Reference

Federal Solicitation & Notice Types Explained for SDVOSBs

Every federal opportunity arrives wearing a label — Sources Sought, RFI, Presolicitation, RFP, RFQ, IFB, Combined Synopsis/Solicitation — and each label tells you what the government wants, whether you can win work, and how to respond. These plain-English pages take one notice or solicitation type at a time — what it is, when you see it on SAM.gov, the key features, a how-to-respond checklist, and the SDVOSB-specific angle — each tied to the controlling FAR provision and cross-linked to the glossary, forms, clauses, contract types, calculators, and how-to guides.

Last updated Update cadence: Quarterly, plus on FAR amendment

Compiled from: Federal Acquisition Regulation (Title 48 CFR, Parts 5, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 19, 35) · SAM.gov Contract Opportunities notice-type taxonomy · FAR 19.1406 (SDVOSB sole source) and FAR 13.004 (legal effect of quotations)

Change log (1)
  1. LaunchedPublished the federal solicitation & notice types reference covering the notice and solicitation types an SDVOSB encounters on SAM.gov — the Sources Sought notice, RFI, presolicitation and special notices, the Request for Proposal (RFP), Request for Quotation (RFQ), Invitation for Bid (IFB), the combined synopsis/solicitation, the Broad Agency Announcement, the sole-source Justification, and the award notice — each with a key-features table, a how-to-respond checklist, common pitfalls, an SDVOSB-specific angle, FAQPage, Article, Dataset, and BreadcrumbList structured data, primary-source FAR citations, and cross-links into the glossary, forms reference, clauses, contract types, how-to guides, FAQ, and the set-aside eligibility, win-probability, and price-to-win calculators.

Market Research & Pre-Solicitation

Sources Sought — Sources Sought NoticeA market-research notice the government posts to find out which firms can do the work — your capability statement here is what can turn an open competition into an SDVOSB set-aside.
RFI — Request for InformationA pre-solicitation request for industry input — pricing, technical approaches, and capabilities — that the government uses for planning when it does not yet intend to award a contract.
Presol. — Presolicitation NoticeThe advance synopsis of a proposed contract action that the government must publicize before the solicitation, giving you time to prepare and to find teaming partners.
Special Notice — Special NoticeA catch-all notice the government uses for events and announcements that don't fit the other categories — industry days, draft solicitations, pre-bid conferences, and long-range forecasts.

Solicitations

RFP — Request for ProposalThe negotiated-procurement solicitation used when factors other than price matter — it requests full technical and price proposals the government evaluates for best value.
RFQ — Request for QuotationThe simplified-acquisition and GSA Schedule solicitation that asks vendors for price quotes — a quote is not an offer, so the government places an order the vendor then accepts.
IFB — Invitation for BidThe sealed-bidding solicitation used when award goes to the lowest responsive, responsible bidder on price alone — with public bid opening and no discussions or negotiations.
Combo — Combined Synopsis/SolicitationA streamlined commercial-item posting that merges the synopsis and the solicitation into one document — so the solicitation is live the moment the notice posts.

Specialized Methods

BAA — Broad Agency AnnouncementA solicitation method for basic and applied research that invites competing scientific and technical proposals against broad areas of interest rather than a fixed requirement.
J&A — Justification & Approval (Sole-Source)The document and public notice that justify awarding without full and open competition — including SDVOSB sole-source awards above the simplified thresholds.

Post-Solicitation

Award — Award NoticeThe public notice announcing who won a contract and at what value — a market-intelligence and debrief trigger for both winners and unsuccessful offerors.

Know the notice, then act on it

A Sources Sought is where set-asides are made; an RFP is where they are won. The eligibility checker tells you whether you can compete — and the weekly Brief turns certification into a stream of set-aside opportunities so you see each notice in time to respond.

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