A facility clearance is essentially a determination by the federal government that it would be in the interest of national security for a particular company or organization to access classified information. It is also known as a facility security clearance and its acronym is FCL. Just as national security information is classified at one of three levels (Confidential, Secret, or Top Secret), facility clearances are granted at one of those three levels.
A company can only apply for a facility security clearance when it is necessary for them to access classified information to respond to a request or perform on a contract. (A company cannot apply for the FCL of its own accord.) That contract may be awarded to the company by either a federal government agency or by another company that already has a facility clearance of its own. The agency or cleared company then sponsors the uncleared company for the facility security clearance at the appropriate level of classification (Confidential, Secret, or Top Secret). Since the sponsoring agencies and companies are not always familiar with how to sponsor a company for a facility clearance, Secure Defense Consulting® Inc. can assist with this and other parts of the process on a consulting basis.