Synopsis & Solicitation
Also known as: Synopsis, RFP, RFQ, IFB, solicitation issuance, publicizing
Your role here: Find the notice, read the solicitation, and decide to bid
At a Glance
- Phase
- 5 of 10 — the requirement goes public
- Who leads it
- The contracting officer issues the synopsis and solicitation
- What happens
- A synopsis posts to SAM.gov, then the solicitation (RFP/RFQ/IFB) is released
- You…
- Read the whole solicitation, ask questions, and make a bid/no-bid call
- Governing authority
- FAR Part 5 (Publicizing); FAR Parts 12, 13, 14, 15 (methods)
What It Is
This is the phase where the acquisition becomes visible and actionable. Under FAR Part 5, the contracting officer publicizes the requirement — typically a presolicitation synopsis on SAM.gov (the governmentwide point of entry) with at least the required advance notice — and then issues the solicitation itself. The form the solicitation takes depends on the acquisition method chosen back in planning: a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a negotiated best-value or LPTA buy under FAR Part 15, a Request for Quotations (RFQ) for simplified acquisitions or Schedule orders under FAR Part 13 / 8.4, or an Invitation for Bids (IFB) for sealed bidding under FAR Part 14; commercial buys under FAR Part 12 often use a combined synopsis/solicitation on the SF 1449. The solicitation lays out the work (Section C), the terms and clauses (Sections H and I, including the SDVOSB set-aside clause and limitations on subcontracting), the representations and certifications (Section K), the instructions for preparing your offer (Section L), and how the offer will be evaluated (Section M). A question-and-answer period lets offerors seek clarification, and amendments (issued on the SF 30) can change the terms or extend the deadline before offers are due.
What Happens
- A presolicitation synopsis posts to SAM.gov announcing the upcoming requirement and its set-aside status.
- The solicitation is released — an RFP, RFQ, IFB, or combined synopsis/solicitation — with all sections and clauses.
- Offerors submit questions; the agency answers them, often via a formal Q&A amendment.
- Amendments (SF 30) may revise the scope, terms, or due date; each must be acknowledged in your offer.
- The clock runs to the offer due date and time stated on the solicitation cover form.
Key Activities
| Activity | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Publish the synopsis | The public notice on SAM.gov, generally required for buys above the micro-purchase threshold, that puts the requirement — and its set-aside status — on the record. |
| Issue the solicitation | The full RFP/RFQ/IFB with Sections A–M. Which method it uses tells you how you'll be evaluated and what a 'quote' vs an 'offer' means. |
| Run the Q&A period | Your chance to get ambiguities resolved and to surface unduly restrictive terms — questions and answers usually become a binding amendment. |
| Issue amendments | Changes to the solicitation are made on the SF 30. You must acknowledge every amendment, or your offer can be rejected. |
What It Means for an SDVOSB
When the solicitation posts, your job is to read all of it and make a disciplined bid/no-bid decision. Confirm the set-aside designation matches your certification, then read Section M (how you're scored) and Section L (how to submit) before anything else — they tell you whether the buy rewards your strengths and exactly how to respond. Check Section I for the set-aside clause (FAR 52.219-27) and limitations on subcontracting (FAR 52.219-14) so you know your self-performance obligation, and note Section J for wage determinations that drive your price. Use the Q&A period to resolve genuine ambiguities and, if a term is unduly restrictive of small-business competition, raise it before the due date — a protest of a solicitation defect that is apparent on its face generally must be filed before proposals are due. Then run the numbers with the win-probability and price-to-win calculators before committing your bid-and-proposal dollars.
What to Do in This Phase
- Read the entire solicitation, starting with Sections L and M, and confirm the set-aside matches your certification.
- Calendar the offer due date and time exactly, and acknowledge every SF 30 amendment in your offer.
- Submit clarifying questions during the Q&A period; flag any unduly restrictive term before the proposal deadline.
- Make a bid/no-bid decision using the win-probability estimator, then benchmark price with the price-to-win calculator.
Watch Out For
- Missing an amendment (SF 30) or failing to acknowledge it, which can make your offer non-responsive.
- Waiting until after award to complain about a solicitation defect that was obvious on the face of the RFP — usually too late to protest.
- Overlooking the exact submission instructions in Section L (format, page limits, portal, deadline), any of which can disqualify an offer.
Run the Numbers
Frequently Asked
Where are federal solicitations posted, and how do I find SDVOSB set-asides?
Federal contract opportunities above the micro-purchase threshold are generally posted to SAM.gov (sam.gov), the governmentwide point of entry, under FAR Part 5. You can search and filter by set-aside type (including Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business), NAICS code, agency, and place of performance, and set up saved searches and email alerts. VA opportunities also appear there. Because the presolicitation synopsis often posts before the full solicitation, monitoring SAM.gov (and agency forecasts) lets you prepare early. Our weekly Brief and the finding-set-asides guide walk through the search workflow.
What is the difference between an RFP, an RFQ, and an IFB?
They correspond to different acquisition methods. A Request for Proposals (RFP) is used for negotiated procurements under FAR Part 15, where award is based on best value (tradeoff or LPTA) and your submission is an offer the government can accept to form a contract. A Request for Quotations (RFQ) is used in simplified acquisitions and Schedule ordering under FAR Part 13 / 8.4; a quote is not an offer — the government's order is the offer, which you then accept. An Invitation for Bids (IFB) is used for sealed bidding under FAR Part 14, where award goes to the lowest responsive, responsible bidder with no discussions. The method controls how you write and price your response.
Primary Sources
- FAR 5.201 — Synopses of proposed contract actions
- FAR 5.203 — Publicizing and response time
- FAR 15.203 — Requests for proposals
Plain-English reference, not legal advice. The phases of a federal acquisition are tailored to each buy, and the FAR is amended from time to time — always read the actual solicitation and confirm the applicable procedures with the contracting officer, and consult qualified counsel for your specific situation before relying on this.
Change log (1)
- LaunchedPublished the federal acquisition lifecycle phases reference covering the ten phases a federal contract moves through — acquisition planning (FAR Subpart 7.1), market research (FAR Part 10), requirements definition (FAR Part 11 / 37.6), the set-aside decision and the rule of two (FAR Subpart 19.5 / 19.1405 / 19.1406), the synopsis and solicitation (FAR Part 5 / Parts 12–15), proposal preparation and submission (FAR 15.208), evaluation and source selection (FAR Subpart 15.3), award and debriefing (FAR Subpart 15.5 / Part 33), contract administration (FAR Part 42), and contract closeout (FAR Subpart 4.8) — each with an at-a-glance quick-facts card, a what-happens list, a key-activities table, an SDVOSB-specific angle, a what-to-do checklist, watch-outs, FAQPage, Article, Dataset, and BreadcrumbList structured data, primary-source FAR citations, and cross-links into the glossary, how-to guides, FAQ, solicitation types, source-selection methods, roles, forms, clauses, protest forums, and the set-aside eligibility, size-standard, win-probability, price-to-win, limitations-on-subcontracting, and subcontracting-goal calculators.