Contracting Officer's Technical Representative

Last updated August 17, 2019

A Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) is a business communications liaison between the United States government and a private contractor. The COTR is normally a federal or state employee who is responsible for recommending actions and expenditures for both standard delivery orders and task orders, and those that fall outside of the normal business practices of its supporting contractors and sub-contractors. Most COTRs have experience in the technical area (e.g., electronics, chemistry, public health, etc.) that is critical to the success of translating government requirements into technical requirements that can be included in government acquisition documents for potential contractor to bid and execute that work. A COTR must be designated by a Contracting Officer (CO). The CO has the actual authority to enter into, administer, and/or terminate contracts and make related determinations and findings. Other terms for COTR include Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) and Project Officer (PO). The terminology may be agency specific.

Business communication is information sharing among people within and outside an organization that is performed for the commercial benefit of the organization. It can also be defined as relaying of information within a business by its people.

The federal government of the United States is the national government of the United States, a federal republic in North America, composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories and several island possessions. The federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executive and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U.S. Constitution in the Congress, the president and the federal courts, respectively. The powers and duties of these branches are further defined by acts of Congress, including the creation of executive departments and courts inferior to the Supreme Court.

A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, often a state.

Responsibilities

The Contracting Officer's Technical Representative is responsible for monitoring the contractor's progress in fulfilling the technical requirements specified in the contract. Should the contractor fail to fulfill the contractual requirements, the COTR must inform the CO of such failure. The COTR maintains administration records, approves invoices and performs quarterly monitoring reports to confirm the contractor is meeting the terms and conditions under the contract.^[1]

There are limits to the authority delegated to the COTR from the CO. The COTR is not authorized to make any commitments or obligations on behalf of the government, the CO is the only authorized authority that can commit or obligate on behalf of the government. The COTR may not grant the contractor permission to deviate from the requirements stated in the contract, nor direct the contractor to perform any work outside that stated in the contract, these actions can only be done by the CO.

Training requirements

On November 26, 2007 the Office of Management and Budget, issued a memorandum which established a standardized training program for Contracting Officer's Technical Representatives. The program was developed by the Federal Acquisition Institute in coordination with all executive agencies. The program applies to all Technical Representatives except those subject to Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act. All Technical Representatives appointed after November 26, 2007 must be certified no later than six months from their date of appointment. Technical Representatives who received their appointment before November 26, 2007 must ensure that training is obtained, and they are recertified no later than 12 months from the effective date of the memorandum

Office of Management and Budget United States government agency

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the President's Budget, but OMB also measures the quality of agency programs, policies, and procedures to see if they comply with the president's policies and coordinates inter-agency policy initiatives.

The Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) was initially enacted by Public Law 101-510 on November 5, 1990. It requires the Department of Defense to establish education and training standards, requirements, and courses for the civilian and military workforce. The DAWIA has been subsequently modified by amendments to the USC Title 10 Chapter 87.

The COTR must have a minimum of 40 hours of training, including 22 hours of training in essential COTR competencies. The COTR competencies include project management, decision making, market research, problem solving and negotiations. The remaining 18 hours of training should include courses relating to the specific needs of the agency and program office. Once the COTR receives their certification they are required to earn 40 continuous learning points every two years thereafter.

Project management is the practice of initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing the work of a team to achieve specific goals and meet specific success criteria at the specified time.The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at the beginning of the development process. The primary constraints are scope, time, quality and budget. The secondary—and more ambitious—challenge is to optimize the allocation of necessary inputs and apply them to meet pre-defined objectives.

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References

↑ "DoD COR Handbook" (PDF). Retrieved 15 August 2019.

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[1] "DoD COR Handbook" (PDF). Retrieved 15 August 2019.