# 42.703-1 Policy.

(a) A single agency (see 42.705-1) shall be responsible for establishing final indirect cost rates for each business unit. These rates shall be binding on all agencies and their contracting offices, unless otherwise specifically prohibited by statute. An agency shall not perform an audit of indirect cost rates when the contracting officer determines that the objectives of the audit can reasonably be met by accepting the results of an audit that was conducted by any other department or agency of the Federal Government (10 U.S.C. 3841(e) and 41 U.S.C. 4706(e)).

(b) Billing rates and final indirect cost rates shall be used in reimbursing indirect costs under cost-reimbursement contracts and in determining progress payments under fixed-price contracts.

(c) To ensure compliance with 10 U.S.C. 3743(a) and 41 U.S.C. 4303(a)-

(1) Final indirect cost rates shall be used for contract closeout for a business unit, unless the quick-closeout procedure in 42.708 is used. These final rates shall be binding for all cost-reimbursement contracts at the business unit, subject to any specific limitation in a contract or advance agreement; and

(2) Established final indirect cost rates shall be used in negotiating the final price of fixed-price incentive and fixed-price redeterminable contracts and in other situations requiring that indirect costs be settled before contract prices are established, unless the quick-closeout procedure in 42.708 is used.