DEAR Part 919 covers small business programs. Turn Small Business Status Into a Performance Plan.
Your company qualifies as small, but the buyer still needs evidence that you can perform. A promising introduction, training discussion, and potential purchase order are three different events. Connect status to capability, responsibilities, and supported next steps.
Watch the DEAR Part 919 lesson
DEAR Part 919: Reconcile Department and Federal Versions
Read the reviewed June department instructions together with the March federal supplement. A later transmission may carry an older model. Track operative versions and signed attachments, not just webpage dates, and check actual solicitation terms, contract provisions, modifications, and later applicable changes.
Agency program procedures differ from contractor duties imposed by applicable law and actual terms. Our recommended preparation controls connect those duties to company work. They are not government certifications, approvals, or substitutes for required records.
The framework covers DOE and NNSA under adopted federal small business rules; reserved department text does not remove those rules. For company planning, identify the actual route and role. Treat eligibility, evaluation, award, and performance as separate checkpoints rather than one successful status claim.
Prepare Agency Questions
The Office of Small Business Programs and small business specialists perform agency roles. Recommended preparation is a focused question list and a concise capability package. Record advice without presenting a helpful conversation as an agency commitment.
Nonresponsibility concerns can involve Small Business Administration referral coordination; they do not create an automatic award. A practical company response is to organize the requested facts and use the proper channel. Keep capability evidence current instead of assuming that small business status resolves every performance question.
Start with your actual role: prospective prime, subcontractor, or supplier. A recommended control is a short capacity review covering people, equipment, quality, and delivery dependencies. Connect those resources to this requirement rather than repeating marketing language.
Distinguish Mentor Programs
The department mentor and protege program is distinct from the Small Business Administration's program. Recommended preparation is to identify the program by name on internal documents. Separate agreement records, eligibility support, and business opportunities to avoid borrowing benefits from another framework.
A department mentor must be performing at least one DOE contract. For company preparation, identify the proposed mentor's actual role and proposed development contribution. Verify the relationship's program fit and contribution to your actual technical needs.
Protege eligibility includes two years in business and small status under the industry code for the subcontract. Recommended preparation is a dated evidence package supporting the relevant facts. Ask which contemplated work and code are being evaluated instead of using a broad company size claim everywhere.
Track Selection and Agreement Limits
Mentor selection follows program rules, with office approval and contracting officer concurrence. Initial agreements are limited to three years, with one year extensions up to five total. A useful company control is a decision register separating proposed milestones, actual approval status, and any unresolved agreement changes.
Development costs need the identified contract basis and otherwise applicable allowability; there is no blanket payback. Finance can prepare a recommended cost map linking each activity, expected benefit, supporting record, and funding assumption. Do not promise reimbursement simply because the training is valuable or a mentor supports it.
A department mentor agreement does not automatically provide sole source or joint venture benefits. Recommended preparation is a separate opportunity review for each prospective purchase. Keep the technical development plan clear enough that the relationship remains useful even when no particular order has been promised.
The revised federal model uses SAM dot gov for covered subcontracting plan reporting. Confirm the operative clause and instructions before changing a live reporting process. A recommended handoff records the actual channel, responsible preparer, supporting data, and applicable dates without inventing a universal deadline.
DEAR Part 919: Fictional Mesa Vector Instruments
Consider a clearly fictional company, Mesa Vector Instruments, pursuing its first DOE supplier relationship. It has commercial experience and wants technical training from a prospective mentor. Sales describes that relationship as an expected purchase order, while delivery has not yet defined the training outcomes or capacity needs.
Mesa Vector separates the development proposal from any purchasing decision. Its technical lead defines training deliverables and measurable evidence of progress. Contracts organizes eligibility and approval questions, while finance identifies the proposed cost basis. Nobody describes a potential order as guaranteed revenue or a mentor discussion as approval.
The team hands purchasing personnel a capability plan and an honest list of remaining dependencies. Mesa Vector tracks training results separately from proposed orders and uses the actual reporting requirements relevant to its role. This company coordination approach supports performance without inventing additional government requirements or program benefits.
Build the Preparation Worksheet
Build a recommended eight-field preparation worksheet for the opportunity and development plan. Keep it concise and attach source records. Help technical, sales, finance, and contracts personnel share a consistent decision record.
Field one is Route, Solicitation, and Version. Identify the actual acquisition or supplier path and governing documents. Field two is Industry Code, Size, and Status Support. Link the relevant classification and evidence, making clear what the company has confirmed and what still requires qualified review.
Field three is Prime or Subcontract Role. Identify the actual relationship. Field four is Requirements and Capacity Evidence. Map the proposed work to resources, training needs, and performance support, so a reviewer can see what your company can deliver instead of relying only on an eligibility label.
Field five is Mentor and Protege Eligibility and Approvals. Record program fit and decision status. Field six is Development Milestones and Cost Basis. Identify the intended outcomes, evidence of progress, and supported funding assumptions, keeping development value separate from a promise of reimbursement or an award.
Field seven is Actual Plan Reporting Channel and Dates. Record the applicable instruction and owner of the data. Field eight is Owner and Handoff. Assign a coordinator to transfer the current capability plan, approvals, open questions, and reporting responsibilities to the people who will perform the work.
Three Operating Questions
Ask three operating questions. What role and status does this opportunity actually require? What evidence shows we can perform and benefit from the proposed development? Which approvals and actual reporting instructions remain unresolved?
DEAR Part 919 preparation checklist
- Route, Solicitation, and Version
- Industry Code, Size, and Status Support
- Prime or Subcontract Role
- Requirements and Capacity Evidence
- Mentor and Protege Eligibility and Approvals
- Development Milestones and Cost Basis
- Actual Plan Reporting Channel and Dates
- Owner and Handoff
Official sources and currency
Review date: November 7, 2026. Read current codified text alongside applicable DOE and NNSA deviations. Acquisition.gov’s July 2025 baseline does not by itself capture later changes. A policy flash transmits instructions; review its signed determination and operative final attachments, scope, and any later replacement.
- DEAR Part 919 on Acquisition.gov
- Current eCFR Part 919
- DOE class deviation and operative attachments
- March 2026 FAR 19 supplement and revised reporting clause
Build your readiness baseline
Explore GovAssessment at GovSuccess to organize preparation and identify review priorities. Preparation is not official approval, a compliance certification, or an award guarantee.
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General education only; not legal advice or an official acquisition interpretation. Verify current sources, solicitation instructions, actual contract terms, and applicable deviations with qualified support.
