DEAR Part 901 covers federal acquisition regulations system. Read the Authority Before You Commit.
A helpful request can become an expensive problem when nobody checks who can authorize it. Before your company promises additional work for an Energy Department customer, ask a practical question: what written authority supports this commitment, and what does our contract actually require?
Watch the DEAR Part 901 lesson
How DEAR Part 901 fits the acquisition
DEAR means the Department of Energy Acquisition Regulation. It supplements federal acquisition rules for DOE and NNSA. Keep agency acquisition instructions separate from the obligations your company has actually accepted.
Start with current codified text in the electronic Code of Federal Regulations. Acquisition.gov’s DEAR index has a July 2025 baseline; check later applicable changes separately.
Check DOE and NNSA class deviations separately from codified text. Record the signed document, effective provisions, scope, and any cancellation or replacement. Confirm how the deviation applies to your acquisition.
Use the operative acquisition instructions, not a notice announcing them. Distinguish clean final deviations from historical markup, and federal rule adoption from changes to the department supplement.
This distinction matters during the federal acquisition overhaul. DOE’s later Part 901 deviation changes portions of the published framework and cross references. Do not assume identical numbering means identical instructions, or that an older section remains unchanged for your acquisition.
Next identify the instrument. A solicitation describes a planned purchase; an awarded contract and its modifications establish the parties’ agreed terms. Read incorporated clauses and attachments together. Agency acquisition procedures do not automatically become every contractor’s direct performance duties simply because they appear online.
Check the official’s written authority
DOE acquisition guidance can help you understand how agency personnel administer a purchase. It does not independently rewrite your scope, price, or delivery terms. Ask which contract provision or authorized modification makes a requested obligation part of your company’s actual performance requirements.
Identify the contracting officer and the limits of written delegations. Technical staff may clarify needs or monitor performance, but a familiar title, helpful email, or meeting invitation does not establish authority to bind the government or authorize a contract change.
A representative’s designation may permit specific monitoring or coordination functions while excluding changes to cost or scope. Read the actual designation and your contract’s direction process. When authority is unclear, seek written clarification instead of turning an informal conversation into a commitment.
An unauthorized commitment is not made safe by calling it urgent. Ratification is a governed agency process, not a contractor entitlement. Do not assume a particular approval threshold, guaranteed ratification, or an automatic right to payment for work someone informally requested.
Also distinguish ordinary contracts from management and operating contracts. DOE’s Part nine hundred seventy addresses that specialized framework. A company supporting a laboratory may be a subcontractor rather than a direct federal contractor; identify the actual parties before borrowing rules from another relationship.
A fictional request for extra work
Consider a clearly fictional example. Canyon Measurement Services holds a DOE equipment maintenance contract. During an inspection, a technical contact asks its manager to install extra sensors immediately. The contact says funding should arrive soon and asks the company to trust the process.
Canyon pauses the additional installation, preserves the request, and checks its contract. Its manager asks the contracting officer whether the work is already required or needs an authorized modification. Canyon keeps the request separate from approved work and follows the contract’s direction process.
Build the decision record
Field one is Instrument and Parties. Record the solicitation, contract, or subcontract identifier, the customer, and your company’s role. Identify whether the arrangement is an ordinary acquisition or involves a management and operating relationship that requires additional, specifically applicable review.
Field two is Source and Version. Identify the relevant federal rule, DEAR provision, and any applicable DOE or NNSA deviation. Record the review date and document version. A baseline webpage date alone cannot establish that your research captures the governing acquisition instructions.
Field three is Contract Requirement. Link the requested action to the precise scope paragraph, clause, attachment, or modification. Separate explicit obligations from assumptions and guidance. If you cannot identify the contractual connection, mark it unresolved rather than drafting a requirement yourself.
Field four is Authorized Official. Record the contracting officer and any relevant written representative designation. Note what each official may do and any stated limitations. Verify authority for this decision instead of assuming the same person can approve every kind of action.
Field five is Requested Change. Describe what differs from existing performance, including affected deliverables, resources, or coordination. Preserve the original request without embellishment. Clear facts help the authorized parties decide whether clarification, existing contract direction, or a formal change is appropriate.
Field six is Decision Evidence. Retain the written clarification or modification and identify its issuer. Field seven is Performance Impact. Describe the operational consequences and unresolved risks. Field eight is Owner and Follow Through. Assign an internal coordinator to track the documented next step.
Preparation checklist
Use these eight fields to organize the review. Assign an owner and retain the supporting evidence.
- Instrument and Parties
- Source and Version
- Contract Requirement
- Authorized Official
- Requested Change
- Decision Evidence
- Performance Impact
- Owner and Follow Through
Three operating questions
Before committing, ask three operating questions. What source and contract term govern this request? Who has written authority for this particular decision? What evidence must we retain before changing performance? These questions work best when asked early, before urgency becomes an excuse.
Official sources and applicability
Sources reviewed November 7, 2026. The Acquisition.gov index has a July 2025 baseline. Check current codified text, applicable DOE/NNSA deviations, and the solicitation or contract. Agency procedures and contractor duties serve different purposes.
Build your readiness baseline
Explore GovAssessment to organize your business preparation and improvement priorities. Read our FAR summaries for the broader acquisition framework.
General education, not legal advice or official DOE guidance. GovAssessment does not certify compliance, confer approvals, or guarantee an award.
