Contracting Officer (CO)
A contracting officer is the government official with authority to enter into, administer, or terminate contracts and make related determinations and findings, per FAR 2.101 and 1.602-1. Only a contracting officer can bind the government, and only within the limits of the delegated authority.
Appointment runs through FAR 1.603-3: a written warrant on the SF 1402, Certificate of Appointment, stating any limits on the officer's authority beyond those in law and regulation. Micro-purchase authority is the exception — agencies may delegate it in writing to the employees who will use what is bought, no SF 1402 required.
FAR 1.602 gives the office its shape. Before signing, the contracting officer must ensure every applicable requirement of law, executive order, and regulation has been met and funds are available. After award, 1.602-2 makes the officer responsible for performance, for safeguarding the government's interest, and for impartial, fair, and equitable treatment of contractors, designating a contracting officer's representative in writing where the contract calls for one.
The nuance that burns contractors: warrant limits are enforceable against them. The government is not bound by apparent authority, so a program manager's promise or an over-warrant signature creates an unauthorized commitment, not a contract, and payment then depends on ratification. Check the warrant; 1.602-1 expects information on those limits to be readily available.
Regulatory Reference
FAR 2.101; FAR 1.602-1; FAR 1.602-2; FAR 1.603-3
RFO Status
The Part 1 model deviation moves contracting officer authority and appointment to 1.402 and 1.403 while keeping the SF 1402, and Part 1 is in FAR Case 2026-001, proposed June 23, 2026, so that restructure is now in formal rulemaking; until a final rule, 1.602 and 1.603 control except under an agency deviation.
Category
Processes & Methods
How AcqBot Helps
AcqBot stages every clearance, approval, and determination FAR 1.602-1(b) requires ahead of signature and flags actions that fall outside a warrant's stated limits before they turn into unauthorized commitments.
Related glossary entries
Sources Sought Notice
A Sources Sought Notice is a pre-solicitation announcement, typically posted to SAM.gov, asking companies to identify their interest and capability to perform a prospective requirement — primarily used as market research to shape competition and set-aside decisions.
Request for Information (RFI)
A Request for Information (RFI) is a formal market research instrument used to gather industry input on capabilities, approaches, pricing structures, or draft requirements when the government is not yet ready to solicit — responses are voluntary and non-binding.
Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA)
Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) is a source selection process that awards to the lowest-priced offeror whose proposal meets minimum acceptability standards — no credit is given for exceeding requirements, and tradeoffs between price and quality are not permitted.
Best-Value Tradeoff
The best-value tradeoff process permits award to other than the lowest-priced or highest-rated offeror when the source selection authority documents that the superior proposal's benefits are worth its price premium, or that a cheaper proposal's savings outweigh its weaknesses.