Government contracting glossary
94 terms that come up in answers on govcon.forum, each defined in one or two sentences with its own page for the detail. Members link to these definitions instead of re-explaining them in every thread.
8(a) Business Development Program
The 8(a) program is SBA's nine-year business development program for small firms owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. Certified firms can receive sole source and competitive 8(a) contracts.
Amendment and the Q&A period
An amendment is the formal change an agency issues to a solicitation before the due date, to answer vendor questions, change the scope, extend the deadline or fix an error; the Q&A period is the window in which vendors may submit the questions that usually produce one.
APEX Accelerator (formerly PTAC)
APEX Accelerators are the Department of Defense-funded, locally run centers, formerly called Procurement Technical Assistance Centers, that give free one-on-one help with government contracting: registration, certifications, bid matching, proposal review and contract compliance.
Award notice
An award notice is the public announcement that a contract has been awarded, naming the awardee and the amount; on SAM.gov it is posted as an award notice tied to the original solicitation number.
Best value tradeoff
Best value tradeoff is the source selection method in which the agency may pay more than the lowest price for a proposal whose technical merit or past performance justifies it. Lowest price technically acceptable (LPTA) is the other end of the same scale: among acceptable proposals, the lowest price wins.
Bid bond
A bid bond is a surety's guarantee, submitted with a bid, that the bidder will sign the contract and furnish the required performance and payment bonds if awarded; if the bidder backs out, the surety pays the government the difference up to the bond amount.
Bid opening
A bid opening is the scheduled moment when sealed bids are opened and read aloud or recorded, in public, after which no bid may be changed and late bids are rejected.
Bid or no-bid decision
A bid or no-bid decision is the deliberate choice, made before a proposal is started, of whether a specific opportunity is worth the cost of pursuing, based on fit, relationship, competition, price position and capacity.
Bid protest
A bid protest is a formal objection to a solicitation, an exclusion, or an award, filed with the agency, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) or the Court of Federal Claims, arguing that the agency broke procurement law or its own stated rules.
Bid tabulation
A bid tabulation is the record of every bid received on a sealed-bid solicitation, listing each bidder and its prices as read at the bid opening, usually posted or available on request as a public record.
Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA)
A Blanket Purchase Agreement is a standing arrangement between an agency and a vendor that sets prices, terms and a ceiling for repeat purchases, so the agency can place calls or orders quickly without a new solicitation each time.
CAGE code
A CAGE code is a five-character identifier assigned by the Defense Logistics Agency to a physical location of an entity registered in SAM.gov, used across federal systems for contracts, payments and parts.
Capability statement
A capability statement is a one- or two-page document that tells a government buyer what you do, your core competencies, differentiators, past performance, certifications and the identifiers they need (UEI, CAGE, NAICS).
Certified cost or pricing data
Certified cost or pricing data are the facts about costs and prices that a contractor must submit and certify as accurate, complete and current on larger negotiated federal contracts and modifications, under the Truthful Cost or Pricing Data statute, still widely called TINA.
Combined synopsis/solicitation
A combined synopsis/solicitation is a single SAM.gov notice that both announces a buy and is the solicitation itself, used for commercial products and services so the agency can skip the separate presolicitation step.
Compliance matrix
A compliance matrix is a table that lists every instruction, requirement and evaluation factor in a solicitation and maps each one to the section of your proposal that answers it.
Contract modification (mod)
A contract modification is any written change to the terms of an existing contract, issued by the contracting officer on Standard Form 30, whether to add funds, exercise an option, change the scope, extend the period or correct an error.
Contract vehicle
A contract vehicle is any pre-competed contract, such as a GSA schedule, an IDIQ, a GWAC or a BPA, that an agency can order from instead of running a full open-market competition for each need.
Contracting officer (CO or KO)
A contracting officer is the government employee who holds a warrant authorizing them to enter into, administer and terminate contracts on behalf of the agency. Only a contracting officer can bind the government.
Contracting Officer's Representative (COR)
A Contracting Officer's Representative is the agency employee the contracting officer designates in writing to monitor technical performance on a contract, inspect deliverables and recommend acceptance, without authority to change the contract.
Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS)
CPARS is the federal system where agencies record formal evaluations of a contractor's performance on a contract, which later source selections read as past performance evidence.
Cooperative purchasing and piggybacking
Cooperative purchasing lets a public agency buy from a contract that another agency or a purchasing cooperative competed and awarded, instead of running its own solicitation; using another agency's contract that way is called piggybacking.
Corrective action
Corrective action is the voluntary step an agency takes in response to a bid protest, such as re-evaluating proposals, reopening discussions, amending the solicitation or terminating an award, which usually ends the protest without a decision on its merits.
Cost realism
Cost realism is the government's evaluation of whether the costs in a proposal are realistic for the work, reflect a clear understanding of the requirements, and are consistent with the technical approach the offeror described.
Cost-reimbursement (cost-plus) contract
A cost-reimbursement contract pays the contractor its allowable incurred costs up to an estimated ceiling plus a fee, which may be fixed, incentive-based or award-based; the government bears most cost risk and in return gets to audit the books.
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC)
CMMC is the Department of Defense program that verifies a contractor protects federal contract information and controlled unclassified information, at Level 1 by annual self-assessment, Level 2 against NIST SP 800-171 by self-assessment or third-party assessment, and Level 3 by government assessment.
Davis-Bacon Act
The Davis-Bacon Act requires contractors on federal and federally assisted construction contracts above a dollar threshold to pay laborers and mechanics at least the locally prevailing wages and fringe benefits the Department of Labor has determined for the type of work.
Debrief
A debrief is the explanation an agency gives an offeror, after award or after exclusion from the competitive range, of how its proposal was evaluated, its significant weaknesses and deficiencies, and the basis for the award decision.
Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA)
The Defense Contract Audit Agency performs contract audits for DoD and many civilian agencies: pre-award accounting system reviews, proposal audits, incurred cost audits and indirect rate audits on cost-type and other flexibly priced contracts.
Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS)
The DFARS is the Department of Defense supplement to the FAR, codified at 48 CFR Chapter 2, adding defense-specific rules and clauses that apply to Army, Navy, Air Force, DLA and other DoD contracts.
DIBBS and DLA
DIBBS is the DLA Internet Bid Board System, the Defense Logistics Agency's own portal where it posts requests for quotation and solicitations for the parts, supplies and materials it buys for the military, and where vendors submit quotes.
Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE)
A Disadvantaged Business Enterprise is a small firm owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, certified by a state Unified Certification Program for use on federally funded transportation projects.
Fair and reasonable price
A fair and reasonable price is the price a contracting officer determines, before award, to be fair to both the government and the contractor, based on price analysis, cost analysis, or both.
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)
The Federal Acquisition Regulation is the rulebook, codified at 48 CFR Chapter 1, that governs how executive-branch federal agencies buy goods and services, from market research to contract closeout.
Firm fixed price (FFP) contract
A firm fixed price contract sets a price that does not change with the contractor's actual costs; the contractor bears the full risk of overruns and keeps the full benefit of efficiency.
FPDS and USAspending
The Federal Procurement Data System is the government's database of record for federal contract actions, and USAspending.gov is the public site that presents that award data, with grants and other spending, in searchable form with downloads.
Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC)
A GWAC is a multiple-award IDIQ for information technology that one agency awards and manages and every federal agency may order from, under an authority delegated by OMB.
GSA eBuy
GSA eBuy is the General Services Administration's online quoting system in which agencies post requests for quotation and information to holders of the GSA Multiple Award Schedule and certain GWACs, and only those contract holders can see and respond.
GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS)
The GSA Multiple Award Schedule is a long-term, government-wide contract vehicle run by the General Services Administration under which agencies can order commercial products and services at pre-negotiated prices and terms.
HUBZone
HUBZone is an SBA certification for small businesses whose principal office is in a Historically Underutilized Business Zone and whose employees largely live in HUBZones, giving them access to HUBZone set-asides and a price evaluation preference.
Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract
An IDIQ contract sets terms and ceiling for an indefinite quantity of supplies or services over a fixed period; the actual work is bought through task or delivery orders issued against it, usually in competition among the contract holders.
Invitation for Bid (IFB)
An Invitation for Bid is a sealed-bid solicitation: bids are opened publicly at a set time and award goes to the lowest responsive, responsible bidder, with no negotiation and no technical scoring.
Joint venture (JV)
A joint venture in government contracting is a separate entity formed by two or more firms to bid on and perform a contract together; SBA rules let a small business JV, including one with a large mentor, qualify as small for set-asides if the agreement meets specific requirements.
Labor category
A labor category is a defined job title in a contract or schedule, with minimum education and experience and a billing rate, under which hours are proposed and invoiced on services contracts.
Limitations on subcontracting
Limitations on subcontracting are the rules that require a small business awarded a set-aside or sole source contract to perform a minimum share of the work itself (or with similarly situated small subcontractors) rather than passing it through to others.
MBE and WBE certification
MBE and WBE are state, city and agency certifications for minority-owned and women-owned businesses, used in state and local procurement to meet participation goals or to award preference points.
Micro-purchase threshold (MPT)
The micro-purchase threshold is the dollar limit, set in FAR 2.101, below which an agency may buy without competition, without a synopsis and usually with a government purchase card.
Miller Act
The Miller Act is the federal statute, 40 U.S.C. 3131 to 3134, that requires performance and payment bonds on federal construction contracts above a dollar threshold and gives unpaid subcontractors and suppliers the right to sue on the payment bond.
NAICS code
A NAICS code is the six-digit industry classification assigned to a type of business activity. In federal contracting the contracting officer assigns one NAICS code to each solicitation, and that code carries the size standard that decides who is small.
Novation agreement
A novation agreement is the written agreement in which the government recognizes a new company as the successor in interest to an existing contract after the original contractor sells its assets or merges, transferring the contract's rights and obligations to the new firm.
Organizational conflict of interest (OCI)
An organizational conflict of interest exists when a firm's other activities or relationships leave it unable to give impartial advice to the government, impair its objectivity in performing the work, or give it an unfair competitive advantage.
Past performance
Past performance is the record of how well a firm performed on recent, relevant contracts, used as an evaluation factor in most negotiated federal buys and as a reference check in state and local work.
Performance and payment bonds
A performance bond guarantees the contractor will complete the contract according to its terms; a payment bond guarantees that subcontractors, laborers and suppliers will be paid. On federal construction above the Miller Act threshold both are required before work begins.
Performance work statement (PWS)
A performance work statement is the part of a solicitation or contract that describes the required results of a service in measurable terms, with standards and acceptable quality levels, rather than telling the contractor how to do the work.
Presolicitation notice
A presolicitation notice is a SAM.gov posting that announces a solicitation is coming, usually with the NAICS, set-aside, a short description and an expected release date.
Prevailing wage and wage determinations
A prevailing wage is the hourly wage and fringe rate, set by the Department of Labor or a state labor agency, that contractors must pay workers in a trade or occupation on covered public contracts; a wage determination is the official document listing those rates for a locality and type of work.
Price volume
The price volume is the part of a proposal that presents your price or cost, built from labor categories, hours, rates, materials and other direct costs, often supported by a basis of estimate that shows how each number was derived.
Prime contractor
A prime contractor is the firm that holds the contract directly with the government, is responsible for all performance, and may hire subcontractors to do part of the work.
Procurement forecast
A procurement forecast is an agency's published list of the contracts it expects to compete in the coming fiscal year, with the estimated value, NAICS, anticipated set-aside, incumbent and expected solicitation quarter.
Product Service Code (PSC)
A Product Service Code is the four-character code the federal government uses to classify what is being bought, products by Federal Supply Class and services by letter-led codes, independent of who sells it.
Public records request
A public records request is a formal request under a state public records act (or the federal Freedom of Information Act) for government documents, which bidders use to obtain winning proposals, bid tabulations, contracts, evaluation scores and pricing after an award.
Recompete
A recompete is the new competition an agency runs when an existing contract reaches the end of its period of performance and options; the firm currently holding the contract is the incumbent.
Request for Information (RFI)
A Request for Information is a market research notice: the agency asks industry to describe capabilities, approaches or pricing structures before it decides how, or whether, to buy. Nothing is awarded from an RFI.
Request for Proposal (RFP)
A Request for Proposal is a solicitation in which the buyer describes a need and asks vendors to propose how they would meet it and at what price, then picks a winner on stated evaluation factors rather than price alone.
Request for Quotation (RFQ)
A Request for Quotation asks vendors for a price and delivery terms on a defined item or service. A quote is not an offer, so the government forms a contract only when it issues an order the vendor accepts.
Responsible prospective contractor
A responsible prospective contractor is one the contracting officer affirmatively finds, before award, to meet the general standards in FAR 9.104-1: adequate financial resources, the ability to meet the schedule, a satisfactory performance record, integrity, the needed organization and equipment, and eligibility under the law.
SAM entity registration
SAM entity registration is the record a business creates and renews on SAM.gov to be eligible for federal awards: its legal name and address, UEI, CAGE code, banking information, points of contact, NAICS codes, and representations and certifications.
SAM.gov
SAM.gov is the federal government's System for Award Management, where entities register to be eligible for federal contracts, and where contract opportunities, award data, wage determinations and exclusions are published.
SBA Mentor-Protege Program
The SBA Mentor-Protege Program pairs a small business protege with a larger, experienced mentor that provides business development help, and lets the pair form a joint venture that qualifies as small for set-aside contracts without affiliation.
SBIR and STTR
SBIR and STTR are the federal programs that fund small business research and development through phased awards, with STTR requiring a formal partnership with a research institution, and both allowing follow-on Phase III work to be awarded without further competition.
Section K
Section K of a federal solicitation holds the representations, certifications and other statements of the offeror, such as business size, ownership type, and compliance certifications, most of which are now completed once a year in SAM.gov.
Section L
Section L of a federal solicitation holds the instructions, conditions and notices to offerors: how to format and organize the proposal, what volumes to submit, page limits, and how and when to deliver it.
Section M
Section M of a federal solicitation states the evaluation factors and subfactors, their relative importance, and the basis for award (tradeoff or lowest price technically acceptable) the agency will use to pick the winner.
Service Contract Act (SCA)
The Service Contract Act requires contractors on federal service contracts above a dollar threshold to pay service employees at least the wages and fringe benefits in the applicable Department of Labor wage determination, or the rates in a predecessor's collective bargaining agreement.
Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB)
SDVOSB is SBA's certification for a small business owned and controlled by one or more service-disabled veterans; VOSB is the broader veteran-owned certification. Both are issued through SBA's Veteran Small Business Certification program.
Set-aside
A set-aside is a solicitation reserved for a class of business, most often small businesses in general or a socioeconomic program such as 8(a), HUBZone, WOSB or SDVOSB, so only eligible firms may compete.
Simplified acquisition threshold (SAT)
The simplified acquisition threshold is the dollar limit, set in FAR 2.101, below which agencies may use the streamlined buying procedures of FAR Part 13 instead of full sealed bidding or negotiated procurement.
Size standard
A size standard is the SBA's limit, stated in average annual receipts or in number of employees, below which a business counts as small for a given NAICS code and so may compete for set-asides.
Sole source award
A sole source award is a contract issued without full competition because the agency has justified, in writing, that only one source can meet the need or that a statutory exception such as an 8(a) sole source applies.
Solicitation number
A solicitation number is the identifier an agency assigns to a specific solicitation, used to find the notice, reference it in questions and proposals, and track its amendments.
Sources sought notice
A sources sought notice is a SAM.gov market research posting in which an agency asks which firms could perform a requirement, mainly to decide whether to set the buy aside for small business.
State procurement portal
A state procurement portal is the website a state runs to register vendors, post solicitations, take questions and receive bids for state agencies, and often for the counties, cities, school districts and universities that choose to use it.
Statement of objectives (SOO)
A statement of objectives is a short government document that states the purpose, scope and high-level goals of an acquisition and leaves it to each offeror to propose the performance work statement, approach and measures that will meet them.
Statewide term contract
A statewide term contract is a contract a state's central purchasing office awards for a category of goods or services over a set term, which state agencies must or may order from instead of running their own solicitations, and which local governments can often use as well.
Subcontracting plan
A subcontracting plan is the document a large business must submit with a proposal above a threshold in FAR 19.702, committing to goals for subcontracting with small, small disadvantaged, WOSB, HUBZone, veteran-owned and SDVOSB firms and describing how it will meet them.
Subcontractor
A subcontractor is a firm that performs part of a government contract under an agreement with the prime contractor (or with a higher-tier sub) rather than with the government itself.
Task order and delivery order
A task order is an order for services, and a delivery order an order for supplies, issued against an existing contract such as an IDIQ, a GWAC or a GSA schedule; the order is where the actual scope, price and period of performance are set.
Teaming agreement
A teaming agreement is a contract between two or more firms to pursue a specific government opportunity together, usually as prime and subcontractor, setting out roles, workshare, exclusivity and what happens after award.
Technical volume
The technical volume is the part of a proposal that explains how you will do the work: your approach, staffing, management, schedule, quality control and risk handling, written to the technical factors in Section M.
Time-and-materials (T&M) contract
A time-and-materials contract pays fixed hourly rates by labor category for the hours actually worked, plus materials at cost, up to a ceiling; a labor-hour contract is the same without materials.
Unique Entity ID (UEI)
The Unique Entity ID is the twelve-character identifier SAM.gov assigns to a registered entity. It replaced the DUNS number in April 2022 and is the number agencies use to identify you in awards and payments.
WAWF and PIEE
Wide Area Workflow (WAWF) is the Department of Defense's electronic system for submitting invoices and receiving reports, and the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE) is the platform that hosts it along with other DoD contracting applications.
Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB)
WOSB is an SBA certification for a small business at least majority owned and controlled by one or more women; EDWOSB adds a personal net worth and income test. Both open set-asides in industries SBA has designated as underrepresented.
Wrap rate
A wrap rate is the multiplier applied to an employee's base hourly wage to produce the fully burdened billing rate, folding in fringe benefits, overhead, general and administrative expense and profit.