Know the defense requirements.
Build the evidence.
The Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement adds defense-specific requirements to the FAR. Learn what changes, what applies, and what your team needs to do.
31 lessons available · 53-lesson series covering 49 non-reserved parts + 4 active appendices
Read FAR and DFARS together.
Use the dated solicitation or contract, incorporated clauses, applicable component supplements, and authorized deviations. DFARS and its Procedures, Guidance, and Information (PGI) serve different functions. A source link is not a completed GovSuccess lesson.
Official catalog checked November 4, 2026. Acquisition.gov currently displays DFARS Change 5/7/2026, effective May 7, 2026. Check subsequent changes and applicable deviations before relying on a requirement.
Parts 201–253 and 270
Federal Acquisition Regulations System
A defense contract does not make every defense rule your obligation. Identify the governing documents and verify the authority before your team commits.
Definitions of Words and Terms
A familiar label is not evidence that your company or supplier fits a regulatory definition. Check the words before making the claim.
Improper Business Practices and Personal Conflicts of Interest
An ethics policy that nobody uses will not protect a defense contract. Build hiring, reporting, and escalation controls before a concern becomes a crisis.
Administrative and Information Matters
Administrative data drives real defense-contract decisions. Keep the contract structure, information systems, and supporting records connected before delivery or payment exposes a gap.
Publicizing Contract Actions
A defense notice is a signal to investigate, not proof that the opportunity is ready for your proposal. Identify the notice type and the actual response instructions before committing effort.
Competition Requirements
A strong customer relationship does not establish a sole-source authority. Identify the competition framework and the required supporting record before building a sales plan around an exception.
Acquisition Planning
A promising technical solution is not a complete acquisition plan. Connect the buying strategy, sustainment needs, and decision responsibilities before committing your business to an opportunity.
Required Sources of Supplies and Services
An available supplier is not automatically the authorized buying route. Check required sources, ordering rules, and defense-specific conditions before treating a catalog listing as a complete acquisition solution.
Contractor Qualifications
A strong capability statement does not establish every qualification a defense acquisition requires. Separate responsibility evidence, source approval, and conflict-of-interest questions before claiming that your company is ready for award.
Market Research
A capability statement is not a market-research answer. Give the buyer specific evidence about your solution, capacity, and pricing context before expecting your business to influence the acquisition approach.
Describing Agency Needs
An unclear requirement becomes an expensive assumption. Identify the controlling specifications, personnel boundaries, and item-identification requirements before your team prices or promises delivery.
Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services
Calling an offering commercial does not settle its acquisition treatment, price, or contract obligations. Support the applicable pathway and keep the commerciality question separate from the pricing question.
Simplified Acquisition Procedures
Simplified buying does not mean unrestricted buying. Check the purchase method, evaluation conditions, and acceptance requirements before your team treats a small defense order as routine commercial paperwork.
Sealed Bidding
A sealed bid needs disciplined preparation, not an assumption that negotiation will fix it later. Read the invitation, verify the supporting material, and keep potential mistakes visible before the Government acts.
Contracting by Negotiation
A persuasive proposal can still miss the acquisition’s actual decision rules. Match your technical response, pricing support, and postaward follow-up to the solicitation instead of relying on a generic negotiation playbook.
Types of Contracts
The contract type changes the business risk. Identify the actual pricing arrangement, incentive terms, and ordering conditions before your team treats every defense award as the same kind of commitment.
Special Contracting Methods
A future option is not a dependable business plan by itself. Verify the applicable conditions, and keep any authorized unpriced work tied to its ceiling, proposal requirements, and definitization schedule.
Emergency Acquisitions
Urgency does not erase acquisition controls. Identify the emergency authority, the required determination, and the exact flexibility before treating an urgent defense request as permission to bypass the normal process.
Small Business Programs
A small business label does not guarantee a defense award. Connect the company’s representation, the acquisition approach, and any subcontracting commitment to the specific program and supporting record.
Application of Labor Laws to Government Acquisitions
Calling a defense contract a service contract does not settle every labor requirement. Identify the work, location, wage coverage, and approval route before staffing assumptions become a pricing or performance problem.
Environment, Sustainable Acquisition, and Material Safety
A product description is not proof that a material is acceptable for a defense requirement. Connect the specification, hazard information, applicable restrictions, and required approvals before purchasing or promising a substitute.
Protection of Privacy and Freedom of Information
Having a record does not mean your team may release it. Identify the privacy obligations, the request type, and the authorized review route before sharing defense-contract information or responding to an incident.
Foreign Acquisition
A domestic supplier address does not settle a defense product’s sourcing requirements. Identify the end product, component and material rules, applicable country treatment, and supporting evidence before making a compliance claim.
Other Socioeconomic Programs
A socioeconomic benefit depends on the specific program and acquisition. Identify the participation criteria, contract mechanism, and supporting record before promising a preference, incentive, or evaluation advantage.
Patents, Data, and Copyrights
Data rights need attention before delivery. Identify the deliverable, development funding, applicable license, and required markings before a proposal promise becomes a contract obligation.
Bonds and Insurance
Check risk allocation before buying coverage. Defense-contract status alone does not identify the bonds, insurance, or reporting duties your team must meet.
Taxes
Verify tax treatment before pricing. Country, contractor status, funding, and the governing agreement matter more than the assumption that a Government customer makes a transaction tax-exempt.
Cost Accounting Standards Administration
Verify CAS coverage before you commit. Identify the proposed award, the business unit, and the governing rules before confusing an exemption, modified coverage, or a waiver.
Contract Cost Principles and Procedures
Resolve cost-principle applicability before reviewing the expense. Connect contractor status, the actual acquisition terms, cost treatment, and supporting evidence.
Contract Financing
Keep funding authority, financing arrangements, and payment conditions separate. Connect the contract file to the cash forecast and required submission evidence.
Protests, Disputes, and Appeals
Identify the process before escalating. Separate bid protests from contract claims, preserve the chronology, and route deadlines and performance questions for qualified review.
Major System Acquisition
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Research and Development Contracting
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Construction and Architect–Engineer Contracts
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Service Contracting
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Acquisition of Information Technology
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Acquisition of Utility Services
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Contract Administration
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Contract Modifications
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Subcontracting Policies and Procedures
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Government Property
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Quality Assurance
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Transportation
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Termination of Contracts
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Extraordinary Contractual Actions
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Use of Government Sources by Contractors
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Solicitation Provisions and Contract Clauses
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Forms
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Defense Contracting Programs
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Appendices A–I
Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals
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Material Inspection and Receiving Report
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Debarment and Suspension Procedures
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Policy and Procedures for the DoD Pilot Mentor-Protege Program
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Turn learning into an operating decision.
Explore GovAssessment for a structured business-readiness baseline. It does not certify compliance or guarantee an award.
General education, not legal advice. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.
