FAR 42.403—Evaluation of contract administration offices.
Plain-English Summary
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.
Key Rules
Agency-Controlled Evaluations Only
Onsite inspections or evaluations of a contract administration office’s assigned functions may be performed only by the agency that the office belongs to. This preserves the agency’s control over how its own administrative operations are reviewed.
Direction May Be Delegated
The rule allows the inspection or evaluation to be done by someone acting under the direction of the agency of which the office is a part. That means the agency can use internal personnel or authorized representatives, but the activity must still be under that agency’s authority.
Applies to Onsite Reviews
The restriction specifically covers onsite inspections or evaluations. It is aimed at physical, in-person review of the office’s performance of assigned contract administration functions, not general interagency coordination or routine information sharing.
Protects Administrative Authority
The provision prevents outside agencies from independently judging another agency’s contract administration office. This helps avoid conflicting findings, duplicative oversight, and interference with the responsible agency’s management of its own office.
Responsibilities
Agency of the Contract Administration Office
Control and authorize any onsite inspection or evaluation of the office’s assigned functions. If a review is to occur, the agency must conduct it itself or ensure it is carried out under its direction.
Personnel Acting Under Agency Direction
Perform the onsite inspection or evaluation only when authorized and directed by the agency that owns the contract administration office. They must follow that agency’s scope, procedures, and oversight.
Other Agencies
Refrain from independently conducting onsite inspections or evaluations of another agency’s contract administration office unless the host agency directs or authorizes the activity.
Contract Administration Office
Cooperate with authorized reviews conducted by its own agency or by persons acting under that agency’s direction, and provide access and information consistent with that authorization.
Practical Implications
This section is mainly about authority and process, not substantive performance standards. The key question is who is allowed to evaluate the office, not how the evaluation is scored.
A common pitfall is assuming interagency oversight can be done informally. If the review is onsite and evaluates the office’s functions, it must be tied to the responsible agency’s direction.
Contracting personnel should distinguish between routine coordination and a formal onsite evaluation. Sharing data or discussing issues is not the same as conducting an inspection of the office.
Agencies should document who is directing the review and the scope of authority, especially when using staff from another office or outside reviewers.
For contractors, the practical effect is indirect but real: contract administration offices influence post-award actions, so agency-controlled oversight helps keep those functions consistent and accountable.
Official Regulatory Text
Onsite inspections or evaluations of the performance of the assigned functions of a contract administration office shall be accomplished only by or under the direction of the agency of which that office is a part.