Update Intermittent Designations

To ensure NIH processes comply with FIPS 201-3 requirements, all individuals entered in NED with an employment duration of more than six months must undergo a full-scope, tiered background investigation. Previously, individuals in NED with an employment duration of more than six months and with anticipated access designated as “Intermittent" were bypassing this required investigation, which was not compliant with FIPS 201-3. To ensure this is compliant, the "Intermittent" frequency status has been removed from the NED system starting April 18, 2026. Affected individuals who have been updated from Intermittent" to "Non-Intermittent" will be required to complete the background investigation accordingly and issued new badges. Please note: current badges will remain active until the new badges are issued.

 

Change in Default Background Investigation Tiers for All IT-Related Positions to Minimum Tier 2 or Higher

The NIH has a responsibility to ensure that physical and network/system (logical) access to the NIH is managed in a manner that protects sensitive information, systems and facilities.​ Under 5 CFR Parts 1400 and 731, agencies must designate all positions at a risk level commensurate with the potential impact to national security and integrity of the service. The Division of Personnel Security (DPS) identified a compliance gap in the designation of some NIH Information Technology (IT) positions as Tier 1 (Low Risk), despite responsibilities that warrant a higher level of background investigation. Tier 1 investigations do not provide sufficient vetting for IT positions with direct access to NIH systems containing research data, infrastructure information, budget data and workforce records.

​Therefore, DPS has worked with the NIH Enterprise Database (NED) team to introduce a change in NED Release 8.3, released on April 18, 2026, to ensure that all IT positions are defaulted to a minimum of Tier 2 (Moderate Risk Public Trust) or higher.

Implementation will start with new IT positions registered in NED. For existing staff, NED will automatically update the required background investigation tier upon the next record update (e.g., badge renewal, name change, citizenship update, phone number update). This will be followed by a phased approach for existing staff where DPS will collaborate with the Institute, Center or Office (ICO) leadership to identify high-sensitivity IT positions for prioritized implementation during the initial phase. A new badge will not be required/issued solely due to a background investigation tier change.

Will this affect the ICO's budget assessment?

Yes. This will have the ability to impact the ICO's budget assessment for next year and onward to account for Tier 2 or 3 investigation costs ($455 vs. $197 for Tier 1). As a reminder, DPS collects the funds from each ICO through the annual assessment as part of the annual operating budget. ICOs are charged through taps to cover investigation requirements. While this update may not impact ICOs' budget assessments for this fiscal year, it may cause an increase in next year's annual assessment.

With this change, ICOs should not need to go through all individuals with IT positions and manually update the position designations in NED. Instead, the update will happen when the individual is due for a badge renewal or when any other change in NED is made. Therefore, the expenses and investigations will be spread out over multiple years.      

 

What will happen to the existing staff in these affected positions?

• The Background Investigation Tier update is triggered only when any change is made to the record (e.g., phone number update) or when the individual is due for a badge renewal
• The individual will be updated to the correct Background Investigation Tier
• The AO/AT must upload a new Position Designation Tool form
• A new background investigation request will be sent to DPS