Task Order Withdraw or Cancel

[Maquoketa]

I issued a task order OF 347 and the period of performance doesn't start for another two months.  We realized that there was a problem and need to pull back the task order.  Can I issue a SF30 modification withdrawing the task order, or cancelling it?  Or do I need to do a termination for convenience?

 

 

[ji20874]

You can do whatever works.  If you do a SF30 to rescind or cancel the task order, will the contractor squawk?  If so, you may have to treat it as a termination.  We don't know if your contractor is incurring costs now in order to be prepared for the start date.  

I recommend approaching it as a no-cost settlement agreement -- see FAR 49.603-6 for a sample.  If you send the contractor a SF30 filled out as shown in the sample, with a cover note saying the task order award was improvidently issued and needs to be revisited, the contractor might sign the SF30 and send it back to you with no drama.  But if there is drama, you can treat it as a traditional termination for convenience.

[Constricting Officer]

The terminology behind "cancellation" is a term used for purchase orders:

"13.302-4 Termination or cancellation of purchase orders.

      (a) If a purchase order that has been accepted in writing by the contractor is to be terminated, the contracting officer shall process the termination in accordance with-

           (1) 12.403 and 52.212-4(l) or (m) for commercial items; or

           (2) part  49 or 52.213-4 for other than commercial items.

      (b) If a purchase order that has not been accepted in writing by the contractor is to be canceled, the contracting officer shall notify the contractor in writing that the purchase order has been canceled, request the contractor’s written acceptance of the cancellation, and proceed as follows:

           (1) If the contractor accepts the cancellation and does not claim that costs were incurred as a result of beginning performance under the purchase order, no further action is required (i.e., the purchase order shall be considered canceled).

           (2) If the contractor does not accept the cancellation or claims that costs were incurred as a result of beginning performance under the purchase order, the contracting officer shall process the action as a termination prescribed in paragraph (a) of this subsection."

Since this is a task order, ordering procedures governed by FAR 8 or FAR 16.505 and the parent contract, I think termination is a good course to take.