FAR 42.4—Subpart 42.4

Contract correspondence.

FAR 42.401 addresses how contract-related correspondence must flow between the contracting officer, the cognizant contract administration office (CAO), and the contractor when the matter concerns assigned contract administration functions. It covers the normal routing of correspondence through the CAO, the requirement to provide a copy for the CAO’s file, the exception for urgent situations where direct communication with the contractor is necessary, and the requirement to send a concurrent copy to the CAO in those urgent cases. It also requires the CAO to share pertinent correspondence with the contracting office when the CAO communicates with the contractor. The purpose is to keep contract administration coordinated, preserve a complete administrative record, avoid conflicting directions to the contractor, and ensure the contracting office and CAO stay informed about actions affecting contract performance and administration. In practice, this section is about communication discipline: who sends what, through which office, and who must be copied so that contract administration remains consistent and documented.

Visits to contractors’ facilities.

FAR 42.402 governs how Government personnel coordinate planned visits to a contractor’s facility when the visit relates to one or more Government contracts. The section is designed to prevent duplicative contract administration activity by requiring advance notice to the cognizant Contract Administration Office (CAO), and it specifies the minimum information that must be provided: visitor names, official positions, security clearances, visit date and duration, contractor identity and points of contact, contract number, program involved, and purpose of the visit. It also addresses when a CAO representative may accompany the visitor, and makes clear that the CAO has final authority on that decision. If the visit will involve reviewing, auditing, or obtaining information tied to contract administration functions, the visitor must identify the information in enough detail for the CAO to determine whether the information has already been reviewed or is otherwise available within the Government, so unnecessary contractor disruption can be avoided. The rule further requires the CAO to discourage redundant visits and direct the requester to the Government office holding the information, while ensuring that information already in the CAO’s possession is promptly shared. Finally, visitors must report back to the CAO on any agreements or other results from the visit that could affect contract administration.

Evaluation of contract administration offices.

FAR 42.403 is a narrow but important control on who may inspect or evaluate a contract administration office’s performance of its assigned functions. It addresses onsite inspections and evaluations of contract administration offices, and it limits that activity to the agency that owns or is responsible for that office, or to someone acting under that agency’s direction. In practice, this means one agency generally cannot independently go into another agency’s contract administration office and assess how it performs its assigned administration duties unless the host agency authorizes or directs the effort. The rule exists to protect agency authority, avoid conflicting oversight, and ensure that evaluations of contract administration functions are conducted through the proper chain of command. For contractors, the provision matters indirectly because contract administration offices handle many post-award actions that affect performance, payments, surveillance, and closeout; for contracting personnel, it clarifies who has the right to review the office itself and how such reviews must be controlled.