Contracting Officer's Representative
COR
Also known as: COTR (older term), COR, technical representative
Sits on: Buying agency
At a Glance
- Works for
- Appointed in writing by the contracting officer
- Authority
- Only what the designation letter grants — never to change the contract
- When you deal with them
- During performance — the day-to-day technical contact
- Can bind the government?
- No — cannot change price, scope, schedule, or terms
- Governing authority
- FAR 1.604; FAR 1.602-2(d)
Who They Are
A Contracting Officer's Representative, or COR (older contracts may say COTR), is a government employee the contracting officer appoints in writing to monitor the technical and administrative performance of a specific contract. Under FAR 1.602-2(d) the appointment must be in writing, must specify the extent of the COR's authority, and cannot be redelegated — and it cannot authorize the COR to do anything that changes the contract. The COR is the government's day-to-day technical contact: they inspect and accept (or reject) deliverables, review invoices for whether the work was actually done, monitor schedule and quality, keep the contract file's performance record, and flag problems to the CO. What the COR cannot do is just as important as what they can: a COR cannot direct extra work, change the scope, adjust the price, extend the schedule, or waive a requirement. Those are the contracting officer's exclusive powers. The COR's designation letter, which the contractor is usually given, spells out the boundaries — read it.
When You Deal With Them
- Right after award — the CO's designation letter names the COR and defines their authority.
- During performance — the COR is your technical point of contact for questions about the work.
- At delivery — the COR inspects and accepts or rejects deliverables against the contract's standards.
- At invoicing — the COR reviews whether the work billed was actually performed before the CO approves payment.
- In CPARS — the COR's performance observations feed your past-performance evaluation.
What They Do
| Responsibility | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Monitors performance | The COR tracks technical progress, quality, and schedule and is the contractor's day-to-day government contact for how the work is going. |
| Inspects and accepts deliverables | The COR checks deliverables against the contract's requirements and recommends acceptance or rejection to the CO. |
| Reviews invoices for performance | The COR confirms the billed work was actually done, which supports the CO's approval of payment under the Prompt Payment clause. |
| Cannot change the contract | A COR has no authority to change price, scope, schedule, or terms, or to direct extra work — only the contracting officer can. |
| Feeds the performance record | The COR documents performance in the contract file, which flows into the CPARS past-performance evaluation that future evaluators will read. |
What It Means for an SDVOSB
For an SDVOSB, the COR is the person who most shapes your CPARS past-performance record — the single asset that most helps you win the next set-aside. Deliver on time, communicate proactively, and document everything, because a COR who trusts you writes a stronger evaluation. But the COR is also where SDVOSBs get burned: an enthusiastic COR or program manager asks for 'just one more thing' that is technically out of scope, the small firm does it to keep the customer happy, and then discovers the CO never authorized it and will not pay. Protect your margin — when a COR requests work beyond the statement of work, ask for a contract modification from the contracting officer before you perform. It is not being difficult; it is following FAR 1.602-2(d), which the CO expects you to know. Keep the COR informed, but route anything touching price, scope, or schedule to the CO in writing.
Watch Out For
- Performing 'constructive changes' on a COR's say-so — extra or changed work directed by a COR is not authorized and may go unpaid without a CO modification.
- Not reading the designation letter — it defines the exact limits of the COR's authority; assume nothing beyond it.
- Letting a poor COR relationship damage your CPARS silently — address performance concerns in writing and elevate to the CO if needed.
- Confusing acceptance with payment — COR acceptance supports payment, but the CO administers the payment terms and any disputes.
Run the Numbers
Frequently Asked
What does a COR do?
A Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) is a government employee the contracting officer appoints in writing to monitor a specific contract's technical performance. The COR is the day-to-day technical contact: they inspect and accept or reject deliverables, review invoices for whether the work was done, track quality and schedule, document performance for CPARS, and report problems to the CO. Under FAR 1.602-2(d) the COR's authority is limited to what the written designation letter grants and can never include changing the contract.
Can a COR change my contract or direct extra work?
No. A COR has no authority to change price, scope, schedule, or terms, or to direct work beyond the statement of work. Only the warranted contracting officer can do that. If a COR asks for additional work, treat it as unauthorized until you get a written modification from the CO — otherwise you may perform out-of-scope work you will never be paid for. This is one of the most common and costly mistakes small SDVOSBs make.
What is the difference between a COR and a contracting officer?
The contracting officer (CO) holds the warrant and is the only one who can bind the government — award, modify, or terminate the contract. The COR is appointed by the CO to be the technical eyes and ears during performance: monitoring, inspecting, accepting deliverables, and reporting back. The COR handles the 'is the work good?' questions; the CO handles the 'what does the contract require and what will we pay?' questions.
Primary Sources
- FAR 1.604 — Contracting Officer's Representative (COR)
- FAR 1.602-2 — Responsibilities (designation of the COR)
Plain-English reference, not legal advice. Federal roles are reorganized and their titles and reporting lines change over time, and the FAR/CFR sections that define them are amended from time to time — always confirm the current role, its authority, and the governing citation against the official source and the actual solicitation before relying on it, and consult qualified counsel for your specific situation.
Change log (1)
- LaunchedPublished the federal contracting roles & officials reference covering the people an SDVOSB deals with across a set-aside — the contracting officer (FAR 1.602), contract specialist (FAR Part 1), contracting officer's representative (FAR 1.604), source selection authority (FAR 15.303), OSDBU director (15 U.S.C. § 644(k)), small business specialist (FAR 19.201), SBA procurement center representative (FAR 19.402), SBA commercial market representative (FAR 19.402(e)), SBA Area Office size specialist (13 CFR § 121.1001), SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals judge (13 CFR Part 134), competition advocate (FAR 6.501), task- and delivery-order ombudsman (FAR 16.505(b)(8)), and APEX Accelerator counselor (10 U.S.C. §§ 4951–4955) — each with an at-a-glance quick-facts card, a when-you-deal-with-them list, a responsibilities table, an SDVOSB-specific angle, watch-outs, FAQPage, Article, Dataset, and BreadcrumbList structured data, primary-source citations, and cross-links into the glossary, how-to guides, forms, clauses, FAQ, and the set-aside eligibility, size-standard, win-probability, price-to-win, and subcontracting calculators.