Force-account labor and equipment — how to document crew hours for FEMA review

When a disaster hits, your own people often do much of the work: public works clears roads, city trucks haul debris, and staff work extra shifts. FEMA calls these force-account resources. Their eligible costs may be reimbursed through Public Assistance, but the work and costs need a clear supporting record.

Here's how to document it so it survives a closeout review.

What "force account" means

Force account is simply the resources you already own and employ — as opposed to a contractor you hire. Two categories:

• Force-account labor — your employees' time spent on eligible disaster work.
• Force-account equipment — your owned vehicles and equipment used for that work.

Labor and equipment follow different eligibility and documentation rules, so record them separately.

The overtime rule for labor

For emergency work such as debris removal and emergency protective measures, the straight-time cost of budgeted employees is generally ineligible, while overtime may be eligible. Exceptions and declaration-specific rules can apply, so use the current FEMA guidance and your approved labor policy.

For permanent work (repairing infrastructure), both regular time and overtime can be eligible. Either way, you must back it up with official payroll records and timesheets that show who worked, when, on what, and at what rate. A summary you typed up after the fact is not enough — auditors want the source documents.

Equipment: rates and the active vs. standby rule

You don't guess what your equipment is worth. FEMA publishes a Schedule of Equipment Rates — a per-hour rate for hundreds of equipment types that bundles in fuel, maintenance, and depreciation. You log hours against the matching code and apply the rate.

One rule deserves its own line:

Most standby time is not reimbursable. FEMA generally applies equipment rates only while equipment is operating. One important exception: intermittent standby may be eligible when the operator uses the equipment for more than half of the working hours that day. Document the full timeline and confirm the rule that applies to your declaration.

Split each piece of equipment's time into active and standby hours rather than entering a flat shift. That preserves the evidence needed to calculate eligible operating time and, where applicable, support FEMA's intermittent-use exception.

The records auditors actually check

When FEMA closes out a project, they look for:

• Timesheets tied to specific eligible work and the declared event.
• Equipment logs with the operator, the equipment, the active hours, and the applied rate.
• A clear link to the disaster — the incident period and declaration the costs belong to.
• Photos and locations showing the work was real and in an eligible area.

The practical lesson is simple: record the work during the response, while supervisors can still confirm who did what and which equipment was operating.

How Pin311 handles it

In Pin311, crews log time against a named asset and the selected equipment rate. Operating and standby time remain separate. Staff can attach payroll records and connect each entry to the declared event, then review those records together in the Disaster Packet.

The software does not decide whether a cost is eligible. It gives your team a consistent place to build and review the record.

See how it works on your own crews — start free. The force-account log and the full FEMA equipment-rate schedule are included.

Official references

• FEMA Public Assistance Program and Policy Guide, Version 5 (amended)
• FEMA Schedule of Equipment Rates

This guide is educational, not legal or grant-management advice. FEMA policy can vary by declaration and may change; confirm current requirements with your state, tribal, territorial, or FEMA representative.