Application Validation Assistant (AVA)

Introduction

The Application Validation Assistant (AVA) helps applicants streamline and improve the application submission process. Before submission, AVA automatically reviews application packages and identifies potential errors across forms and supporting data so applicants can correct issues early. AVA also delivers real-time feedback, corrective guidance, and guided troubleshooting to help applicants resolve issues quickly. By improving submission accuracy and reducing rework, AVA creates a more efficient, consistent, and user-friendly application experience.

AVA identifies errors related to:

Application Type
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI)
Grant number (Federal Award Identifier)
Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) validation
Performance Site (PPOP) Location form
Verify attachment page limit compliance

Important Note: Uploading the file in AVA DOES NOT officially submit the application. All submissions must be through Grants.Gov.

Additional Resources
Application Validation Assistant (AVA) Video

Downloading Notice of Funding Opportunity Guidance Document
1	Once you find the Notice of Funding Opportunity you want to apply to, from the Related Documents section, A. Download the Announcement document, which provides all of the details and guidance for you to apply Important Note: The announcement document includes all forms that are required and their respective page limits.
2	Review the entire Guidance Document for all of the Funding Opportunity details. In the Build Your Application section, the required documents, page limit, and what counts toward the page limit are listed.
3	After reviewing the guidance document: A. Select the Package tab. B. Select Preview in the Actions column to view the forms. C. Select the forms to download. Important Note: AVA validates the SF-424, the SF-424 R&R, and the Performance Site (PPOP) Location forms. Important Reminder: AVA will validate the page count limit.

Preparing Documents and ZIP File for Upload
Preparing documents and the ZIP file correctly is vital for a successful upload. Your ZIP file may include, but doesn’t require all: SF-424 OR SF-424 R&R (Note: Your ZIP file can only include one of the SF-424 or the SF-424 R&R form). Performance Site (PPOP) Supporting Documents Important Note: You can only have one set of application forms in the ZIP file. If you are applying to multiple NOFOs, create a separate ZIP file for each one and upload to validate separately. The user should upload documents towards the page count based on the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) guidance document only. If any additional documents are uploaded, they are also counted towards the page count limit validation
The file types that are accepted by AVA are: DOC/.DOCX - Microsoft Word .RTF - Rich Text Format .TXT - Text .WPD - Word Perfect Document .PDF - Adobe Portable Document Format .XLS/.XLSX - Microsoft Excel .VSD - Microsoft Visio
When naming the files, it is crucial to follow the guidelines below. Only use the following characters when naming your attachments: Uppercase letters: A–Z Lowercase letters: a–z Numbers: 0–9 Characters: apostrophe, comma, semicolon, hyphen, space, period, exclamation point, parenthesis, curly braces, square brackets, ampersand, tilde, at sign, number sign, dollar sign, percent sign, plus sign, equal sign Important Note: File names MUST be under 50 characters.
Once files are ready, ensure that your folder (eventual ZIP file) is named according to the required standards. For the ZIP file upload to be successful, the naming convention must be as follows: HRSA-YY-XXX Where YY is the year and XXX is the Funding Opportunity number. Example: HRSA-23-130
Creating a ZIP file
1	To compress your file into a ZIP file, right-click on your file to select. On the pop-up menu options, select Compress To.
2	Next, select ZIP file to finish compressing your folder.
3	A new ZIP file appears in the File Explorer window,
4	The ZIP file is now ready to be uploaded to AVA.

Uploading ZIP File into AVA
1	To access AVA, go to the grants.hrsa.gov Applicant/Grantee page. Important Note: The system ends the session after 15 minutes of inactivity. Your work WILL NOT autosave.
2	Select Application Validation Assistant (AVA) from the Other Links section at the bottom of the page.
3	On the AVA landing page, upload the ZIP file for AVA to review. Either Drag and Drop your ZIP file, or browse files for upload. Note: Your ZIP file may include, but doesn’t require all: SF-424 R&R SF-424 Important Note: Your ZIP file can only include one of the SF-424 or the SF-424 R&R form to have a successful upload. Performance Site (PPOP) Supporting Documents Note: It is important to reference your Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) document for requirements about page count limits. To find requirements, check the NOFO guidance, go to https://grants.gov/. Important Reminder: For the ZIP file upload to be successful, the naming convention must be as follows: HRSA-YY-XXX Where YY is the year and XXX is the Funding Opportunity number. Example: HRSA-23-130 Important Note: You can only have one set of application forms in the ZIP file. If you are applying to multiple NOFOs, create a separate ZIP file for each one and upload to validate separately. Review the disclaimer statement at the top of the page.
4	Review the validation summary that AVA provides. Check which fields passed validation and which fields need correction. A. If a field is passed, a green check mark appears. B. If a field fails, a red “X” appears.
5	Locate any errors in the PDF. Use AVA’s page and field references to find each issue in the uploaded PDF.
6	Fix the identified issues. Update the documents based on AVA's feedback, including the current value, issue description, and suggested correction. Then upload the ZIP file with the updated documents.
7	A. Review the final summary and confirm that AVA shows the application passed validations. B. Use the Remove button at the bottom of the screen or the Refresh button at the top right of the screen to remove your ZIP file from the system and start over.
8	Use the message feature at the bottom of the page to ask AVA any question applicable to the uploaded file.
9	Submit the application through Grants.gov. Important Note: Uploading the file in AVA DOES NOT officially submit the application. All submissions must be through Grants.Gov. The PDFs are not saved in the EHBs.