Administrative Contracting Officer vs. Procuring Contracting Officer (ACO vs. PCO)

FAR 2.101 defines a contracting officer as a person with authority to enter into, administer, or terminate contracts, then names two specialties: the administrative contracting officer, who administers, and the termination contracting officer, who settles terminations. The FAR never defines a procuring contracting officer. PCO is shorthand for the awarding contracting officer; DFARS uses the phrase in spots such as 242.302(b)(S-71). FAR 2.101 adds that one person can hold all three roles.

The split happens under FAR 42.202. The PCO delegates administration to a contract administration office, and 42.302(a) lists the functions that transfer by default, from forward pricing rate agreements to property administration. The PCO may withhold any of them in the delegation. The 42.302(b) functions, such as negotiating supplemental agreements for change orders, go to the ACO only when the delegation authorizes them in writing, and anything unlisted stays with the PCO under 42.302(c). In DoD, DFARS 242.202 bars activities from retaining contracts that need administration at or near the contractor's plant, and the DoD overhaul deviation text names DCMA as the office that administers them.

The friction point is scope. Contractors bring schedule and price questions to the ACO they see every week, and an ACO who agrees to a change the delegation did not cover has acted past the authority FAR 1.602-1 allows. Read the delegation before answering.