No contract writing system. No fancy tools. Just a blank SF 1449, a pen (or a PDF editor), and the knowledge to fill it correctly.
In a deployed or contingency environment, you may not have access to a contract writing system. No ConWrite, no SPS, no PD2. You have a blank SF 1449 in PDF form (or printed copies), and you are the system. The contract is still a contract. It still needs to be legally sufficient. The same FAR, DFARS, and supplemental requirements still apply. The only thing that changes is the tool you are using to produce the document.
The SF 1449, "Solicitation/Contract/Order for Commercial Products and Services," is the standard form for commercial acquisitions under FAR Part 12. It covers the first two pages of your contract and award document. Everything after those two pages is the substance of your contract: your statement of work, your clauses, your delivery terms, and your attachments.
The first two pages of the SF 1449 are the form itself. Everything after that is the body of your contract. In a normal contract writing system, the software structures this for you. When writing manually, you need a structure yourself. The best one to follow is the Uniform Contract Format (UCF) from FAR 15.204-1.
Even though FAR Part 15 negotiated procedures may not apply to your contingency buy, the UCF is a clean, logical way to organize contract content. Here is the full section breakdown, and which ones you actually need for a typical manual contract:
| Section | Title | Manual Contract? | Why / Why Not |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Solicitation/Contract Form | Built In | This is the SF 1449 itself. The form is your Section A. |
| B | Supplies or Services and Prices/Costs | Built In | Blocks 19-24 of the 1449 cover this. Fill in the schedule on the form. |
| C | Description / Specifications / SOW | Include | Your PWS, SOW, or specifications. Put the whole thing in. In a deployed environment, key documents get lost. Having the full SOW inside your contract means it travels with the contract. |
| D | Packaging and Marking | Skip | Rarely relevant in a contingency environment unless you are buying supplies with specific packaging requirements. |
| E | Inspection and Acceptance | Covered | Covered by FAR 52.212-4, which should be in your Section I clauses. |
| F | Deliveries or Performance | Include | Your delivery schedule or period of performance. When does it start, when does it end, where does performance happen. |
| G | Contract Administration Data | Skip | Not typically needed for a contingency contract. |
| H | Special Contract Requirements | Sometimes | Base access instructions, security requirements, or location-specific operational constraints. If your deployed base has these, put them here. |
| I | Contract Clauses | Include | This is the section most people struggle with. At minimum you need 52.212-4 and a payment instruction clause. Use the KTHQ clause matrix or build your own. |
| J | List of Attachments | Include | Just a list of what is attached. Maps, diagrams, GFP lists, etc. |
| K | Reps, Certs, Other Statements | Solicitation | These were in your solicitation. Not needed on the award document. |
| L | Instructions, Conditions, Notices | Solicitation | Same as K. Solicitation-only. |
| M | Evaluation Factors | Solicitation | Same as K and L. Evaluation criteria are part of the solicitation, not the award. |
Section I is where most manual contracts go wrong. Without a contract writing system auto-populating your clauses, you need to know which clauses apply and add them yourself.
Beyond 52.212-4, you need a payment instruction clause. How is the contractor getting paid? This is the question that determines what else goes in Section I.
This catches people off guard. You wrote the contract by hand (or on a PDF). You signed it. The contractor signed it. It is a binding contract. But if you do not upload it into EDA (Electronic Document Access) through PIEE, the contract does not exist in the official system of record.
Manual contracts get modified with manual SF 30s. The same form, done the same way, just without a contract writing system generating it for you. The key challenge with manual modifications is tracking what changed across the life of the contract.
Here is a method that works well and produces something close to a conformed copy by the time the contract closes out:
A contract writing system catches a lot of errors for you. Wrong CAGE code format, missing required clauses, inconsistent dollar amounts. When you are doing it manually, there is no system-level validation. You are the quality control.
Read through the completed contract as if someone else wrote it and you are reviewing it. If anything does not add up, fix it before execution. There is no "the system will catch that" safety net here.
Below is a mock SF 1449 Page 1 for a contingency contract. Click any highlighted block to see guidance on how to fill it correctly in a manual environment. This example is a small business set-aside, FFP services contract for waste removal at a deployed location, paid by GPC.
Click any blue-bordered block for guidance on filling it in a manual/deployed environment.
These tools help you build the sections that go after the first two pages of your SF 1449, and manage modifications with change tracking. They are standalone pages you can use anytime.
Fill in Sections C, F, H, I, and J for your manual contract. The tool rolls everything into one clean attachment you can print or attach to your SF 1449 as a PDF.
Build SF 30 modification content with the red/black text tracking method. New changes show in red; previous mod text rolls to black automatically with each subsequent modification.
The governing part for commercial products and services. The SF 1449 is the prescribed form for commercial acquisitions. Start here for the overall framework.
Open FAR Part 12The UCF section structure (A through M). Even if Part 15 does not apply to your buy, this is the best organizational guide for structuring contract content manually.
Open FAR 15.204-1The essential clause for every commercial contract. Covers inspection, acceptance, disputes, payment, termination, and more in one clause. Must be in every 1449.
Open FAR 52.212-4Prescribes the SF 1449 for commercial acquisitions. Also covers when to use SF 1442 (construction) and SF 1155 (orders for supplies or services).
Open FAR 53.212DoD supplement covering contingency contracting authorities and flexibilities. Relevant when operating under emergency or contingency conditions.
Open DFARS 218DLA's block-by-block walkthrough of how to read the SF 1449. Covers both pages of the form with explanations of each block.
DLA TrainingWhere you upload your manual contracts for official record. If paying through WAWF, the contract must be in EDA or DFAS cannot process payment.
Open PIEEOur clause matrix for commercial acquisitions, built from the FAR 12.205 tables. Under the RFO, the old 52.212-5 is gone. Use these tables to populate your Section I.
Open Clause Matrix