Guide to Producing Successful Communications Products: Supplement to the Federal Highway Administration Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center R&D Communication Reference Guide

CHAPTER 2. FORM FHWA -1113 RELATED TO ACQUISITIONS PROCESS

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Public Affairs (HPA) requires approval of all agency products that meet either of the following criteria:

• Has a DOT/FHWA Signature (logo), endorsement, or funding.
• Will be provided to external audiences via online, printed copy, or presentations. Refer to Chapter 9 Table 4 on page 42 for more details.

Most FHWA Office of Operations (HOP) procurements involve deliverables that meet these HPA approval requirement criteria. The FHWA and HOP acquisitions processes have many elements, one of which is HPA's approval of Form FHWA-1113, http://staffnet.fhwa.dot.gov/informs/adobeforms/fhwa1113.pdf. ¹

Form FHWA-1113 is used in the "light bulb" conceptual stage of an HOP product.  Before a HOP Project Manager (PM) formalizes any steps toward introducing a procurement item into the PRISM acquisitions software program, HPA needs to digitally sign the Form FHWA-1113. Note that presentations do not require a Form FHWA-1113.

A HOP PM filling out the form should provide a description of the proposed product and outline the advantage of the material to not only technical stakeholders but, if possible, the taxpaying public as well. A link to the Form FHWA-1113 instructions can be found at: http://our.dot.gov/office/fhwa.dss/operations/HOP/Shared%20Documents/OPS%20III%20and%20Freight%20Forms%20and%20Templates/FHWA%201113%20Form.pdf ². The HOP PM will not include his/her digital signature in field #11 but instead leave it blank and email the filled-out Form FHWA-1113, along with a draft Performance Work Statement/Statement of Work (if applicable) to the Marketing and Outreach Coordinator for review. The Office Director's signature is not required for this form. The Coordinator will then assess the Form FHWA-1113, seek clarification from the HOP PM if necessary, apply his/her digital signature, and forward the form to HPA. HPA will respond to the Marketing and Outreach Coordinator within HPA's standard 10 Federal business days timeframe.

The HPA staff will apply his/her digital signature to an approved Form FHWA-1113. Should he or she not approve the form, the Marketing and Outreach Coordinator will discuss the concerns with the HOP PM. A product file name title should spell out the name of the product, use no special characters, and include the month and year.

Figure 1 displays the process for submitting Form FHWA-1113.

For more information about the Form FHWA-1113, please refer to FHWA Order 2-4, https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/legsregs/directives/orders/2-4.cfm.

Refer to Appendix A for a sample Form FHWA-1113 "Clearance Request for Public Materials – Video, Print, Web, Social Media, or Multimedia".