FAR 32.607-1—Installment payments.
Plain-English Summary
FAR 32.607-1 addresses the first step in obtaining an installment payment arrangement under a federal contract. It covers what happens when a contractor asks for installment payments, what the contracting officer must do in response, and where the contractor must direct the formal written request. The section is procedural rather than substantive: it does not itself authorize installment payments or set the payment terms, but it establishes the required routing for the request under agency procedures. In practice, this means the contracting officer acts as the initial point of contact and must steer the contractor to the proper office designated by the agency. The purpose is to ensure installment payment requests are handled consistently, through the correct administrative channel, and in accordance with agency-specific processes. For contractors, the practical significance is that an informal request to the contracting officer is not enough by itself; a written request must be sent to the designated office to move the matter forward.
Key Rules
CO must redirect request
If a contractor asks for an installment payment agreement, the contracting officer must notify the contractor to submit a written request. The contracting officer does not process the request directly under this section; instead, the officer points the contractor to the proper agency-designated office.
Written request required
The contractor must send a written request for installment payments. An oral request or informal discussion is not sufficient to satisfy this section’s requirement.
Use designated office
The written request must go to the office designated in agency procedures. This ensures the request is handled through the agency’s established administrative channel rather than through ad hoc routing.
Responsibilities
Contracting Officer
When a contractor requests an installment payment agreement, notify the contractor that it must submit a written request to the office designated by agency procedures.
Contractor
Prepare and send a written request for installment payments to the agency-designated office after being notified by the contracting officer.
Agency
Establish procedures identifying the office that receives installment payment requests and ensure those procedures are available for use by contracting personnel and contractors.
Practical Implications
A contractor’s initial request to the contracting officer is only a trigger for the process; it does not complete the request requirement.
The biggest compliance risk is sending the request to the wrong office or failing to make it in writing, which can delay consideration.
Contracting officers should not improvise the process; they should follow agency procedures and direct the contractor accordingly.
Contractors should confirm the designated office before submitting the request to avoid administrative back-and-forth and lost time.
This section is only about routing the request, so parties still need to look to other FAR and agency provisions for whether installment payments may be approved and on what terms.
Official Regulatory Text
If a contractor requests an installment payment agreement, the contracting officer shall notify the contractor to send a written request for installment payments to the office designated in agency procedures.