the Uniform Guidance in the Federal Register, and the Federal Register is one of the sources Regulatory Radar checks every day — so 2 CFR 200 is one of the few subjects where CASRAI reads the primary publication venue itself rather than waiting for somebody’s summary. It does not watch the NIH Guide, and it does not watch private accreditors.

Ask CASRAI what 2 CFR 200 Subpart B currently requires when an agency’s own implementing regulation diverges from the baseline Part 200 text — it answers from an indexed corpus it re-checks daily and cites the passage it used, so you can open the source and check it. Two questions a day are free while you are signed out, no account and no card. Regulatory Radar is $29 a month for 150 a day, a subscriber dashboard, API keys and MCP access. Everything CASRAI publishes, including this page, stays free to read.

Frequently asked questions

What does 2 CFR 200 Subpart B cover?

Subpart B (“General Provisions,” sections 200.100-200.113) establishes the purpose, scope, legal authority, and cross-cutting duties that the rest of Part 200 assumes are already in place — before any administrative, cost, or audit rule actually applies.

Does 2 CFR 200 apply the same way across every federal agency?

Yes, in baseline form. Section 200.106 requires each federal awarding agency to adopt Part 200 in its own regulations, with only limited OMB-approved exceptions, which is why recipient obligations look consistent across NSF, NIH, DOE and other funders.

What does 200.112 require regarding conflicts of interest?

Non-federal entities must maintain written standards of conduct covering conflicts of interest in the selection, award, and administration of contracts, and disclose in writing any real or apparent organizational conflict of interest. This is an entity-level standard, distinct from the individual financial-conflict-of-interest disclosure regime under 42 CFR 50 Subpart F.

What must be disclosed under 200.113’s mandatory-disclosure requirement?

Applicants and recipients (and, by extension, subrecipients) must disclose in writing, in a timely manner, all violations of federal criminal law involving fraud, bribery, or gratuity violations potentially affecting a federal award. Failure to disclose can itself support suspension or debarment.

Who has the authority to interpret and amend 2 CFR 200?

OMB, under 200.107. OMB most recently revised the guidance in April 2024, effective for non-federal entity fiscal years beginning on or after October 1, 2024.