DJS-Contracts

I would think the "severability" would revolve around the nature of the work, not the type of contract. The fact that a possibly inappropriate contract type was selected, does not of itself change the nature of the activity and transform something from non-severable to severable. If the research effort will culminate in some result, and you cut them off before they are finished, you have only a portion of the work and therefore (possibly) only a portion of the expected result. Using that logic, the research effort would seem to be nonseverable services. I'm assuming that the T&M contract already exists based on your question. While I agree with you that, in general, this may be a poor choice of contract type, you might look to the determination in the contract file (FAR 16.601 (d)) to try and understand why "no other contract type is suitable..." and the underlying rationale leading to the selection of this type of contract. As an aside, as a general policy my agency (for all intents and purposes) prohibits use of T&Ms completely. ~Don