AFARS PART 5101

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AFARS -- Part 5101

Federal Acquisition Regulation System

Subpart 5101.1 -- Purpose, Authority, Issuance

5101.101 -- Purpose.

(a) The Army Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (AFARS) implements and supplements the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), the Defense FAR Supplement (DFARS) and the DFARS Procedures, Guidance and Information (PGI) to establish uniform policies for Army acquisition. It does not restrict the exercise of good business judgment or stifle innovation. [AFARS Revision #21, dated May 22, 2007]

5101.170 Peer Reviews

(b) All solicitations and contracts with an estimated value greater than $50 million will be approved through a Solicitation Review Board (SRB) and Contract Review Board (CRB). The PARC will establish internal procedures for contract actions with an estimated value of $50 million or less.

(1) Solicitation and Contract Review Boards.

(a) The SRB/CRB will review and assess the pre-solicitation, solicitation and contract award documents for consistency, sufficiency , compliance and application of sound business practices.

(b) The SRB/CRB will verify that the procurement represents an overall good value to the government and appropriate obligation of taxpayer funds.

(c) The SRB/CRB will be an independent, multi-functional team comprised of senior level experts, which will at a minimum include representatives from the acquisition center, small business office, office of counsel, requirements community, and in the case of non-competitive actions, the competition advocate.

(i) To ensure consistency, the same members will participate in both the SRB and the CRB.

(ii) The contracting officer shall resolve all comments from the SRB and CRB prior to attaining clearance for solicitation release and contract award.

(d) The Chairperson for the SRB/CRB will be as follows:

(1) The PARC, without authority to redelegate, will chair the SRB/CRB for actions with an estimated value greater than $50 million but less than $250 million.

(2) The Head of the contracting activity, without authority to redelegate, will chair the SRB/CRB for actions with an estimated value of $250 million but less than $1 billion.

(3) The DASA (P) will serve as the chairperson for special interest actions which will be reviewed by an HQDA level board.

(e) PARCs and HCAs may waive the requirement for a formal review board. The waiver will be in writing and included in the contract file.

(i) Data on the number of SRB/CRB reviews conducted, identification of any systemic issues or trends, best practices and overall effectiveness of the process will be provided quarterly to the Procurement Policy and Support Directorate, SAAL-PP, within 15 days after the end of the quarter. Data will also include information on any PARC or HCA waivers of the formal review board process.

(2) Post-award Peer Reviews

(a) Post award peer reviews for contracts valued at $500 Million or more but less than $1 Billion will be conducted for services contracts that were approved by a HQDA level Army Services Strategy Panel (ASSP).

(i) An annual review will be conducted by the ASSP members. Contracting activities will brief the members as required.

(ii) The information supporting the execution reviews in 5137.590-9 will serve as the basis for the post award reviews. At a minimum, the following elements will be addressed during the post-award review:

(iii) If the service contract involves one contractor providing oversight for services performed by other contractors, the following additional information will also be addressed:

(b) The ASSP members will assess the effectiveness of the current services review structure, evaluate the state of the approved acquisitions to include adequacy of competition, assessment of actual contract performance and adequacy of Government surveillance of contract performance and identify lessons learned and successful practices for immediate application to ongoing acquisitions.[AFARS Revision #25, Item I, dated April 1, 2010]

5101.105-3 -- Copies.

The AFARS is available electronically via the Internet at https://www.alt.army.mil/portal/page/portal/oasaalt/documents/AFARS.pdf [AFARS Revision #21, dated May 22, 2007]

Subpart 5101.2 -- Administration

5101.290 -- Routing of documents and mailing addresses.

(a) All documents relating to procurement matters that require review, coordination, and/or approval by Headquarters, Department of the Army (HQDA) must be sent through procurement channels and be endorsed in writing by the Head of the Contracting Activity (HCA), or on a delegable basis to the Principal Assistant Responsible for Contracting (PARC). The PARC may not further delegate this endorsement. Document packages submitted to HQDA will clearly show all reviews and coordination that the action has received at the PARC and lower-levels, to include legal counsel review. This AFARS provision (5101.290, Paragraph (a)) may not be waived, either on an individual or a class basis. [AFARS Revision #006, dated May 13, 2003]

(b) Addresses which are used frequently follow:

Subpart 5101.3 -- Agency Acquisition Regulations

5101.301 -- Policy.

(a) The AFARS is issued under the authority of FAR 1.301 and DFARS 201.304 by the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics and Technology) (ASA(ALT)).

(b) The Army has been assigned Chapter 51 of Title 48 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Supplements to the FAR issued by the Army must insert the number “51” before the primary citation. If the primary citation is to a single digit part number, a zero is also inserted.

(c) When a proposed policy, procedure, clause, or form must be published in the Federal Register, the proposed notice should be formatted in accordance with DFARS 201.402(2) and DFARS 201.201-1(d)(i) and sent with the request for approval in accordance with 5101.304(a)(2) or the request for deviation in accordance with 5101.402.

[AFARS Revision #21, dated May 22, 2007]

5101.303 -- Publication and codification.

(a) (iii) Subsection numbers 90-99 are reserved for AFARS supplementary material with no FAR or DFARS counterpart. Numbers 9000 and above are reserved for supplementary clauses. HCAs implementing the FAR, DFARS, or AFARS must follow the rules of the FAR System except that numbers 100-199 are reserved for the Army Commands (ACOM), the Army Service Component Commands (ASCC), and the Direct Reporting Units (DRU) with a HCA for unique implementing material with no counterpart in higher-level regulations. Numbers 200 and above are reserved for Army Materiel Command (AMC) major subordinate command unique implementing material with no counterpart in higher-level regulations. For numbering provisions and clauses, see 5152.101.

[AFARS Revision #21, dated May 22, 2007]

5101.304 -- Agency control and compliance procedures.

(a) (1) There can be no supplementation of the FAR except as provided herein. HCAs must ensure that all contracting activity acquisition instructions and regulations are in compliance with the FAR, the DFARS, the DFARS PGI, and the AFARS. The HCAs may issue acquisition instructions as necessary to implement the FAR, the DFARS, the DFARS PGI, and the AFARS without prior HQDA approval with the exceptions of --

Subpart 5101.4 -- Deviations From the FAR

5101.402 -- Policy.

5101.403 -- Individual deviations.

(S-90) Deviation copy and control number.

Subpart 5101.6 -- Career Development, Contracting Authority and Responsibilities

5101.601 -- General.

5101.602 -- Contracting officers.

5101.602-1 -- Authority.

(b) The office of the contracting officer must be organizationally situated to minimize any potential for undue influence and protect contracting officers from intra-organizational pressure to perform improper acts.

5101.602-1-90 -- Departmental review and approval.

At any time during the procurement process, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Procurement (DASA(P), or designees, may direct the responsible PARC or source selection authority (SSA) to submit a proposed contractual action to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics and Technology) for review, notation, and/or approval. The PARC or SSA shall provide any information, documents, and briefings requested, and shall ensure that no final action is taken on the proposed contractual action during the pendency of the DASA(P) review. In accordance with FAR 3.104-4(a), personnel within the Office of the DASA(P) and the Office of the General Counsel are authorized to receive full access to contractor bid or proposal information and source selection information in connection with such reviews. The DASA(P) may designate other authorized recipients on a case-by-case basis (see 5103.104-4(a)). [AFARS Revision #008, dated February 3, 2004]

5101.602-2 -- Responsibilities.

Contracting Officers must validate Contracting Officer Records and Ordering Officer Records every 12 months to ensure compliance with the terms of the contract. A written record of the review is to be placed in the contract file.

(a) (i) Except as authorized in FAR Subparts 17.1 and 32.7 and in (ii) and (iii) below, before issuing a solicitation, the contracting officer must have a written statement (or equivalent) indicating that sufficient funds are available.

(c) Legal participation. Contracting Officers’ use of legal specialists shall be guided by the following:

(i)(A) A properly trained COR shall be designated in writing prior to contract award. At a minimum, CORs shall complete the DAU online course CLC 106, CORS with a Mission Focus prior to designation. Additional training may be specified by individual PARC organizations.[AFARS Revision #25, Item II, dated April 1, 2010]

5101.602-2-90 -- Appointment of ordering officers.

(a) Policy. The authority appointing the ordering officer shall state in the appointment letter that the ordering officer’s authority may not be re-delegated. See 5153.9002 for a sample appointment letter.

(b) Appointment and termination authority. Ordering officers may be appointed pursuant to 5101.603-1-90(b) for the purposes in (1) through (6) provided the authority appointing the ordering officer determines that the appointment is essential for the operation of the contracting mission. The purposes for which ordering officers may be appointed and references to limitations of their authority are --

(c) Responsibilities of appointing authority.

(d) Procedures.

5101.602-3 -- Ratification of unauthorized commitments.

(b) Policy.

(c) Limitations.

5101.602-3-90 -- Ratification procedures.

(a) The individual making the unauthorized commitment must send relevant documentation to the individual’s commander or senior staff officer designated for this purpose to include --

(b) If the commander or senior staff officer designated concurs that the commitment should be ratified, the documentation must be sent to the chief of the contracting office with an endorsement that --

(c) The chief of the contracting office will assign the action to an individual contracting officer who will be responsible for --

(d) Upon receipt and review of the complete file, the individual responsible for approving the ratification may approve the ratification if it is considered to be in the best interest of the Government, or may direct other disposition.

(e) HCAs must monitor compliance with 5101.602-3-90 and take all necessary corrective action.

5101.603 -- Selection, appointment, and termination of appointment.

5101.603-1 -- General.

[AFARS Revision #21, dated May 22, 2007]

5101.603-1-90 -- Other individuals authorized to make purchases.

(a) Individuals in (b)(1), (2) and (3) shall prepare and submit information for reporting purposes to the supporting contracting office as specified by that office. Individuals in (b)(4) shall normally report to the contracting office supporting the Mobilization Base.

(b) In addition to individuals identified in 5101.602-2-90 and 5101.603, other individuals may be authorized to make purchases as specified in (1) through (6). [AFARS Revision #21, dated May 22, 2007]

5101.603-2 -- Selection.

HCAs shall establish criteria and procedures to ensure that prospective contracting officers (above the Simplified Acquisition Threshold) have the knowledge and experience to effectively and efficiently support their customers and successfully fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities. As a minimum, selection criteria include:

(a) A successful track record as a contract specialist, cost/price analyst or contract administrator of a scope and complexity comparable to the acquisitions to be assigned.

(b) Business education and knowledge sufficient to understand the business operating cycle, financial and market analysis, and measures of corporate performance to effectively structure business arrangements that best meet the needs of the Government and the prospective contractor(s).

(c) Knowledge of acquisition and fiscal policies and procedures, including the panoply of acquisition instruments available to the Government, to effectively develop and execute acquisition and contracting strategies, and manage the resulting business arrangements.

(d) Compliance with Public Law 101-510, “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1991” Title XII, “Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act,” November 5, 1990, as amended by Public Law 106-398, “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001,” Section 808, “Qualifications Required for Employment and Assignment in Contracting Positions.”

5101.690 -- Procurement management assistance.

HQDA will conduct the Procurement Management Review (PMR) Program in accordance with Appendix CC. HCAs shall conduct onsite reviews of each of their satellite contracting offices to ensure compliance with laws, policies, regulations, directives, AFARS Appendix CC, etc. at a minimum, once every 24 months. Copies of Review Reports will be furnished to the HQDA PMR Team Leader within 60 days of completing a review to the address at 5101.290(b)(2).

5101.690-1 -- Management controls

Management controls within each contracting organization are an element of day-to-day operations. Appendix BB, Management Control Evaluation Checklist, is provided to assist managers at all levels in evaluating compliance with key management controls and to identify and correct weaknesses. Due to the volume of the test questions, it should not be construed that all questions are mandatory, nor all inclusive. The checklist should be supplemented to include areas specific to each contracting office, and should include the DASA (P) Areas of Special Interest, which are issued each fiscal year.

Subpart 5101.7 -- Determinations and Findings

5101.707 -- Signatory authority.

Each Secretarial determination request must be signed by the contracting officer and HCA. See Subpart 5153.9003 for a sample Determination and Findings format.

Subpart 5101.90 -- Nonappropriated Funds

5101.9001 -- Policy.

DoD policy for contract actions using nonappropriated funds is in DoD Directive (DoDD) 4105.67. See AR 215-1 and AR 215-4 for implementing policies and procedures for Army nonappropriated fund acquisitions.

5101.9002 -- Contracting authority.

Appropriated fund contracting officers may also be designated as nonappropriated fund contracting officers. See AR 215-4.

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