1901.1 A contracting officer may contract for expert and consulting services when essential to the agency's mission, when necessary to comply with a court order, or when those services would improve the agency's effectiveness or economy of operations. Expert and consulting services may include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. (a) Specialized opinions or professional or technical advice not available within the agency or from another District agency;
2. (b) Outside points of view, to avoid too limited a judgment on critical issues;
3. (c) Advice on developments in industry, university, or foundation research;
4. (d) The opinions, special knowledge, or skills of noted experts;
5. (e) Assistance with the understanding of, and development of alternative solutions to, complex issues;
6. (f) Advice on making the operation of managerial or hardware systems more efficient or effective; or
7. (g) Citizen advisory participation in developing or implementing District programs that by their nature or by statutory provision require citizen participation.

1901.2 Except as provided in § 1901.4, a contracting officer shall not contract for expert or consulting services for any of the following purposes:

1. (a) To perform work of a policy-making, decision-making, or managerial nature that is the direct responsibility of agency officials;
2. (b) To bypass or undermine personnel ceilings, pay limitations, or competitive employment procedures; or
3. (c) To specifically aid in influencing or enacting legislation in the Council of the District of Columbia.

1901.3 Except as provided in § 1901.4, the contracting officer shall ensure that a contract for expert or consulting services does not establish or allow any of the following:

1. (a) An employer-employee relationship between the District and the contractor;

(b) Detailed control or supervision by District personnel of the contractor or its employees with respect to the day-to-day operations of the contractor or the methods of accomplishment of the services;

(c) A regularly established tour of duty for the contractor; or

(d) Supervision of District employees by the contractor.

1901.4 When an expert or consultant is engaged by a court-appointed receiver or, upon review by and the concurrence of the Attorney General, by any other contracting officer pursuant to or in order to comply with a court order, §§ 1901.2 and 1901.3 shall not apply.

1901.5 The contracting officer shall not award a contract for consulting or expert services in a manner that gives preferential treatment to former District employees.

SOURCE: Final Rulemaking published at 35 DCR 1489 (February 26, 1988); as amended by Emergency and Proposed Rulemaking published at 47 DCR 8590 (October 20, 2000) [EXPIRED]; as amended by Emergency and Proposed Rulemaking published at 48 DCR 548 (January 19, 2001) [EXPIRED]; as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 62 DCR 8047 (June 5, 2015).