[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 48, Volume 1]
[Revised as of October 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 48CFR44.203]

[Page 801-802]
 
            TITLE 48--FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATIONS SYSTEM
 
                CHAPTER 1--FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION
 
PART 44--SUBCONTRACTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES--Table of Contents
 
                  Subpart 44.2--Consent to Subcontracts
 
Sec. 44.203  Consent limitations.

    (a) The contracting officer's consent to a subcontract or approval 
of the

[[Page 802]]

contractor's purchasing system does not constitute a determination of 
the acceptability of the subcontract terms or price, or of the 
allowability of costs, unless the consent or approval specifies 
otherwise.
    (b) Contracting officers shall not consent to--
    (1) Cost-reimbursement subcontracts if the fee exceeds the fee 
limitations of 16.301-3;
    (2) Subcontracts providing for payment on a cost-plus-a-percentage-
of-cost basis;
    (3) Subcontracts obligating the contracting officer to deal directly 
with the subcontractor;
    (4) Subcontracts that make the results of arbitration, judicial 
determination, or voluntary settlement between the prime contractor and 
subcontractor binding on the Government; or
    (5) Repetitive or unduly protracted use of cost-reimbursement, time-
and-materials, or labor-hour subcontracts (contracting officers should 
follow the principles of 16.103(c)).
    (c) Contracting officers should not refuse consent to a subcontract 
merely because it contains a clause giving the subcontractor the right 
of indirect appeal to an agency board of contract appeals if the 
subcontractor is affected by a dispute between the Government and the 
prime contractor. Indirect appeal means assertion by the subcontractor 
of the prime contractor's right to appeal or the prosecution of an 
appeal by the prime contractor on the subcontractor's behalf. The clause 
may also provide that the prime contractor and subcontractor shall be 
equally bound by the contracting officer's or board's decision. The 
clause may not attempt to obligate the contracting officer or the 
appeals board to decide questions that do not arise between the 
Government and the prime contractor or that are not cognizable under the 
clause at 52.233-1, Disputes.