org.cispec.contract-ref

recommended: any CI procured under a formal contract or procurement vehicle

org.cispec.contract-ref is a bare reference pointer to the procurement vehicle or contract under which a Change Item was acquired or is being operated — a contract number, a GSA schedule reference, a purchase order number, a framework agreement identifier.

This is not the contract itself — the same pointer pattern as org.cispec.custody-chain and org.cispec.sla: the key cites the instrument; the instrument’s content lives in the organisation’s contract management system or a public procurement registry.

Critical for federal contracting: a DoD CI under DFARS must be traceable to its contract number for property accountability, audit, and WAWF invoicing. For civilian federal agencies, the contract reference ties the CI to its FAR-based procurement. For commercial organisations it ties the CI to the vendor agreement governing support terms, SLA, and data handling obligations.

Value format

A contract identifier in whatever scheme applies to the procurement:

org.cispec.contract-ref=W15P7T-20-C-0001
org.cispec.contract-ref=GS-35F-0119Y
org.cispec.contract-ref=PO-2026-001234
org.cispec.contract-ref=MSEA-2026-CDW-0042

Conformance

org.cispec.contract-ref is RECOMMENDED for any CI procured under a formal contract. Not REQUIRED for Declared conformance.

Attestation

contract-ref is independently attestable for publicly registered contracts (USASpending.gov for federal contracts, public procurement registers in other jurisdictions). Private commercial contracts are attestable against the parties’ own records.

Resolution and relation

contract-ref pairs with vendor (who the contract is with), cost (what was paid under it), and expiry (when the contract term ends). Together these facts give an auditor the full commercial context of a CI’s procurement.

Document identifier

OID: 1.3.6.1.4.1.42387.2.3.6
GUID: bc197921-a7a6-5d33-90f2-763de7e0eaa3