§ 970.3102-9 - Outside technical and professional consultants.

Technical and professional consultants, as used here, refer to private individuals acting in their own behalf, who make their services available on a fee or per diem basis. It does not refer to employees of firms acting in the firm's behalf whose services may be made available by the firm on, for example, a fixed rate basis. Consultant arrangements may permit bringing to contract work, the services of outstanding specialists who would not be available on a full-time basis, or whose employment on a full-time basis would not be economically feasible. Costs of such outside consultant services are normally allowable (however, see 970.5204-13 and 970.5204-14 regarding compensation of an individual who is employed by another contractor and concurrently performing work on a full-time annual basis under a DOE cost-type contract), provided that the services are essential to, and will make a material contribution to, the performance of contract work; the services may be performed more economically or more successfully by a consultant than by the contractor's regular personnel; the fee or per diem charged is reasonable; and, when approved by the contracting officer. If the cost of such services is charged directly to the DOE contract, the cost of like items properly chargeable only to other work of the contractor must be eliminated from indirect costs allocable to the DOE contract (see 970.3101-2).