---
title: "What Is C3PAO? CMMC Definition"
description: "A C3PAO is an organization authorized by the Cyber AB to conduct official CMMC Level 2 certification assessments."
url: https://policycortex.com/cmmc/glossary/c3pao
sealed: 2026-07-02
amended: 2026-07-13
register: cmmc/glossary/c3pao
records: 3
digest: sha3:0528dad004c75aa3d461847c862cd0e73f1d8a07bda13d72e202e43e7e5e79ef
---

# What is C3PAO?

Register / Glossary

A C3PAO is an organization authorized by the Cyber AB to conduct official CMMC Level 2 certification assessments.

Sealed 2026-07-02 · Amended 2026-07-13

C3PAO stands for CMMC Third-Party Assessment Organization.

A CMMC Third-Party Assessment Organization (C3PAO) is the entity that performs your formal Level 2 assessment and issues certification. C3PAOs are authorized and listed on the Cyber AB Marketplace.

C3PAOs continue to conduct authorized Level 2 assessments, but the Department suspended the Phase II transition and future implementation milestones on July 13, 2026. Contractors should schedule against actual contract and prime requirements rather than the former November deadline.

A C3PAO cannot both consult for and assess the same client within a defined window, which is why readiness partners (RPOs) and assessors work as separate roles in the ecosystem.

## Related records

Guides and articles describe the work. The evidence that work produces is described in three proof pages and one architecture page.

- **proof.state**: [Proof of State](https://policycortex.com/proof/state). What the environment was, as of a date someone else picks: point-in-time records, content hashed and chained.
- **proof.change**: [Proof of Change](https://policycortex.com/proof/change). Who or what altered the environment, under what authority, with before and after state hashes.
- **proof.agency**: [Proof of Agency](https://policycortex.com/proof/agency). What a machine was permitted to do before it acted, what it did, and what would have stopped it.
- **architecture**: [Architecture](https://policycortex.com/architecture). How the chain is built and where it lives: inside your tenant, with no egress of evidence.

### Related terms and reading

| Entry |
|---|
| [CUI: Controlled Unclassified Information](https://policycortex.com/cmmc/glossary/cui): CUI is government-created or -owned information that requires safeguarding under law, regulation, or government-wide policy, but is not classified. |
| [DIBCAC: Defense Industrial Base Cybersecurity Assessment Center](https://policycortex.com/cmmc/glossary/dibcac): DIBCAC is the DoD organization that conducts government-led high assessments and CMMC Level 3 assessments. |
| [POA&M: Plan of Action and Milestones](https://policycortex.com/cmmc/glossary/poam): A POA&M is a tracked plan for remediating security controls that are not yet fully implemented, with owners and target dates. |
| [The C3PAO Backlog Math & Work-Back Schedule](https://policycortex.com/blog/c3pao-backlog-2026-cmmc-work-back-schedule) |
| [CMMC Contract Readiness Planner](https://policycortex.com/tools/cmmc-deadline-calculator) |

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Dates of record

- **Sealed**: 2026-07-02
- **Last amended**: 2026-07-13
- **Record**: https://policycortex.com/cmmc/glossary/c3pao

## Register colophon

| Seq | Label | SHA3-256 | Prev |
|---|---|---|---|
| REC 0000 | HEAD | 8e0aa73ab67b | 7320efc35e8c |
| REC 0001 | DEFINITION | 2fe880aa6929 | 8e0aa73ab67b |
| REC 0002 | RELATED RECORDS | 0528dad004c7 | 2fe880aa6929 |

Head sha3:0528dad004c75aa3d461847c862cd0e73f1d8a07bda13d72e202e43e7e5e79ef. Each digest is SHA3-256 over the previous digest, the register key, the record label, and the record copy; a second party can recompute it from this document.