(b) Policy. (1) The Government is not bound by agreements with, or contractual commitments made to, prospective contractors by individuals who do not have delegated contracting authority. Unauthorized commitments do not follow the appropriate process for the expenditure of Government funds. Consequently, the Government may not be able to ratify certain actions, putting a contractor at risk for taking direction from a Federal official other than the contracting officer. See FAR 1.602-1. Government employees responsible for unauthorized commitments are subject to disciplinary action. Contractors perform at their own risk when accepting direction from unauthorized officials. Failure to follow statutory and regulatory processes for the expenditure of Government funds is a very serious matter.

(2) The head of the contracting activity (HCA) is the official authorized to ratify an unauthorized commitment. No other re-delegations are authorized.

(c) Limitations. (5) The HCA shall coordinate the request for ratification with the Office of General Counsel, General Law Division and submit a copy to the SPE.

(a) The Agency head has delegated broad authority to the Chief Acquisition Officer, who in turn has further delegated this authority to the SPE. The SPE has further delegated specific acquisition authority to the Operating and Staff Division heads and the HCAs. The HCA (non-delegable) shall select, appoint, and terminate the appointment of contracting officers.

(b) To ensure proper control of redelegated acquisition authorities, HCAs shall maintain a file containing successive delegations of HCA authority through the contracting officer level.