Good Morning,
Some in the office have the opinion that the Clause Prescription would not have permitted the Contracting Officer to exercise the option SAF since the Clause Prescription specifically referenced funds chargeable to a new fiscal year (FY20 in this case). The option was exercised SAF of current year funds (FY19 since it was 12 Oct 2018). The PR was certified but the Budget Officer had literal system issues that would not allow him to route the PR to the Contracting Officer on 12 Oct 2018 which is why the Contracting Officer chose to exercise Option Year 1 SAF rather than let the Contract expire. The Contractor was not authorized to perform the services and did not perform the services until the Contracting Officer modified the Contract on 15 Oct 2018 to add funding received from the Budget Officer after IT resolved their system issues. One other detail of note is 52.232-18 was properly included in the Contract at award. Thanks for your insight. Prescription is pasted below.
32.706-1 -- Clauses for Contracting in Advance of Funds.
(a) Insert the clause at 52.232-18, Availability of Funds, in solicitations and contracts if the contract will be chargeable to funds of the new fiscal year and the contract action will be initiated before the funds are available.