For Prime Vendors: Subcontracting in PASSPort

Get an overview of how prime vendors submit approval and modification requests, record payment information, and more for subcontracting.

If a contract has a future end date, City vendors can subcontract portions of their work to approved subcontractors for any active contract regardless of registration status.

PASSPort streamlines these subcontracting processes:

• Subcontractor approval
• Subcontract modifications
• Subcontractor payments recording and validations
• Subcontract M/WBE utilization tracking

Prime Vendor Responsibilities

• Assign User Roles
• Submit Subcontractor Approval Request
• Submit Subcontract Modification Requests
• Record Subcontractor Payment Information
• Monitor M/WBE Utilization

These are the responsibilities of the parties involved in the subcontracting process:

• Subcontractor Approval
  • Prime Vendor: Submit approval request
  • Subcontractor: No action needed
  • Agency: Approve or deny request
• Subcontract Modification
  • Prime Vendor: Submit modification request
  • Subcontractor: No action needed
  • Agency: Approve or deny request
• Record Subcontractor Payments
  • Prime Vendor: Enter payment information
  • Subcontractor: Validate payment information
  • Agency: Validate payment information
• M/WBE Utilization Tracker
  • Prime Vendor: Monitor tracker and make sure contract requirements are met
  • Subcontractor: No action needed
  • Agency: Monitor tracker and make sure contract requirements are met
• Communication
  • Prime Vendor: Communicate with agency and subcontractors
  • Subcontractor: Communicate with prime vendor
  • Agency: Communicate with prime vendor

Assign User Roles

Prime vendors must assign the necessary user roles to their organization's contacts to complete required subcontracting tasks. Prime vendors should check in with their subcontractors to confirm that contacts are properly set up in PASSPort.

See Add Users to Your Account for more information.

Required roles for a prime vendor:

• Vendor Admin is required for:
  • Subcontractor approval request
  • Subcontract modification request
  • Entering subcontractor payments
  • Receiving notification of approval
• Vendor Procurement L1 or Vendor Procurement L2 are required for:
  • Subcontract modification request
  • Receiving notification of approval
• Vendor Financial L1 or Vendor Financial L2 are required for:
  • Entering payment information

Required roles for a subcontractor:

• Vendor Admin is required for:
  • Validating prime vendor payments
  • Receiving notification of approval
• Vendor Procurement L1 or Vendor Procurement L2 are required for:
  • Receiving notification of approval
• Vendor Financial L1 or Vendor Financial L2 are required for:
  • Validating payments from prime vendors

Submit Subcontractor Approval Request

Prime vendors submit a subcontractor approval request on contracts including subcontractors.

Before submitting an approval request, subcontractors must:

• Assign the required user roles to their contacts
• Be Filed in PASSPort (completed PASSPort Enrollment)
• Have a Payee Information Portal (PIP) account
• Have active NYC M/WBE certifications, if applicable

The subcontractor approval process has three main steps:

1. Vendor Submission: The prime vendor submits a subcontractor approval request.
2. Agency Initial Approval: The Agency reviews the request. For contracts with M/WBE goals, the agency reviews the subcontractor's NYC M/WBE certifications.
3. Final Subcontractor Approval: Depending on the decision made in this step, the process leads to one of the following:
   • Denied. Vendor and subcontractors are notified by email.
   • Pending Contract Registration. A temporary status until the contract is registered.
   • Approved. Vendor and subcontractors are notified by email.
   • Preliminary Approval Received. Vendor and subcontractors are notified by email.

Submit Subcontract Modification Request

Prime vendors can submit a subcontract modification request to update the following parts of a subcontract:

• Value
• Start Date
• End Date
• Purpose
• M/WBE Certifications
• Add Documents

Only prime vendors can submit subcontract modification requests. Subcontractors should reach out to the prime vendor if updates are needed.

Note: Modification requests cannot be used to replace a subcontractor. See Revoke the Existing Subcontractor for more information.

Modification requests follow this process:

1. Modification Request Submission: The prime vendor submits a modification request.
2. Agency Initial Approval: The Agency reviews the request.
   The request can be sent back to the vendor (Return to Vendor) for correction and resubmission. For contracts with M/WBE goals, the agency reviews the subcontractor's NYC M/WBE certifications.
3. Agency Final Approval: Depending on the decision made in this step, the process leads to one of the following:
   • Approved. The changes have been applied to the subcontract. Prime vendor is notified.
   • Denied. Prime vendor is notified.

Record Subcontractor Payment Information

After making payments to subcontractors outside of PASSPort, prime vendors must log into PASSPort to record the payment information. Both subcontractors and agencies validate the payment information.

The payment recording and validation process has three main steps:

1. Prime Vendor Payment Recording: The prime vendor
   1. Enters the subcontractor payment information
   2. Uploads proof of payment
   3. Submits the information
2. Subcontractor Payment Validation: The Subcontractor reviews the payment information. They approve or return the payment information to the prime vendor.
   
   Subcontractor payment validation advances directly to agency validation if:
   • There is no active subcontractor user in PASSPort.
   • The subcontractor does not validate the payment within 14 days.
   See For Subcontractors: Confirm a Payment for more information.
3. Agency Payment Validation: The Agency reviews the payment information and documentation. They approve or return the information to the prime vendor.

PASSPort sends the subcontractor payment information to the Comptroller's Office website Checkbook NYC.

Monitor M/WBE Utilization

For subcontracts with M/WBE goals, prime vendors and agencies can track M/WBE participation goals using the M/WBE Utilization Tracker in PASSPort. The tracker connects prime vendor-recorded subcontract payments to the goals, simplifying compliance.

How does the tracker work? The M/WBE Utilization Tracker takes information from the contract, subcontract, and payment recordings, and uses that data to calculate the projected utilization and actual completion percentage in real-time.

Where is the tracker and who can view it? The tracker is in the M/WBE Goals section of the Contract's Header page and can be viewed by agencies and prime vendors. Subcontractors cannot view the tracker.

What does the tracker look like?

How do I read the tracker? In the above example, the tracker displays:

• Current Participation Goal %: The agency requires that an NYC M/WBE Black American certified business manages 10% of the contract.
• M/WBE Total Contract Amount $ and Projected Utilization %: The contract was registered with one or more Agency-approved subcontractors that meet the goal of 10%/$30k of the contract value.
• Paid Amount $ and Actual Completion %: Based on payment recordings by the prime vendor, $20,000 have been paid towards the goal of $30k, 6.70% of the goal (Actual Completion %). This means that $10,000 has not yet been paid to the subcontractors.

Note: The Actual Completion (%) is never 100%. If the current participation goal is 10% and the subcontract meets that goal, the Actual Completion field shows 10% once the utilization goal has been satisfied.

See M/WBE Utilization Tracker: An Overview for more information.