All prime contracts, subcontracts or purchase orders in support of an authorized program are given a priority rating. A DX rating is assigned to those programs of the highest national priority. Per DoD 4400.1-M, the Under Secretary of Defense for AT&L approves DO rated orders and nominates to the Secretary of Defense for approval of DX rated orders. An unrated order is a commercial order or a DoD order that is not ratable.

A DX rating takes priority over a DO rating which takes priority over an unrated order. Rated programs are also given a program identifier symbol. Examples are A1 for Aircraft and A3 for ships. The program identifier symbol does not, by itself, indicate any priority.

DPAS issues are to be resolved at the lowest level possible.

Basic Provisions

1. Mandatory Acceptance
   A contractor, subcontractor, or supplier shall accept a rated order when:
   - They make/buy the item
   - Normal terms of sale apply
   - When they can meet delivery dates required the contract
   - A rated order shall be accepted or rejected, in writing, within 15 working days for DO rated orders and 10 days for DX rated orders. Special requirements apply for emergency preparedness rated orders.
   (See 700.13 (d) (3). Exceptions are found in 15 CFR 700.13(b)


2. Mandatory Extension
   Prime Contractors are responsible for extending the received contract rating to their entire product supply chain to the lowest level in order to obtain items needed to fill rated orders or to obtain replacements of inventoried items.


3. Priority Scheduling
   Operations, including the acquisition of all needed production items, shall be scheduled to satisfy the delivery requirements of each rated order. In the event there is competition for materials and/or resources for equally rated contracts the contractor and the Functional Specialist (FS) shall notify the Buying Activities (BA) involved. It is the responsibility of the BA to resolve any scheduling conflicts with the contractor and provide contract modifications required.


4. Customer Notification Requirements
   If a person/contractor has accepted a rated order and subsequently finds that shipment or performance will be delayed, the person/contractor must notify the customer immediately, give the reasons for the delay, and advise the customer of a new shipment or performance date. If notification is given verbally, written (hard copy) or electronic confirmation must be provided within one working day of the verbal notice. DCMA FS shall encourage contractors to provide copy of notification to FS in order to facilitate a Delay Notice issuance from eTools DSM.

The DCMA CMO DPAS Manager is the primary point of contact for DPAS related issues and is required to provide DPAS training to contractor and CMO personnel on an as needed basis. The FS can utilize results from preaward survey efforts and Post Award Conferences to provide DPAS training to new contractors.

DPAS is meant to be largely self-executing with a minimum of oversight. However, production or delivery problems may arise that require additional assistance. Program/Logistics managers can utilize Special Priority Assistance to: expedite deliveries of rated orders, resolve delivery conflicts between rated orders, assist in placing rated orders with suppliers, locate suppliers to fill a rated order, verify urgency of rated orders, rate items not automatically ratable, and ensure compliance with DPAS regulations. To request Special Priority Assistance, a Special Priorities Assistance Request Form BIS-999 is submitted to the CMO. The CMO DPAS officer shall determine if the information is complete and accurate, and ensure reasonable expediting efforts have been exhausted, documenting all communications and actions taken. The case shall then be forwarded to the DPAS officer at the Government activity that awarded the end item contract. Concurrently, the CMO DPAS officer shall notify the applicable Regional DPAS Officer. Policy related questions and concerns are to be presented to HQ/Agency DPAS Action Officer or alternate through the Regional DPAS Officer. All requests for support from OSD, OUSD and DoC are to be presented to DCMA DPAS Action Officer or alternate for submission to OSD, OUSD and or DoC.

When a contractor consistently fails to meet the DPAS contractual requirements on its rated orders, and interactive discussion with the contractor has failed to drive the required performance to DPAS requirements corrective action shall be requested. Where available, Management Councils should be utilized to address difficult problems. DPAS contractual requirements include timely notification of acceptance/rejection of rated order, extension of rating to sub-contractors, and priority scheduling. If a contractor fails to meet the delivery schedule on rated orders due to giving a higher priority to a lower rated or unrated order, they are in violation of DPAS regulations. In those cases where the CMO is unable to get the contractor to correct DPAS violations, the case may be forwarded through the DPAS Officer at the Government activity that awarded the end item contract to the Department of Commerce for assistance.

Updated 16-May-2022

Contractor Training:

DPAS Training for the Contractor [PPT, 4.13MB]

Government Training:

DAU DPAS CLC043 Continuous Learning Module 

Department of Commerce DPAS Homepage
Department of Defense Priorities and Allocations Manual DoD 4400.1-M
Department of Commerce  DPAS Regulation - 15 CFR 700 

DX Rated Program Listing DX_LIST_NOV_2018