UNCLASSIFIED (U)

14 FAH-2 H-100
Contracting Officer's Representative HANDBOOK

14 FAH-2 H-110

GENERAL

(CT:COR-52; 07-10-2019)
(Office of Origin: A/OPE)

14 FAH-2 H-111 PURPOSE

(CT:COR-24; 09-29-2014)

This handbook provides guidance and information to Department of State personnel designated as contracting officers' representatives (CORs) and government technical monitors (GTM). Program office representatives who develop the requirements of the office and who later serve as the COR are critically important to the success of the Departments mission. The COR and supporting GTM are the critical operational level monitors of contractor performance in the field and must identify issues requiring attention by the contracting officer (CO). The contracting officer must rely on CORs to assist in contract development and administration. It is the COR's responsibility to ensure, through liaison with the contractor, that the contractor accomplishes the technical and financial parts of the contract. This handbook focuses on the responsibilities and relationship between the COR and the contracting officer throughout the contracting process. It provides a perspective on the environment in which contracting takes place, and on the basic procedures that are used throughout the U.S. Government and within the Department of State. The intention is not to make CORs experts in contracting; that is the role of the Department's contracting officers. Rather, this handbook describes the actions required of CORs, the separate but interconnecting responsibilities of the COR and the contracting officer, and the limits of a COR's authority. Requirements for GTMs are the same as CORs. GTMs perform contract administration roles in support of the COR. Some contracts may have a single COR, other contracts may have multiple GTMs supporting a COR or multiple CORs depending on the number of locations and the skills required for contract administration.

14 FAH-2 H-112 SCOPE

(CT:COR-24; 09-29-2014)

The requirements and procedures in this handbook apply to all Department contracts (domestic and abroad) for the acquisition of personal property and non-personal services that are subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Department of State Acquisition Regulation (DOSAR). It does not apply to the acquisition of personal services or real property (including leases).

14 FAH-2 H-113 qualifying as a cor: federal acquisition certification: contracting officers representative (FAC-COR)

(CT:COR-51; 04-19-2019)

a. Contracting officers representatives and government technical monitors must have sufficient technical expertise in the contract subject matter to be able to provide technical direction and to determine whether the contractor is providing conforming goods and services. Program offices determine the extent of necessary technical expertise.

b. The COR must be a U.S. Government employee. The person could be a full-time equivalent (FTE); a when-actually-employed (WAE) retired Foreign Service officer or former Civil Service employee; a temporary hire; or a personal services contractor (PSC) hired under a domestic personal services contract or post-issued personal services agreement (PSA). The person could also be a locally employed staff member (LES) at post. Contractors (other than PSCs) are not eligible to become CORs or GTMs. Contract administration tasks such as inspection and acceptance of goods and services are inherently governmental functions. Contractors may provide support for contract administration.

c. There are three levels of COR certification. Contracting officers are responsible for determining the appropriate level as part of acquisition planning so that program offices can identify appropriately trained and certified individuals to support contract administration. Contracting officers should note in acquisition plans which level of certification was selected. The level may be changed if the contracting officer determines it to be necessary after evaluation of proposals and selection of the successful contractor. The discussion of levels below provides general guidance to the contracting officer, but final determination of level is up to the contracting officer:

(1) Level I: Requires 8 hours of relevant training and at least 6 months of experience as a government employee. This level is appropriate for non-complex orders and contracts below the simplified acquisition threshold. Contracts have little technical complexity. Contract type is generally fixed price, so cost monitoring is not required. Certifications are good for 2 years and require 8 continuous learning points (CLPs) to renew;

(2) Level II: Requires 40 hours of relevant training and at least 12 months of COR related experience. This level is used for more complex work, effort with multiple locations, and may involve contracts other than fixed price thereby requiring some form of cost monitoring. Certifications are good for 2 years and require 40 CLPs to renew; and

(3) Level III: Requires 60 hours of relevant training and at least 24 months of COR related experience. This is the highest level of COR surveillance and is used for unique contract administration requirements, contracts supporting major investments as defined in Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-11, contracts determined to be High Impact by A/OPE/AQM or A/OPE, contracts over $5M and contracts requiring specialized or complex licenses and certifications for contract administrative personnel, such as medical credentials or engineering licenses. Certifications are good for 2 years and require 40 CLPs to renew.

d. The COR training requirements are issued by OMB and are applicable Government-wide. Preferred training is the Department of State in-class or on-line COR course because these cover unique aspects of Department of State authorities as well as unique contract administration problems abroad. The Department will accept other agency COR training as well as commercial COR training. A list of required and recommended training is available on the A/OPE website. The Office of the Procurement Executive (A/OPE) can advise you whether your training is equivalent. Procurement Information Bulletin (PIB) 2012-15 describes the program and current training requirements.

e. CORs apply for certification on-line. The request is routed to the CORs supervisor who validates the need for FAC-COR and the completion of the training. The application is then routed to A/OPE for approval and issuance of the FAC-COR certificate.

14 FAH-2 H-114 COr work commitments

(CT:COR-52; 07-10-2019)

a. Contracting officers representatives (CORs) and government technical monitors (GTMs) are appointed by contracting officers as technical representatives responsible for oversight, inspection, and acceptance of goods, services, and construction. Both the COR and GTM functions are critical to ensuring that the Department of State only pays for conforming goods and services and maximizes the effectiveness of its contractor support. Individuals performing these duties as at least 25 percent of their workload must have work commitments that reflect COR or GTM responsibilities. The below sample criteria may be modified as necessary to reflect the specific requirements of an individual COR assignment.

b. Contract oversight activities conducted by the COR must ensure that the State Department only pays for conforming goods and services, maximize the effectiveness of contractor support, and meet the following general criteria:

(1) Inspects, accepts or rejects deliverables during contract performance and at close-out in conformance with contract terms and conditions;

(2) Processes invoices within seven calendar days of receipt or in accordance with contract timelines. The processing may include rejecting the invoice as incomplete or in error;

(3) Reports contractor instances of fraud/waste/abuse to contracting officer within five business days;

(4) Maintains traceability of oversight through properly documented files that are compliant with agency standards and regulations in order to provide the CO and succeeding CORs an accurate history of contract implementation;

(5) Evaluates and documents contractor past performance in Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) at the CPARS website within required timeframes outlined in agency guidance; and

(6) Keeps the contracting officer and the supervisor informed of contractor performance and contract administration issues by coordinating any changes in, cost or delivery within five business days.

c. When appointed to manage government furnished property, duties include:

(1) When delegated responsibility for government property management, maintains accountability by enforcing contract inventory requirements and taking corrective actions as stated in the contract; and

(2) See 48 CFR Part 45, Government Property, plus contract clause 48 CFR 52.245-1 for property administrator and plant clearance officer issues.

d. When managing security related programs, duties include:

(1) Documents validations of all staffing requirements, biometric reporting and accompanying Letters of Authorization, to include monthly spot inspections of specialty personnel to include verifying required certifications are up to date and documenting possession of sensitive items when appropriate;

(2) Conducts and documents monthly walk-through and documents inspections of related work, storage, living and operational space;

(3) Conducts and documents quarterly Trafficking in Persons (TIP) monitoring inspections;

(4) Conducts and documents review of incidents, incident reports and corrective action within Diplomatic Security (DS) timeframes;

(5) Reviews and documents operational readiness to include personnel staffing, capabilities, logistics and equipment necessary to perform in accordance with contract requirements; and

(6) When operational changes affecting contractor duties and responsibilities occur or are proposed, inform the responsible program office at post and the contracting officer to obtain approval.

e. When managing contingency contracting programs duties include:

(1) Implements the Synchronized Pre-Deployment Operational Tracker system (SPOT) and authorizes Letters of Authorization;

(2) Provides incoming COR with transition briefing within 30 days prior to departure; and

(3) Performs other specific functions consistent with the objectives of the Activitys mandatory specialized/technical training.

f. When managing overseas service contracts duties include: Creates a Trafficking-in-Persons monitoring program commensurate with the risk environment of contract performance and monitors at least annually.

g. Supervisors of CORs (and/or GTMs) must request performance evaluation inputs from contracting officers (or COR or other informed contracting personnel such as contract specialist or a contacting officer with a warrant) via email or memo to provide a basis for evaluation.

h. Supervisors will also evaluate non-permanent employee CORs whose performance as a COR will extend beyond a single year. Employees on detail from bureaus or other agencies serving as CORs for more than 25 percent of the detail must receive a COR evaluation. Employees hired under 5 U.S.C. 3161 authority, when actually employed (WAE) employees, and personal services contractors serving as COR for more than one year must be evaluated on the effectiveness of their performance of COR duties before they may be renewed if they will continue to serve as CORs.

14 FAH-2 H-115 use of contractor support

(CT:COR-24; 09-29-2014)

a. Contractors may support COR monitoring. The COR must ensure that contractors do not perform inherently governmental functions and do not have an organizational conflict of interest. Contractors performing tasks closely associated with inherently governmental functions require careful monitoring. Please reference completion of Form DS-4208, Request for Service Contract Approval, which requires offices to affirmatively state the class of service being procured.

b. Inherently governmental functions are those functions that must be performed by U.S. Government personnel because they represent decision making for the U.S. Government. It represents an activity so intimately related to the public interest that it must and can only be performed by a federal government employee.

c. Closely associated functions are activities closely aligned with inherently governmental functions that are not considered to be inherently governmental, but approach that category because of the nature of the function and the risk of impinging on the governments performance. Consideration should be given to using federal employees for closely associated functions. If contractors are used, CORs should provide increased oversight to ensure contractors are not making final decisions for the government.

d. Critical functions are activities necessary to the agency being able to effectively perform and maintain control of its mission and operations. Consideration should be given to ensuring that bureaus retain sufficient technical expertise of critical functions to provide a sound basis for managing contractor support.

e. Contractors may be used to assess another contractors performance, but may not perform acceptance or rejection since these functions are inherently governmental functions. Contractors may review invoices for accuracy and completeness, but the COR must approve or reject the invoice. Contractors may provide information on other contractor past performance, but the COR must determine the adequacy of past performance and approve the evaluation. Contractors may provide technical evaluations of other contractor proposals, but may not participate as a voting member on a source selection board or make selection decisions. (See 48 CFR 7.503 (d) and OMB/OFPP Policy Letter 11-01, Performance of Inherently Governmental and Critical Functions guidance at 76 Federal Register 56227, September 12, 2011 plus the February 13, 2012 Technical Correction to Policy Letter 11-01).

f. Organizational conflicts of interest occur in situations where a contractor is placed in conflicting roles that might bias a support contractors judgment and where a support contractor receives an unfair competitive advantage such as access to proprietary information or access to source-selection information not available to all contractors. CORs should be alert to potential organizational conflicts of interest and should not use a contractor where a conflict exists, or must bring the matter to the attention of the CO for potential mitigation or waiver. (See 48 CFR 3.1100).

g. Program offices determine that tasks are not inherently governmental and whether they are closely associated or critical functions before submitting requirements to the contracting office. The Form DS-4208, Request for Services Contract Approval, is used to assess and document this decision. Acquisition plans must document that adequate U.S. Government personnel are/will be identified to manage contractor performance. Contract requirements for services anticipated to exceed $25 million per year must include a certification from the requiring bureaus Assistant Secretary that adequate provisions have been/will be made for U.S. Government oversight.

h. Contracting officers will review the Form DS-4208 submitted acquisition plans and concur or non-concur with the determination. For contracts where services involve contractor support of contract administration or other areas requiring additional oversight, contracting officers will coordinate with the COR on appropriate mitigation strategies. Strategies will be documented in the contract file.

i. Unacceptable contractor support: Nonpersonal-services contractors may not be tasked with any of the following:

(1) Determining what supplies or services are to be acquired by the U.S. Government;

(2) Participating as a voting member on any source-selection boards;

(3) Approving any contractual documents, to include documents defining requirements, incentive plans, and evaluation criteria;

(4) Awarding contracts;

(5) Administering contracts (including ordering changes in contract performance or contract quantities, taking action based on evaluations of contractor performance, and accepting or rejecting contractor products or services);

(6) Terminating contracts;

(7) Determining whether contract costs are reasonable, allocable, and allowable; and

(8) Participating as a voting member on performance-evaluation boards.

j. Functions requiring additional oversight and/or risk mitigation: The following is a list of examples of functions generally not considered to be inherently governmental functions. However, certain services and actions that are not considered to be inherently governmental functions may approach being in that category because of the nature of the function or the manner in which the U.S. Government administers contractor performance. Mitigation strategies are included (the list is not all inclusive). In all cases it is important to advise contractors of the limitations of their responsibilities and authority and to require them to identify their contractor affiliation in emails, badging and meetings:

(1) Services that involve or relate to budget preparation, including workload modeling, fact finding, efficiency studies, and should-cost analyses, etc. Mitigation: Retain final decision-making authority. Vet recommendations through panel of U.S. Government personnel;

(2) Services that involve or relate to reorganization and planning activities. Mitigation: Retain final decision-making authority. Vet recommendations through panel of U.S. Government personnel;

(3) Services that involve or relate to analyses, feasibility studies, and strategy options to be used by agency personnel in developing policy. Mitigation: Retain final decision-making authority. Vet recommendations through panel of U.S. Government personnel;

(4) Services that involve or relate to the development of regulations. Mitigation: Retain final decision-making authority. Vet recommendations through panel of U.S. Government personnel;

(5) Services that involve or relate to the evaluation of another contractors performance. Mitigation: Retain final decision-making authority. Vet recommendations through panel of U.S. Government personnel. Conduct conflict-of-interest review to ensure contractor is not supporting a program it will subsequently bid on without further mitigation;

(6) Services in support of acquisition planning. Mitigation: Retain final decision-making authority. Vet recommendations through panel of U.S. Government personnel. Conduct conflict-of-interest review to ensure contractor is not supporting a program it will subsequently bid on without further mitigation;

(7) Contractors providing assistance in contract management (such as where the contractor might influence official evaluations of other contractors). Mitigation: Retain final-decision authority on requirements for corrective action. Use only U.S. Government personnel to decide on contractor past-performance ratings. Conduct organizational conflict-of-interest review to ensure contractor is not evaluating direct competitors or own products and services without mitigation;

(8) Contractors providing technical evaluation of contract proposals. Mitigation: Retain final-decision authority on contractor scores and source selection. Conduct organizational conflict-of-interest review to ensure contractor is not evaluating direct competitors or own or related companies without mitigation;

(9) Contractors providing assistance in the development of statements of work. Mitigation: Conduct organizational conflict-of-interest review. Include clause in contract restricting contractors ability to bid on the program. Reserve the final review and approval of the statement of work by government personnel;

(10) Contractors providing support in preparing responses to Freedom of Information Act requests. Mitigation: Retain final-decision authority on decisions of what can be released;

(11) Contractors working in any situation that permits or might permit them to gain access to confidential business information and/or any other sensitive information. Mitigation: Conduct organizational conflict-of-interest review to ensure contractor is not accessing information from direct competitors or information that will provide a future competitive advantage. Require execution of non-disclosure agreements. Advise contractors whose information is being accessed of the use of contractor personnel to assist in identifying conflicts;

(12) Contractors providing information regarding agency policies or regulations, such as attending conferences on behalf of an agency, conducting community relations campaigns, or conducting agency training courses. Mitigation: Require contractors to identify their contractor affiliation on name tags and presentation materials and to identify their affiliation at meetings, courses, and conferences;

(13) Contractors participating in any situation where it might be assumed that they are agency employees or representatives. Mitigation: Require contractors to identify their contractor affiliation on name tags and presentation materials and to identify their affiliation at meetings, courses, and conferences. Also require contractors to identify their affiliation on their signature block in emails;

(14) Contractors participating as technical advisors to a source-selection board or participating as nonvoting members of a source-evaluation board. Mitigation: Require contractors to identify their contractor affiliation on name tags and presentation materials and to identify their affiliation at meetings, courses, and conferences. Also require contractors to identify their affiliation on their signature blocks in emails. Retain final decision authority on contractor scores and source selection. Conduct organizational conflict-of-interest review to ensure contractor is not evaluating direct competitors or own or related companies products without mitigation;

(15) Contractors serving as arbitrators or providing alternative methods of dispute resolution. Mitigation: Reserve final determination for U.S. Government personnel;

(16) Contractors constructing buildings or structures intended to be secure from electronic eavesdropping or other penetration by foreign governments. Mitigation: Work with the Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS) on background security investigation requirements and clearance levels. Conduct additional government-only surveillance;

(17) Contractors providing inspection services. Mitigation: Reserve for U.S. Government employees the final decision on acceptance or rejection of contractor work products. Conduct organizational conflict-of-interest review to ensure contractor is not evaluating direct competitors or own or related companies products without mitigation. Require contractors to specify tests conducted and the nature of any non-conformities;

(18) Contractors providing legal advice and interpretations of regulations and statutes to U.S. Government officials. Mitigation: All contracts for legal advice should be managed by Department of State attorneys; and

(19) Contractors providing special non-law enforcement security activities that do not directly involve criminal investigations, such as prisoner detention or transport and nonmilitary national security details. Mitigation: The Bureau of Diplomatic Security will provide special oversight for all security and protective detail contracts.

14 FAH-2 H-116 THROUGH H-119 UNASSIGNED

UNCLASSIFIED (U)