What is a Termination Contracting Officer (TCO)?

A Termination Contracting Officer (TCO) is the contracting officer designated to negotiate and settle your terminated contract. They are your primary point of contact for everything related to your T4C settlement proposal.

The TCO may be the same person as your Procuring Contracting Officer (PCO) — the CO who awarded your contract — or a different person, depending on the agency's size and workload. Larger agencies like the Department of Defense often have dedicated termination divisions with their own TCOs. Smaller civilian agencies may assign the PCO to handle the termination as well.

How to identify your TCO: Your termination notice should identify the TCO by name and contact information. If it does not, contact your PCO immediately and ask in writing. You cannot submit your settlement proposal without knowing where to send it.

What the TCO does: Reviews your settlement proposal for completeness and compliance with FAR Part 49, requests additional cost data or documentation as needed, negotiates the settlement amount, and executes the final settlement agreement under FAR 49.109.

Communicating effectively: Keep all communications in writing. After any phone call, send an email summary of what was discussed. Request deadline extensions in writing before the deadline passes. If the TCO is unresponsive for more than 30 days, follow up in writing and document it. Written follow-up protects your rights if the matter escalates.

TCO authority: The TCO has broad authority to negotiate a settlement, including the ability to make partial payments before the full settlement is finalized (FAR 49.112). If you are facing cash flow pressure, request a partial payment — it is a legitimate right under the FAR.

RELATED GUIDES

• → What is a FAR 49.206 settlement proposal?
• → FAR Part 49 explained
• → T4C settlement supporting documents