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Contract modification (mod)

Also called: mod, contract mod, modification, bilateral modification, unilateral modification, supplemental agreement, SF 30, change order

A contract modification is any written change to the terms of an existing contract, issued by the contracting officer on Standard Form 30, whether to add funds, exercise an option, change the scope, extend the period or correct an error.

FAR 2.101 defines the term and FAR Part 43 sets the rules. A modification is bilateral when both parties sign (a supplemental agreement, used for equitable adjustments and most scope changes) or unilateral when the contracting officer signs alone, which FAR 43.103 limits to administrative changes, change orders under the Changes clause, option exercises and other actions the contract already allows. Only a contracting officer can modify a contract; direction from a COR, a program office or an inspector that changes the work is not a modification, and FAR 43.104 tells contractors to notify the contracting officer when they believe a change has been ordered.

What to check: the modification number and what it actually changes (funding, period, ceiling, scope), whether your signature is required and what claims you release by signing, and the deadline for a request for equitable adjustment after a change order. Keep a log; the sum of the mods is the contract.

What it is not: a solicitation amendment, which changes the solicitation before award, or a novation, which changes who the contractor is.

See also: Amendment and the Q&A period, Contracting officer (CO or KO), Contracting Officer's Representative (COR), Novation agreement

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