# 542.1570-5 Reviewing official responsibilities.

The reviewing official must be a Government employee. The reviewing official provides the check-and-balance when there is disagreement between the assessing official and the contractor regarding the contractor performance evaluation (see FAR 42.1503(d)). The reviewing official is generally responsible for reviewing, providing comments (the reviewing official’s comments supplement those provided by the assessing official; they do not replace the ratings/narratives provided by the assessing official), and signing the contractor performance evaluation when a contractor indicates non-concurrence with a contractor performance evaluation. The ultimate conclusion on the contractor performance evaluation is a decision of the contracting agency.