The New York City Charter requires all contracts or agreements between city agencies and vendors be registered by the New York City Comptroller. The Comptroller's Office of Contract Administration (OCA) is responsible for reviewing all contracts, contract amendments, leases and concessions between City agencies and vendors to determine whether the agreement should be registered. The Comptroller's Office has 30 calendar days in which it must register, reject, or object to the registration of a contract.

Registration is the process through which the Comptroller:

1. Sets aside or "encumbers" funds to insure that monies are available to pay contractors upon the satisfactory completion of contract work
   
2. Maintains a registry of City contracts and agreements, and ensures the accuracy of the contract information input by agencies into the City's database
   
3. Reviews contractor information for integrity and performance issues, identifies areas of contract abuse or potential areas where improvements in contract language, rules or laws may be required
   
4. Presents objections if, in the Comptroller's judgment, there is sufficient reason to believe there is possible corruption in the letting of the contract or that the proposed contractor is involved in corrupt activity; and
   
5. Tracks City expenditures and revenues associated with those contracts.

Contracts are reviewed by OCA through the Comptroller's optical image and workflow application known as the Omnibus Automated Image Storage and Information System ("OAISIS"). Each year, OCA receives approximately 18,000 agreements for registration resulting in the review through OAISIS of 1.2 million pieces of paper.

Any one who believes that there has been unfairness, favoritism or impropriety in the City contracting process should inform the New York City Comptroller's Office of Contract Administration, 1 Centre Street, Room 1005, New York, NY 10007; email: contract@comptroller.nyc.gov