A community resource for the acquisition workforce not a .gov website
part52.dev Federal Acquisition Clause Monitor
DFARS Clause ACTIVE

252.215-7016

Notification to Offerors—Postaward Debriefings.
Search on acquisition.gov · View on eCFR.gov
Effective Date
OCT 2025
Active Deviations
2
Versions
3 (since 2022-12-16)
RFO
Superseded Under RFO

This clause (252.215-7016) has been renumbered to 252.215-7996 under the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (Deviation 2026-O0048). For contracts using the RFO model, use the replacement clause.

View deviation details
DEV
This clause is modified by 1 active class deviation
  • 2026-O0028 — DFARS RFO Implementation (Part 12)
View per-deviation details →
252.215-7016 Notification to Offerors—Postaward Debriefings.

As prescribed in 215.570, use the following provision:

Notification to Offerors—Postaward Debriefings (OCT 2025)

(a)
Definition.
As used in this provision—

Nontraditional defense contractor
means an entity that is not currently performing and has not performed any contract or subcontract for DoD that is subject to full coverage under the cost accounting standards prescribed pursuant to 41 U.S.C. 1502 and the regulations implementing such section, for at least the 1-year period preceding the solicitation of sources by DoD for the procurement (10 U.S.C. 3014).

(b)
Postaward debriefing.
(1) Upon timely request, the Government will provide a written or oral postaward debriefing to successful or unsuccessful offerors for contract awards valued at $15 million or more, while protecting the confidential and proprietary information of other offerors. The request is considered timely if received within 3 days of notification of contract award.

(2) When required, the minimum postaward debriefing information will include the following:

(i) For contracts in excess of $15 million and not in excess of $150 million with a small business or nontraditional defense contractor, an option for the small business or nontraditional defense contractor to request disclosure of the agency's written source selection decision document, redacted to protect the confidential and proprietary information of other offerors for the contract award.

(ii) For contracts in excess of $150 million, disclosure of the agency's written source selection decision document, redacted to protect the confidential and proprietary information of other offerors for the contract award.

(3) If a required postaward debriefing is provided—

(i) The debriefed Offeror may submit additional written questions related to the debriefing not later than 2 business days after the date of the debriefing;

(ii) The agency will respond in writing to timely submitted additional questions within 5 business days after receipt by the contracting officer; and

(iii) The postaward debriefing will not be considered to be concluded until the later of—

(A) The date that the postaward debriefing is delivered, orally or in writing; or

(B) If additional written questions related to the debriefing are timely received, the date the agency delivers its written response.

(c)
Contract performance.
The Government may suspend performance of or terminate the awarded contract upon notice from the Government Accountability Office of a protest filed within the time periods listed in paragraphs (c)(1) through (3) of this provision, whichever is later:

(1) Within 10 days after the date of contract award.

(2) Within 5 days after a debriefing date offered to the protestor under a timely debriefing request in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.506 unless an earlier debriefing date is negotiated as a result.

(3) Within 5 days after a postaward debriefing under FAR 15.506 is concluded in accordance with Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement 215.506-70(b).

(End of provision)

[87 FR 15811, Mar. 18, 2022, as amended at 87 FR 76997, Dec. 16, 2022; 90 FR 41487, Aug. 25, 2025]
RFO
Prescription superseded under the RFO

The prescription shown below is from the codified eCFR. Under the RFO, the prescribing section may have been revised, relocated or reserved. See the deviation memorandum for the current prescription authority.

View deviation: 2026-O0048 → · View deviation: 2026-O0028 →
215.570
Use the provision at 252.215-7016, Notification to Offerors--Postaward Debriefings, in competitive negotiated solicitations for contract awards valued at $15 million or more, including solicitations using FAR part 12 procedures for the acquisition of commercial products and commercial services.
Prescription data sourced from eCFR as of 2026-06-10 03:16 UTC. Cross-references within the prescription are not resolved automatically.

Regulatory Stack

The layers of regulation that govern this clause, from the FAR prescription through agency-specific supplements and any active deviations.

R-DFARS R-DFARS Prescription Per Deviation 2026-O0048 (DFARS Part 215/212)
2026-O0048: DFARS RFO Implementation (Part 15) — DFARS Part 215
2026-O0028: DFARS RFO Implementation (Part 12) — DFARS Part 212

View Deviation 2026-O0048 → · View Deviation 2026-O0028 →

DFARS DFARS Supplement (eCFR) ⚠ May be superseded by RFO 215.570
Use the provision at 252.215-7016, Notification to Offerors--Postaward Debriefings, in competitive negotiated solicitations for contract awards valued at $15 million or more, including solicitations using FAR part 12 procedures for the acquisition of commercial products and commercial services.

Search on acquisition.gov · View on eCFR.gov

Version History

Version history is sourced from the codified eCFR. Changes published only as class deviations or by the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul do not appear here until they are incorporated into the eCFR. For RFO-driven changes see the RFO Version tab and any active deviations cited above.

3 versions tracked from 2022-12-16 to 2025-10-01.
OCT 2025 October 1, 2025 CURRENT SUBSTANTIVE
Removed in this version
Added in this version
Unchanged
AUG 2025 (previous)
OCT 2025 (current)
53 added
(b)
(b) Postaward debriefing.
(b)
(b) Postaward debriefing. (1) Upon timely request, the Government will provide a written or oral postaward debriefing to successful or unsuccessful offerors for contract awards valued at $15 million or more, while protecting the confidential and proprietary information of other offerors. The request is considered timely if received within 3 days of notification of contract award.
AUG 2025 August 25, 2025 SUBSTANTIVE
Removed in this version
Added in this version
Unchanged
DEC 2022 (previous)
AUG 2025 (current)
2 added, 3 removed
(a)
(a) Definition. As used in this provision - Nontraditional defense contractor means an entity that is not currently performing and has not performed any contract or subcontract for DoD that is subject to full coverage under the cost accounting standards prescribed pursuant to 41 U.S.C. 1502 and the regulations implementing such section, for at least the 1-year period preceding the solicitation of sources by DoD for the procurement (10 U.S.C. 2302(9)).
(a)
(a) Definition. As used in this provision— Nontraditional defense contractor means an entity that is not currently performing and has not performed any contract or subcontract for DoD that is subject to full coverage under the cost accounting standards prescribed pursuant to 41 U.S.C. 1502 and the regulations implementing such section, for at least the 1-year period preceding the solicitation of sources by DoD for the procurement (10 U.S.C. 3014).
DEC 2022 December 16, 2022 SUBSTANTIVE
Earliest version available from the eCFR

Active Class Deviations

DFARS RFO Implementation (Part 15) Modified by RFO class deviation
MODIFIED
DFARS RFO Implementation (Part 12) Modify clause 252.215-7016
MODIFIED
Use with AI assistant
Copy a link and prompt for use with Gemini or another AI assistant.