Subpart 1302.1 - Definitions

Parent topic: PART 1302 - DEFINTIONS OF WORDS AND TERMS

1302.101 Definitions.

Accountable Personal Property means all personal property for which responsibility for control is

formally assigned to an individual, and official property records are maintained as set forth in DOC

PPMM Chapter 4.

Agency Head (or Head of Agency) (HA) means the Secretary of Commerce, except, pursuant to

Department Organization Order (DOO) 10-5, Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Secretary for

Administration, the head of the agency for procurement matters shall be the Chief Financial Officer

and Assistant Secretary for Administration (CFO/ASA), unless a statute provides that the authority of

the Secretary is non-delegable.

Chief Acquisition Officer (CAO) means the Department's executive-level non-career employee

designated pursuant to the Services Acquisition Reform Act to advise and assist the head of the

agency and other agency officials to ensure the mission of the agency is achieved through the

management of the agency's acquisition activities. The CFO/ASA has been designated by the Head of

the Agency as the Chief Acquisition Officer for the Department of Commerce.

Civilian Agency Acquisition Council (CAAC) means the council that assists the Administrator of

General Services in developing and maintaining the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) System by

developing or reviewing all proposed changes to the FAR. The Council is comprised of a

representative designated by each of several Federal departments and agencies, including the DOC.

The CAAC coordinates its activities with the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (DARC). The

CAAC is authorized under 48 CFR 1.2.

Commerce Acquisition Manual (CAM) means non-regulatory uniform policies and procedures for

internal operations associated with acquiring supplies and services within the Department that

implements and supplements the FAR and CAR.

Commerce Acquisition Regulation (CAR) means uniform acquisition policies and procedures, which

implement and supplement the FAR.

Contracting Activity means the operating units identified under the definition of “Operating Units”

below. Contracting activities may or may not have authority to operate contracting offices (see

definition for Contracting Office).

Contracting Office means an office that awards or executes contracts for supplies or services and

performs post-award functions. The operating units authorized to operate contracting offices are

identified in DAO 208-2.

Contracting Officer means an individual designated authority by the Senior Bureau Procurement

Official (BPO) to enter into, administer, and/or terminate contracts and make related determinations

and findings. Only those individuals who have been certified as contracting officers, through the

issuance of a Certificate of Appointment (Contracting Officer Warrant (SF 1402)), by the BPO in

accordance with the requirements and procedures of the CAR and the CAM may exercise the

authorities of contracting officers. However, by virtue of their positions, the Head of the Agency, the
Procurement Executive, and the Heads of Operating Units are also designated as contracting

officers.

Department or Departmental or DOC means the Department of Commerce.

Head of Agency (HA) - see definition for “Agency Head.”

Head of Contracting Office (HCO) means those individuals designated by the BPO to head the

contracting offices within each operating unit that has designated contracting authority to award

and administer contracts. In performing their duties, HCOs are empowered to the full limits of the

Department's contracting authority. The HCO must be a procurement professional in the GS-1102

occupational series (or equivalent OPM occupational designation). BPOs will issue each HCO a

Contracting Officer Warrant that delegates the authority to enter into, administer, and/or terminate

contracts and to make related determinations and findings.

Head of the Contracting Activity (HCA) means, for purposes of delegation of contracting authority,

officials who are designated as Heads of Operating Units (those who are assigned by the President

or by the Secretary to manage the primary or constituent operating units of the DOC) in orders

establishing the respective operating units, with the exception of the Office of the Secretary. Such

officials are designated as the HCA for procurements initiated in support of the procurement

activities of that operating unit. The Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Secretary for

Administration has been designated as the HCA for procurements initiated in support of the

programs and activities of the Office of the Secretary and all other Secretarial Offices and

Departmental Offices.

Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU), The means the advocacy and

advisory office responsible for promoting the use of small, small disadvantaged, 8(a), women-owned,

veteran-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned, and HUBZone small businesses within the

Department acquisition process.

Office of the Assistant General Counsel for Administration, Employment & Labor Law Division

means the Department Legal Office that provides advice and guidance to management regarding

employment and labor law issues, including the legal standards for taking adverse and performancebased actions.

Office of the Assistant General Counsel for Administration, Ethics Law and Program Division means

the Department Legal Office that provides advice and guidance regarding conflict of interest

statutes, ethics regulations, and related laws.

Operating Units are organizational entities outside the Office of the Secretary charged with carrying

out specified substantive functions (i.e., programs) of the Department and are identified in DAO

208-2.

Procurement Counsel means, except for the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), the Office of the

Assistant General Counsel for Finance & Litigation, Contract Law Division, the office responsible for

providing legal review of applicable contract actions and procurement legal advice to all operating

units, and handling procurement-related litigation. “Procurement Counsel” for all PTO procurementrelated actions means Office of General Law.

Procurement Executive (or Senior Procurement Executive (PE)) means the official appointed

pursuant to Executive Order 12931 and the Services Acquisition Reform Act of 2003 to carry out the

responsibilities identified in both the Executive Order and the Act. The Director for Acquisition

Management is the Procurement Executive for the Department of Commerce.
Senior Bureau Procurement Official (BPO) means the senior career procurement official, within each

operating unit that has been delegated contracting authority, who is designated as the Senior

Bureau Procurement Official. The BPO must be a procurement professional who has both experience

and training in the area of Federal procurement and contracting. HCAs may designate one BPO

within their organization to carry out the day-to-day functions of managing the contracting activity.

BPOs may also serve as the Head of Contracting Office. The Procurement Executive will issue each

BPO a Contracting Officer Warrant which delegates the authority to enter into, administer, and/or

terminate contracts and to make related determinations and findings.

1302.170 Abbreviations

AIR Additional Item Requirements

BPO Senior Bureau Procurement Official

CAAC Civilian Agency Acquisition Council

CAM Commerce Acquisition Manual

CAO Chief Acquisition Officer

CAR Commerce Acquisition Regulation

CFO/ASA Chief Financial Officer/Assistant Secretary for Administration

CFR Code of Federal Regulations

CO Contracting Officer

COR Contracting Officer's Representative

DAO Departmental Administrative Order

DOC Department of Commerce

DOO Departmental Organizational Order

D&F Determination and Findings

EVMS Earned Value Management System

FAR Federal Acquisition Regulation

HCA Head of Contracting Activity

HCO Head of Contracting Office

IRB Institutional Review Board

JOFOC Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition

NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology
NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

OCI Organizational Conflict of Interest

OCIO Office of the Chief Information Officer

OFPP Office of Federal Procurement Policy

OIG Office of Inspector General

OMB Office of Management and Budget

OS Office of the Secretary

OSDBU Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization

PE Procurement Executive

PTO Patent and Trademark Office

RFP Request for Proposals

SBA Small Business Administration

OU Operating Unit