(a) General. There is no contracting officer authority conferred upon any DOS employee by virtue of position. The Procurement Executive appoints all DOS contracting officers, in conformance with FAR 1.603-3, with the one exception as noted in paragraph (b) of this section. The contracting officer shall retain the original copy of the Standard Form 1402, Certificate of Appointment, signed by the Procurement Executive. Only qualified employees shall be appointed as contracting officers. A/OPE is responsible for providing guidance and oversight in managing such appointments.

(b) Temporary warrants. The Chief of Mission is delegated the authority by the Procurement Executive to issue temporary contracting officer warrants for periods up to 90 calendar days in order to cover emergency, post-specific operational requirements (e.g., staffing gaps, medical evacuations, extended leave, etc.). These temporary appointments shall be executed on the Standard Form 1402, and a copy shall be furnished to A/OPE. The warrant shall contain both a dollar limitation of no more than $100,000 and a specific time period (not to exceed 90 days) during which the warrant is effective.

(c) Non-Federal employees. Only United States Government employees shall be appointed as contracting officers. For acquisitions at $25,000 and below only, this includes locally employed staff (i.e., Foreign Service Nationals and Third Country nationals). Personal services contractors are not eligible for appointment as DOS contracting officers.

(d) Personal services agreements. Individuals who may sign personal services agreements (PSAs) are limited to the following:

(1) The Human Resources Officer;

(2) The Human Resources/Financial Management Officer; or,

(3) The Management Officer or an American Foreign Service Officer designated to perform human resource functions.

(e) Real property leases. The FAR and DOSAR do not apply to leases of real property. A contracting officer certificate of appointment is not required. Authority to sign real property leases is as follows:

(1) Domestic real property leases. The General Services Administration has delegated domestic leasing authority to the Department of State's Office of Real Property Management (A/OPR/RPM). This delegation is accomplished on a case-by-case basis.

(2) Real property leases abroad. Authority to sign real property leases abroad is held by the Director/Chief Operating Officer (DIR/COO) of the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO), through the Secretary of State, under the Foreign Buildings Act of 1926, as amended (22 U.S.C. 292 et seq.). Leases at post may be executed by the General Services Officer or by other post administrative personnel as authorized by OBO.

[59 FR 66752, Dec. 28, 1994, as amended at 64 FR 43620, Aug. 11, 1999; 69 FR 19330, Apr. 13, 2004; 76 FR 30265, May 25, 2011; 80 FR 6914, Feb. 9, 2015]