Contract, contract modifications, blanket purchase agreements, and task and/or delivery orders may be executed manually or electronically using a digital signature. In the absence of the original contracting officer, another contracting officer with appropriate warrant authority may sign. Always type or stamp the name and title of the contracting officer signing the contract on the document, unless it is electronically signed. An electronic contract which includes the name of the contracting officer satisfies the typed, stamped or printed requirement found in FAR 4.101. GSA Order CIO 2162.2 (GSA Digital Signature Policy) is the guidance for the use of digital signatures as the preferred means of providing signatures for GSA documents, forms, correspondence, and emails.

      (a)  The contracting officer must send documentation to the paying office on all contracts for which GSA generates a delivery or task order.

           (1)  For Federal Acquisition Service contracts entered into the FSS-19 system, the contracting officer must send a system generated contract listing.

           (2)  For all other contracts, the contracting officer must send a “Duplicate Original” of the entire contract or modification.

      (b)  The contracting officer must certify that the “Duplicate Original” is a true copy of the contract, modification, task and/or delivery order, if not electronically signed, by writing your signature, in ink, on the award or modification form (i.e., SF 26, 33, 1442, etc.). The contracting officer must certify all contracts except:

           (1)  Leases of real property.

           (2)  Schedule contracts.

           (3)  Standard or GSA multipage purchase/delivery/task order carbon forms.

FAR 4.203(a) does not apply to leases of real property (see 504.904) or FAR 38 Federal Supply Schedule Contracting.

      (a)  Contracting officers must recover classified information, unless it has been destroyed as provided in Section 7 of Chapter 5 of the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM). Information on NISPOM can be found at https://fas.org/sgp/index.html.

      (b)  Contracting officers must ensure that classified information provided by the government is returned immediately after any of the following events:

           (1)  Bid opening or closing date for receipt of proposals by non-responding offerors.

           (2)  Contract award by unsuccessful offerors.

           (3)  Termination or completion of the contract.

           (4)  Notification that authorization to release classified information has been withdrawn.

           (5)  Notification that a facility:

                (i)  Does not have adequate means to safeguard classified information; or

                (ii)  Has had its security clearance revoked or inactivated.

           (6)  Whenever otherwise instructed by the authority responsible for the security classification.

      (c)  The Government agency that provided classified information to a GSA contractor is responsible for the return of the information.

      (a) This subpart prescribes a contract file format standard for all contracts that exceed the micro-purchase threshold. This subpart may be applied to purchases at or below the micro-purchase threshold.

      (b) The purpose of this standard is to ensure that the documentation in the file complies with FAR 4.801(b)(1) and FAR 4.802(c) requirements.

      (a)   Contract files shall be maintained electronically, unless otherwise determined, in writing, by the HCA to be prohibitively burdensome.

      (b) The contracting officer must place all information and documentation required by FAR 4.802 and 4.803 in the contract file and organize the file in the format as set out in each individual contracting activity's contract file standard.

      (c)  Contracting officer responsibilities.

           (1)  The contracting officer is responsible for the official contract file. Individuals creating documents relating to the contract must provide those documents to the contracting officer for inclusion in the file. Other members of the acquisition team may be responsible for the maintenance and archival of any delegated responsibilities (e.g., contract administration and delegated contract administration function) according to prescribed contracting activity policies and procedures.

           (2)  The contracting officer shall-

                (i) Place all information and documentation required by the FAR (see FAR subpart 4.8), the GSAM, and any other policy and procedure in the contract file.

                (ii)  Include an index or checklist identifying the location of any documentation contained in the contract file when such identification is not already prescribed by policy. The index or checklist can be electronic.

                (iii)  Identify in a clear and logical manner, within the contract file, any documentation maintained in another location.

                (iv)  Comply with applicable file and document naming convention/nomenclature requirements.

           (3)  When responsibility for a contract transfer from one contracting officer to another contracting officer (e.g., employee departure, transfer of assignments, or redelegation of contract administration authority (intraoffice or interoffice))-

                (i)  The successor contracting officer shall review the files being transferred. The purpose of the review is to identify any issues with the contract file (e.g., missing or incomplete documentation or information).

                (ii)  The successor contracting officer shall attempt to resolve any issues identified during their review of the transferred files. The successor contracting officer should write a memo-to-file that documents any issues with the contract file that were not able to be resolved as part of the transfer.

      (d)  Head of contracting activity responsibilities. Head of contracting activities consistent with their delegated authorities are responsible for-

           (1)  Developing policies and procedures that discuss, at a minimum, the following:

                (i) The different types of files identified in FAR 4.801(c) along with any other files that are to be established (e.g., unsolicited proposals);

                (ii)  The location where file documentation is to be stored (e.g., an electronic contract filing system, another official system of record, or some type of combination thereof). If file documentation must be stored in different locations, the policy and procedure shall discuss the rationale for the need (e.g., separation of classified and unclassified documentation) and medium (e.g., paper) to be used;

                (iii) The approach used to identify the documents to be retained within a contract file (see FAR 4.803) and any other files established per paragraph (d)(1)(ii) of this section (e.g., use of a checklist or index that includes the citation of the authority for retaining a document);

                (iv) The organization(s) or individual(s) responsible for maintaining file documentation when such responsibility does not reside with the contracting officer (see 504.802(b));

                (v)  The filing and document convention/nomenclature to be used;

                (vi) The content, access, and other applicable requirements for contracting officer representative (COR) contract files (see FAR 1.604) and any other files (see paragraph (a) of this section); and

                (vii)  The internal controls (e.g. quarterly review by the contracting activity) to be used for ensuring compliance with FAR, GSAM, and other requirements.

           (2)  Designating a point of contact within its organization for purposes of supporting file audits and reviews by internal and external organizations (e.g., the Procurement Management Review (PMR) office). Support may include, but not be limited to:

                (i)  Providing copies of applicable policies and procedures;

                (ii)  Assisting in resolving issues (e.g., locating a contract file) and questions;

                (iii)  Providing access to files and systems; and

                (iv)  Notifying the contracting officer of the status of the review or audit.

In addition to the examples of contract file documents described in FAR 4.802 and listed in FAR 4.803, the contract file shall include, if applicable, the following:

      (a)  GSA Form 2689 (see 519.502-70 for applicability), and

      (b)  Checklist documenting review of the small business subcontracting plan (see 519.705-4 for applicability).

      (c)  Documents required by individual contracting activity in accordance with such activity's internal policies and procedures.

The contracting officer’s accountability for contract files ends when the following three conditions exist:

      (a)  The files’ retention period expires.

      (b)  The contracting officer receives the notice of disposal from the National Archives and Records Administration.

      (c)  The records liaison officer whose organization has functional responsibility for the files approves disposal.

      (a)   Debt collection. The Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 requires each contractor doing business with GSA to furnish its Tax Identification Number (TIN). The Government is required to include with each certified voucher prepared and submitted to a disbursing official, the TIN of the contractor receiving payment under the voucher. The TIN may be used by the Office of Financial Policy and Operations to collect and report on any delinquent amounts arising out of the contractor's relationship with the Government.

      (b)   Information reporting to the IRS. The TIN is also required for Office of Financial Policy and Operations reporting of certain contract information (see FAR 4.903) and payment information (see GSAM 504.904) to the IRS.

      (a)  The Office of Financial Policy and Operations reports to IRS on payments made to certain contractors for services performed and to lessors for providing space in buildings. This is required by 26 U.S.C. 6041 and 6041A and implemented in 26 CFR. To assist the Office of Financial Policy and Operations in reporting to the IRS, contracting officers must indicate on obligating documents sent to Finance (e.g., purchase, delivery, or task orders; contracts; or certified invoices) the contractor's organizational structure (e.g., corporation, or partnership) and taxpayer identification number (TIN).

      (a)  Procedures.

           (1) The CIO P 2181.1 - GSA HSPD-12 Personal Identity Verification and Credentialing Handbook details the credentials and access management procedures for contracts or orders including FAR clause at 52.204-9, Personal Identity Verification of Contractor Personnel and GSAR clause at 552.204-9, Personal Identity Verification Requirements.

           (2) The CIO P 2181.1 - GSA HSPD-12 Personal Identity Verification and Credentialing Handbook includes guidance for–

                (i)  Managing credentials;

                (ii)  Ensuring credentials are returned to the GSA Office of Mission Assurance when a contractor employee leaves the contract or when a contract ends; and

                (iii)  Ensuring access to information technology is disabled when a contractor employee leaves the contract or when a contract ends.

           (3) The CIO P 2181.1 - GSA HSPD-12 Personal Identity Verification and Credentialing Handbook, as well as additional resources for implementing the credentials and access management requirements, can be found on GSA's Acquisition Portal at https://insite.gsa.gov/acquisitionportal.

      (b)  Delegating Responsibilities. Contracting officers must ensure any contracting officer's representative delegation letter includes language for credentials and access management responsibilities. Standard delegation language can be found on GSA's Acquisition Portal at https://insite.gsa.gov/acquisitionportal.

      (a)   Elements of a PIID. The PIID consists of 13 alphanumeric characters as follows:

      (b)   Procurement Instrument Type Codes. Indicate the type of instrument consistent with the letter designation provided in FAR 4.1603(a)(3). The letter designations for the identified type of instruments unique to agency policy are identified as follows:

      (c)   Serial Number Codes.

           (1)  A separate series of numbers may be used for each basic instrument type (see 504.1603(b)).

           (2)  For delivery or task orders, each order issued by contracting office must receive a consecutive serial number. That is, orders are numbered in sequence as issued by the contracting office, but they are not in sequence under any individual contract.

           (3)  At the beginning of each fiscal year, the first number assigned is 0001.

           (4)  Alphanumeric characters are serially assigned after the numeric series is exhausted.

           (5)  The allowable numeric and alphanumeric sequences, excluding alpha I and O are–

                (i)  0001 through 9999;

                (ii)  A001 through A999, B001 through B999;

                (iii)  and so on to Z001 through Z999.

           (6)  Each issuing office is responsible for controlling serial number assignments.