For small defense subcontractors
Answer 25 questions about your order. WhatBinds checks 343 FAR and DFARS clauses, explains why each one landed where it did, and builds a checklist of what to handle first.
It keeps two questions separate: Does this clause’s trigger fit your order? And did the regulation require the prime to flow it down?
If a clause appears in your subcontract, it is still a contract term. That is true whether the flow-down was required or added for another reason.
No account. No document upload. Your answers stay in your browser.
The distinction that matters
These two real clauses appear together in 10 of the 35 public prime documents we read, and in a signed subcontract filed on SEC EDGAR. On the page, they look identical.
The clause tells the prime to put its substance in covered subcontracts at all tiers. For some orders, it also calls for a compliance plan and yearly certification.
The base found no text in this clause that sends it below the prime. It still matters when it appears in the subcontract. This finding is about the regulation, not permission to ignore the document.
Sources: acquisition.gov · FAR 52.222-50, prescribed at 22.1705(a)(1) · FAR 52.203-3, prescribed at 3.202
That is the point of the split: both clauses are in the documents and both matter there. But only one carries a flow-down mandate in its own text. A bare list of clause numbers cannot show you that difference.
How it works
You can see the question, the rule it moved, and the work that came out the other side. Here is one thread through the product.
Each question tells you what counts and where to look. You answer from the order and the records you already have. This is not a vocabulary test.
“Not sure” is a real answer. It keeps the affected clauses open and tells you what fact is missing.
Question 4 of 253 answered
Information and security
Do you hold contract information that is not public?
Almost every sub has some. Drawings, prices, schedules and statements of work all count.
Where to look: your email and shared drives: quotes, drawings, schedules and prices from the prime
This answer is read by FAR 52.204-21 and DFARS 252.204-7021.
There is no unexplained “yes.” Each clause shows which facts met its trigger. A second line shows whether its own text requires a flow-down.
The row ends with the actual work and the source, not just a category name.
fci = yescots = no
Form: substance · Scope: all tiers · qualifying subcontracts other than COTS.
The controls cover who gets in, how users sign in, safe media disposal, network guards, patches, and malware scans.
Source: acquisition.gov · FAR 52.204-21(b)(1)
The checklist pulls the work out of the clause matrix and orders it by lead time. Programs and outside assessments rise above forms you can finish today.
You still receive the full clause research. The checklist simply gives you a place to start.
The exact list changes with your answers. These are three examples from the rules base.
A working control set cannot be created at the signing table.
FAR 52.204-21(b)(1)An outside group does this work. It may take longer than paperwork you control.
DFARS 252.204-7021(d)(1)(i)Usually faster once you know the report is owed and have the information in hand.
FAR 52.222-26(c)(8)Each item stays tied to its clause, condition and citation. Nothing is silently dropped from the matrix.
Evidence, with the caveats intact
We publish what the tests can show and where their limits are.
35 of 125
CACI marked 125 covered rows “yes.” WhatBinds read the rules clause by clause and reached a different answer on 35.
Open the signed subcontract on SEC EDGAR →56 of 60
The earlier rules base could speak to 56 of the 60 clauses imposed by the order. That is coverage, not an accuracy score.
Open the signed purchase order on SEC EDGAR →Questions people ask first
No. You answer structured questions; the document never enters WhatBinds. The rules run in your browser, and your answers are not sent to the server.
No. WhatBinds is research, not legal advice. It summarizes public regulation, shows the condition it tested, and cites the source so you or your counsel can check the work.
You do not have to take it on trust. Every row links its reasoning to acquisition.gov, and uncertainty is labeled instead of hidden. The base is versioned, dated, and changed through reviewable files.
Choose “Not sure.” WhatBinds puts those clauses in “Needs an answer.” It also names the missing fact. A blank never becomes a guessed “no.”
This page uses rules base v0.9.2, last checked against acquisition.gov on 2026-08-09. Any fact that could not be closed against the source is marked “(unconfirmed)” where it appears.
Start with what you have
Use the order in front of you, or start with one of 35 public flow-down documents from 9 primes. Both paths use the same 25 questions and the same cited rules base.
Research, not legal advice. Every ruling includes the condition tested and its source.