CONTRACTING OFFICER'S REPRESENTATIVE (COR) GUIDE 11 ...

PURPOSEThis guide provides a ready reference for requiring activity personnel to use in performing theirduties as a Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR). It describes the role and authority of theCOR and identifies the COR’s most important responsibilities and duties. This guide also shouldbe used by the Contracting Officer and other members of the acquisition team as they work withthe COR throughout the acquisition process.For an overview of the government acquisition process and a description of the various contractingmethods and contract types, refer to the ACA Customer Guide athttp://aca.saalt.army.mil/Library/ACA%20guides/ACA%20Customer%20Guide%2005-17-04.doc. The Customer Guide also explains the key duties of personnel in the contracting office andthe requiring activity. Other relevant ACA guides include the following: Best Value; Contactswith Industry; Contractors in the Workplace; Market Research; and Unauthorized Commitmentsand Ratification Process. Detailed information concerning related policy areas is available fordownload in the Reference Library section of the ACA website athttp://aca.saalt.army.mil/Library/Library.htm.Strictly speaking, the term COR refers to a person designated by the Contracting Officer toperform certain administrative tasks related to a specific contract in accordance with Subsection201.602-2 of the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) athttp://farsite.hill.af.mil/reghtml/regs/far2afmcfars/fardfars/dfars/Dfars201.htm#P255_14285. Inthis guide, the term includes duties that may occur throughout the acquisition process. Particularlyin Performance-Based Acquisitions, the COR must play a central role in the pre-award phase, aswell. Part I of this guide covers the duties and responsibilities of the COR under DFARS 201.602-2 and Part II covers duties leading up to contract award.As the Army increasingly relies on industry to perform services that are vital to its mission, theCOR has become one of the most important players on the acquisition team. Part 37 of the FederalAcquisition Regulation (FAR) covers the Government’s policy for service contracts. FAR Part 37is available on-line at http://farsite.hill.af.mil/reghtml/regs/far2afmcfars/fardfars/far/37.htm#P0_0.The Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI) issued the “Contracting Officer’s TechnicalRepresentative (COTR) Training Blueprint” to provide a foundation for all COTR, or COR,training and development activities within the Federal Government. The COTR Blueprint definescore capabilities and key competencies that are essential for performing the most essential dutiesof the COTR. The document is available for download athttp://www.fai.gov/prodev/corbluebook.pdf.Another valuable source of information is the “Guidebook for Performance-Based ServicesAcquisition (PBSA) in the Department of Defense,” which explains the key elements ofperformance-based acquisitions. It provides sample documents and links to other websites and isavailable for download at http://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/Docs/pbsaguide010201.pdf.An interagency task group developed The Seven Steps to Performance-Based Services Acquisition(PBSA) Online Guide, which is available of the Acquisition Network website athttp://www.arnet.gov/Library/OFPP/BestPractices/pbsc/index.html. The guide is an interactivemanagement and training tool, which includes regulations, policies, guidance, samples, and alibrary of other electronic resource tools.2