(a) Delegations. As stated in 601.603-3(a), there is no contracting officer authority conferred by virtue of position. Pursuant to 601.602-1(b), the Procurement Executive has designated the following as contracting activities as defined in FAR 2.101. These authorities are not redelegable. In addition, specific individuals are designated as heads of contracting activities (HCAs) (see FAR 2.101):
(1) Overseas posts. Each overseas post shall be regarded as a contracting activity to enter into and administer contracts for the expenditure of funds involved in the acquisition of supplies, equipment, publications, and services. The Principal Officer, the Management Officer, or the Supervisory General Services Officer are designated as HCAs; provided, that he/she has a contracting officer's warrant issued by the Procurement Executive. The Procurement Executive (or authorized A/OPE staff) may delegate to a contracting officer, on a case-by-case basis, the authority to award a contract or modification which exceeds the contracting officer's warrant level.
(i) No authority is delegated to enter into cost-reimbursement, fixed-price incentive, or fixed-price redeterminable contracts. Design/build solicitations and contracts may only be entered into with the written approval of A/OPE and OBO. Proposed construction contracts exceeding $500,000 and any related architect-engineer contracts must have prior A/OPE approval.
(ii) When expressly authorized by a U.S. Government agency which does not have a contracting officer at the post, the officers named in paragraph (a)(1) introductory text of this section may enter into contracts for that agency. Use of this authority is subject to the statutory authority of that agency and any special contract terms or other requirements necessary for compliance with any conditions or limitations applicable to the funds of that agency. The agency's authorization shall cite the statute(s) and state any special contract terms or other requirements with which the acquisition so authorized must comply. In view of the contracting officer's responsibility for the legal, technical, and administrative sufficiency of contracts, questions regarding the propriety of contracting actions that the post is required to take pursuant to this authority may be referred to the Department for resolution with the headquarters of the agency concerned.
(2) Office of Logistics Management; Office of Acquisition Management (A/LM/AQM). The authority to enter into and administer contracts for the expenditure of funds involved in the acquisition of supplies and services, including construction, is delegated to the Director or designee as the HCA.
(3) Foreign Service Institute. The authority to enter into and administer contracts pursuant to Chapter 7, Title I, of the Foreign Service Act of 1980, as amended (22 U.S.C. 4021 et seq.), is delegated to the Director of the Foreign Service Institute, the Executive Director, the Deputy Executive Director, and the Supervisory Contracting Officer as the HCA.
(4) Office of Foreign Missions. The authority to enter into and administer contracts pursuant to Title II of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956, as amended (22 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.), is delegated to the Director, Office of Foreign Missions, and the Administrative Officer as the HCA.
(5) U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The authority to enter into and administer contracts pursuant to the United Nations Participation Act of 1945, as amended (22 U.S.C.287), is delegated to the Counselor for Administration as the HCA.
(b) Other delegations. Several DOS offices have been delegated limited procurement authority, although they have not been designated as HCAs. Matters requiring HCA resolution are referred to the A/LM/AQM. These delegations are provided only to warranted contracting officers in the respective offices. They are as follows:
(1) Office of Language Services. The authority to enter into and administer simplified acquisition transactions under FAR Part 13 and orders against existing contracts up to the maximum ordering threshold or limitation for interpreting, translating, conference reporting, and related language support and escort services.
(2) Office of Overseas Schools. The authority to enter into and administer simplified acquisition transactions under FAR Part 13 and orders against existing contracts up to the maximum ordering threshold or limitation pursuant to section 29 of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956, as amended.
(3) Library. The authority to enter into and administer simplified acquisition transactions under FAR Part 13 and orders against existing contracts up to the maximum ordering threshold or limitation pursuant to the provisions of the Public Printing and Documents Act of 1968, as amended, and for the acquisition of newspapers, books, maps, and periodicals.
(4) Office of International Conferences. The authority to enter into and administer simplified acquisition transactions under FAR Part 13 and orders against existing contracts up to the maximum ordering threshold or limitation pursuant to section 5, Title I, of the Department of State Basic Authorities Act of 1956, as amended.
(5) Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. The authority to enter into and administer simplified acquisition transactions under FAR part 13, to enter into and administer contracts over the simplified acquisition threshold but not exceeding $500,000 for non-commercial item acquisitions; up to $6.5 million for the acquisition of commercial items using the simplified acquisition procedures under the Test Program of FAR subpart 13.5; orders against existing contracts up to the maximum ordering threshold or limitation and personal services contracts pursuant to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended; and, 48 CFR Chapter 7, Agency for International Development Acquisition Regulation (AIDAR), including any amendments thereto. INL follows the AIDAR guidance for doing personal service contracts. All other contracting actions follow the DOSAR and DoS regulations. These authorities extend to any acquisition performed by any Department of State contracting activity on behalf of INL.
(6) Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization. The authority to enter into and administer 8(a) purchase orders and contracts as a third party pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Small Business Administration.
(7) Bureau of Administration, Office of Operations. The authority to enter into and administer simplified acquisition transactions for emergency or contingency operations necessary to protect life or federal property. This authority is limited to cases when a contracting officer in the Office of Acquisitions Management is unavailable.
(8) Regional Procurement Support Offices. The authority to enter into and administer contracts for the expenditure of funds involved in the acquisition of supplies, equipment, publications, and services on behalf of overseas posts is delegated to each Director, Regional Procurement Support Office (RPSO) at the following locations:
(i) RPSO Frankfurt in conjunction with Consulate General Frankfurt; and
(ii) RPSO Florida in conjunction with the Florida Regional Center.
(c) Execution of delegated authority.
(1) Whenever the contracting officer makes use of the various statutory authorities available to the Department to waive the application of the Federal Acquisition Regulation or laws governing acquisition, such as those provided in the Foreign Assistance Act (22 U.S.C. 2291) or the Foreign Service Buildings Act (22 U.S.C. 294), a written determination of the basis for using the authority must be prepared and included in the file.
(2) If the statute or current practice of the requiring office does not specify a particular format, use the following format.
SUBJECT: [State title of program or project]
DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT: [Briefly describe what is being acquired]
STATUTORY AUTHORITY: [Cite specific statute, such as 22 U.S.C. 2291(a)(4) for INL, and provide quotation from the law that conveys authority for the waiver at issue]
SCOPE OF WAIVER: [Describe what is being waived, such as (but not limited to) the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) in its entirety, the Competition in Contracting Act as implemented in FAR Parts 5 and 6, or FAR Part 32 limitation on advance payments, etc.; also identify the individual acquisition or class of acquisitions for which the waiver is being sought.]
JUSTIFICATION: [Describe the need to use the authority and the anticipated impact of not doing so; discuss alternatives considered, if any]
CONCURRENCE:
Contracting Officer
Date
Legal Advisor
Date
APPROVAL/SIGNATURE:
Approving Official
Date
(3) The determination may be made for an individual acquisition or on a class basis, as appropriate. The Contracting Officer must ensure that the proper official makes the determination in question. There may already be a Department of State delegation of authority to a specific individual to make the determination.
[59 FR 66752, Dec. 28, 1994, as amended at 60 FR 39662, Aug. 3, 1995; 64 FR 43620, Aug. 11, 1999; 69 FR 19330, Apr. 13, 2004; 71 FR 34839, June 16, 2006; 72 FR 45695, Aug. 15, 2007. Redesignated and amended at 80 FR 6913, Feb. 9, 2015]