# 501.603-3 Appointment.

(a) Certificate of appointment.

(1) HCAs approve warrants and appoint contracting officers, prior to issuance of the SF-1402.

(b) Types of appointments. Candidates are nominated for either an interim or permanent appointment.

(1) Interim appointments. Interim appointments are for a specified period of time. Personnel who hold interim warrants must complete all training required for a permanent warrant within 1 year of the interim appointment. Personnel who hold interim warrants above the simplified level must complete all training and formal education required for a permanent warrant within 3 years of the interim appointment.

(2) Permanent appointments. A permanent appointment may be made when a candidate meets all requirements for experience, education, and training at the time the appointment is made.

(c) Applicability of Warrant Authority.

(1)Warrants are valid agency-wide within GSA, with noted exceptions. Operational guidance is available on the Acquisition Career Management pages on the GSA Acquisition Portal at https://insite.gsa.gov/acquisitionportal.

(2)Contracting officers that transfer to a new contracting activity maintain their existing active warrant in the new contracting activity upon HCA approval.

(3) Exceptions. Warrants will be administratively terminated upon employee transfer if:

(i)The contracting officer transfers to a non-contracting activity;

(ii)The warrant authority is specific (e.g., Real Property Leasing, Real Property Disposal, Fleet Acquisition, Fleet Sales, Personal Property Disposal) and the receiving contracting activity does not have authority for execution of work associated with the requisite warrant;

(iii)The receiving contracting activity does not have an organizational need for the warrant; or,

(iv)The receiving contracting activity needs to increase or decrease the warrant threshold.

(d) Authority to make purchases for domestic and national security emergencies.

(1) A contracting officer may enter into contracts on behalf of a GSA organization different from the organization specified in their Certificate of Appointment in response to a contingency operation, defense or recovery from certain attacks, major disaster declarations as defined in FAR 18 and other domestic or national security emergencies.

(2) The Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer (OCAO) or HCA may grant higher contracting authority during emergencies for Basic, Simplified and Intermediate warrants.

(3) The OCAO or HCA may appoint contracting officers with authority limited to entering into contracts required to respond to domestic or national security emergencies. This will provide GSA a cadre of emergency contracting officers who can instantly respond to emergencies if necessary. For warrants issued as a direct result of an emergency, the OCAO or HCA must have reasonable assurance that the employee is eligible to be warranted if the nature of the emergency precludes submission of otherwise required documentation for the warrant (see 501.603-3(b)).

(e) Record maintenance and disposal.

(1) HCAs are required to keep and maintain comprehensive files containing relevant information on all appointed contracting officers until such time as all warrant data is fully maintained in the career management system of record, and as determined by the ACM.

(2) HCAs are required to submit reports, at least on a quarterly basis, to the ACM with consistent and up to date information on the contracting officer warrants issued and terminated until such time as all warrant data is fully maintained in the career management system of record, and as determined by the ACM.

(3) Acquisition professionals are responsible for maintaining a copy of their acquisition training history and source documents used for certification requests.

(4) In accordance with GSA Order OAS P 1820.1, GSA Records Management Program, dispose of expired contracting officer files and warrants by placing the contracting officer records in an inactive file following reassignment, termination of employment or revocation of designation. The inactive file cutoff date is the end of the fiscal year. The files are to be destroyed two years after the cutoff.