Procurement glossary
Every acronym you will meet in a United States or Canadian solicitation, defined in one sentence, grouped by where you will run into it.
Public procurement runs on acronyms, and the same idea often has a different name on each side of the border. These are grouped by the part of the process where you will meet them, so a term you hit while reading a solicitation is next to the ones that surround it. Where a United States term has a Canadian counterpart, both appear together.
Solicitation and response
The documents themselves, and what each one asks for.
These are the document types you will meet while looking for work and responding to it. The label on the cover matters less than the evaluation section inside, particularly outside federal procurement where buyers use the terms loosely.
- RFI, request for information: market research that cannot result in an award
- LOI, letter of interest: the Canadian equivalent of an RFI
- Sources sought: a US notice testing whether enough small businesses can perform
- RFQ, request for quotation: a price request against an already defined requirement
- RFP, request for proposal: a request for an approach and price, evaluated against published criteria
- ITT, invitation to tender: a Canadian solicitation with a fixed specification, usually awarded on price
- IFB, invitation for bids: the US sealed bidding equivalent, awarded to the lowest responsive bidder
- RFSO and RFSA: Canadian requests to establish a standing offer or a supply arrangement
- Amendment: a formal change to a solicitation, often requiring acknowledgement in your bid
- UCF, uniform contract format: the A to M section structure of most US federal solicitations
- SOW, statement of work: what is being bought, in performance or specification terms
- PWS, performance work statement: a SOW written as outcomes rather than methods
- SOO, statement of objectives: goals only, leaving the approach for bidders to propose
Contract types and vehicles
How the work is structured and how risk is allocated.
Contract type determines who absorbs a cost overrun. Vehicle determines how the buyer places the order. Both are usually stated early in a solicitation and both should be read before pricing.
- FFP, firm fixed price: one price regardless of your actual cost
- T&M, time and materials: agreed labour rates against a ceiling
- LH, labour hour: time and materials without a materials component
- CPFF and CPIF, cost plus fixed or incentive fee: audited costs plus a fee
- IDIQ, indefinite delivery indefinite quantity: a ceiling contract ordered through task or delivery orders
- BPA, blanket purchase agreement: a standing arrangement for recurring purchases
- GWAC, government-wide acquisition contract: an IT IDIQ any US federal agency can order from
- MAS, multiple award schedule: the consolidated GSA Schedule contract
- SIN, special item number: the category within the Schedule that your offering sits under
- Standing offer: a Canadian pre-priced offer the buyer accepts through a call-up
- Supply arrangement: a Canadian pool of pre-qualified suppliers competed per requirement
- Call-up: an order placed against a Canadian standing offer
- Option period: an extension the buyer may exercise unilaterally, priced at bid time
Codes and identifiers
How you and your work get classified.
Classification codes decide which opportunities reach you, which size standard applies, and which set-asides you can bid. Getting them right in your registration is one of the highest-return administrative tasks available.
- UEI, unique entity identifier: the US federal entity ID issued through SAM.gov, replacing DUNS
- CAGE code: a US entity identifier assigned during SAM registration; NCAGE is the non-US equivalent
- NAICS: the North American industry classification used for size standards and opportunity coding
- PSC, product service code: what is being bought, as opposed to who supplies it
- FSC, federal supply class: the older product classification still used for supplies
- GSIN: Goods and Services Identification Number, the Canadian federal classification
- UNSPSC: an international classification used by Canadian and other buyers
- PBN, procurement business number: a Canadian supplier ID derived from the CRA business number
- Size standard: the SBA employee or revenue limit that decides whether you are small under a NAICS code
United States programs and regulation
The set-asides and the rulebook behind them.
These terms appear in the eligibility and clause sections of US federal solicitations. Most of the socioeconomic programs now require formal certification rather than self-declaration.
- FAR: the Federal Acquisition Regulation, the government-wide rulebook
- DFARS: the Defense Department supplement to the FAR
- SAT, simplified acquisition threshold: the value below which lighter procedures apply
- 8(a): the SBA business development program for disadvantaged-owned firms
- HUBZone: a program based on office location and employee residency
- SDVOSB: service-disabled veteran-owned small business
- WOSB and EDWOSB: women-owned and economically disadvantaged women-owned small business
- Rule of two: the requirement to set work aside when two small businesses are expected to bid
- LoS, limitations on subcontracting: the share of a set-aside you must perform yourself
- LPTA: lowest price technically acceptable, where quality above the bar earns nothing
- Best value trade-off: an evaluation where a higher price can win on merit
- CPARS: the system holding federal contractor performance evaluations
- GAO: the Government Accountability Office, which hears bid protests
Canadian procurement
Federal terms, and the bodies that oversee them.
Canadian federal procurement uses its own vocabulary for clauses, oversight, and eligibility. Provincial and municipal buyers add their own on top.
- PSPC: Public Services and Procurement Canada, the main federal contracting authority
- CanadaBuys: the federal tender publication and supplier registration service
- SACC: the Standard Acquisition Clauses and Conditions manual, Canada’s clause library
- PSIB: the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business
- IBD, Indigenous Business Directory: where PSIB eligibility is listed and verified
- CITT: the Canadian International Trade Tribunal, which hears bid challenges
- CFTA: the Canadian Free Trade Agreement, governing internal trade thresholds
- CETA: the Canada-EU trade agreement, which sets open tendering obligations above thresholds
- MERX and BC Bid: examples of non-federal Canadian tender portals
- Basis of selection: the section stating how the winning bid is chosen
- Mandatory and rated criteria: pass-or-fail requirements versus point-scored ones
Evaluation, money, and challenge
How you get scored, paid, and what to do when it goes wrong.
The final group covers the end of the process: scoring, payment mechanics, and the routes available when you believe an award was made improperly.
- Responsive: a bid that met the mandatory requirements and can be evaluated
- Responsible: a determination that the bidder has the capacity and integrity to perform
- Compliance matrix: a bidder’s map from every requirement to the section answering it
- Debriefing: the buyer’s explanation of how your proposal was evaluated
- Protest: a formal challenge to a US solicitation or award, often filed with GAO
- Automatic stay: the suspension of performance triggered by a timely GAO protest
- Bid challenge: the Canadian equivalent, filed with the CITT
- Prompt payment: legislation setting the clock for payment and for notices of non-payment
- Holdback: a statutory share of payment retained on Canadian construction work
- Bid bond and performance bond: surety instruments guaranteeing your bid and your delivery
- Wrap rate: a fully burdened labour rate including fringe, overhead, G&A, and fee
- Closeout: the final administrative settlement of a completed contract
Keep the useful signals
Captivaq watches procurement sources against your capabilities, certifications, locations, and past performance. It helps you spend time on opportunities that have a credible fit.
Build a matching profileRelated resources
What is government contracting?
The process these terms describe, from budget to closeout.
RFP vs RFQ vs RFI
The three solicitation types, and what each asks you to do.
FAR basics
How the US regulation is organised and which parts reach your contract.
Contract vehicles explained
IDIQs, BPAs, Schedules, standing offers, and supply arrangements.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between NAICS and PSC codes?
NAICS classifies the industry of the supplier and drives small business size standards. PSC classifies what is being bought. A solicitation usually carries both, and they answer different questions about the same requirement.
What replaced the DUNS number?
The Unique Entity ID, generated inside SAM.gov since April 2022. There is no third party to pay and no separate application. Any guidance telling you to obtain a DUNS number for federal registration is out of date.
What is the Canadian equivalent of NAICS?
Canadian federal procurement classifies requirements using GSIN, and many buyers also use UNSPSC. NAICS itself is a North American standard used in Canada for statistical purposes, but GSIN is what you will match against on CanadaBuys.
What does responsive mean in a bid?
That the bid met the mandatory requirements and can therefore be evaluated. A non-responsive bid is set aside without scoring, regardless of its quality. Responsibility is a separate question about whether the bidder can actually perform.