Helpful Hints About Requesting a No-Cost Extension

Federal Awards:

Most federal agencies have delegated the responsibility for approving no-cost extensions for grants to the institution. NSF, NIH, ARO, AFOSR, NEA, NEH, DOE and DOED allow us to internally approve a one-time request to extend the end date of the project period up to an additional 12 months.

Note: Other federal agencies, including ONR, still require agency approval for no-cost extensions. Follow the procedure for Non-Federal Awards below.

Procedure for internal approval: Complete the OPAS form (1304 FR.01) found on the Yale Policies, Procedures & Forms page. This form requires signatures from the PI, department administrator and Chair. Once signed, the form should be forwarded to the appropriate Office of Grant and Contract Administration for review and approval. GCA will send notification of the approval to the agency. When the process is complete, GCA will make the necessary change in OGM.

Exception for NSF awards: NSF requires that notification of extensions be submitted via FastLane. The PI or business manager should initiate the notification procedure through FastLane, then push the Submit to SRO button to alert GCA that a notification is waiting to be processed. The hardcopy OPAS form with signatures should be sent to GCA as usual. Once the request has been approved, GCA will forward the notification to NSF via FastLane.

Explanation: The OPAS form requires a justification for the extension. Funds remaining in the account is not a justifiable reason for requesting an extension. Extensions may be requested only for programmatic reasons (such as the work took longer than expected). However, it is appropriate to state that sufficient funds remain in the account to support the project for the additional period of time.

Timing: The agency must be informed about the extension no later than 10 days prior to the original expiration date. Therefore requests for extensions should be processed at least two weeks before the grant period ends.

Non-Federal Awards:

To request a no-cost extension from a non-federal sponsor or from a federal agency, such as ONR, that requires agency approval for extensions, the PI should write a letter to the Program Officer stating the reason why an extension is necessary.

The letter should clearly indicate the sponsor’s award number and the requested expiration date. The letter should be forwarded to the appropriate GCA for review and counter-signature. GCA will then send the letter to the sponsor. When approval for the extension is received from the sponsor, GCA will make the necessary change in OGM.

Explanation: Funds remaining in the account is not a justifiable reason for requesting an extension. Extensions may be requested for programmatic reasons only. Some sponsors may request information about the amount of funds remaining in the account and others may request a budget indicating how funds remaining at the end of the original project period will be spent during the extension. When in doubt, consult the original award and/or GCA.

Timing: The letter requesting approval for a no-cost extension must reach the sponsor well before the expiration date in order to allow the sponsor time to process the request and inform Yale of the approval before the project period ends.