Cardi

I'm putting the term dead in quotes, because I acknowledge it is not the correct term; however have heard many people use this term to describe an option year contract with lapsed options. My confusion lies in the fact that I do not understand the intent behind not being able to closeout an option contract until all prospective options have expired. If the Government has not extended the contract IAW FAR clause 52.217-9, why can't I closeout out the contract once performance (physically) is complete? Why would I have to wait until all option provisions have expired? I'm understanding 4.804-4 to mean all option periods in the contract when they say "all prospective options", not just the exercised ones.

Instead of starting a new discussion thread, I feel my question is a good follow on to this discussion. What restrictions/limitations, if any, does a CO have on exercising an option on a "dead" contract? Let's say the Government does not exercise OY II on a contract, but wants to exercise OY III. A letter of intent was not issued IAW FAR clause 52.217-9, because the Government did not anticipate exercising any future option periods after OY I. I was reading up on contract closeouts and one of the requirements for a physically complete contract is, all option provisions have expired. 4.804-4 Physically completed contracts. (a) Except as provided in paragraph ( of this section, a contract is considered to be physically completed when— (1)(i) The contractor has completed the required deliveries and the Government has inspected and accepted the supplies; (ii) The contractor has performed all services and the Government has accepted these services; and (iii) All option provisions, if any, have expired; A CO can begin processing closeouts once they receive evidence that a contract is physically complete. In FAR subpart 4.804-4, they use the language, "All option provisions...have expired." Since a CO cannot closeout a contract until all option provisions have expired, could one make the argument that an option on a "dead" contract can still be exercised (bilateral basis), since the contract cannot be closed until the last option provision has expired, otherwise what's the point of leaving the contract open?