RFI — Request for Information
Also known as: RFI
What It Is
A Request for Information (RFI) is a planning tool the government uses under FAR 15.201(e) to exchange information with industry before issuing a solicitation. The FAR is explicit: an RFI is used when the government does not presently intend to award a contract but wants to obtain price, delivery, market, or capability information for planning purposes. Responses are not offers and cannot be accepted to form a contract. Agencies use RFIs to refine requirements, shape acquisition strategy, estimate budget, and test whether a small-business or SDVOSB set-aside is viable. On SAM.gov an RFI is commonly posted under the 'Special Notice' or 'Sources Sought' notice type.
When You See It
- During acquisition planning, before a solicitation, when the agency is refining a requirement or its strategy.
- On SAM.gov as a 'Special Notice' or 'Sources Sought' posting that asks for technical, pricing, or capability input.
- When an agency wants industry feedback on a draft statement of work, draft solicitation, or proposed approach.
Key Features
| Feature | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Planning, not procurement | Per FAR 15.201(e), an RFI is used when the government does not presently intend to award a contract — it gathers information for planning only. |
| Responses are not offers | Information you submit in response to an RFI cannot be used to form a binding contract; it informs the government's strategy. |
| Shapes the requirement | RFIs let industry comment on draft scopes, NAICS selection, and approaches — input that can influence the eventual solicitation and set-aside decision. |
| Often paired with a draft solicitation | Agencies frequently release a draft SOW or draft RFP alongside an RFI to solicit specific, actionable feedback. |
What It Means for an SDVOSB
An RFI is your chance to influence a requirement while it is still being written. Use it to advocate for an SDVOSB set-aside, to flag a NAICS code that better fits the work (and your size status), and to demonstrate that capable SDVOSBs exist. Even though no contract is on the table, the relationships and visibility you build with the contracting office through a thoughtful RFI response carry into the eventual competition. Treat it like a Sources Sought response with added technical and pricing input — but never share proprietary pricing you wouldn't want disclosed.
How to Respond
- Answer the specific questions the RFI poses — technical approach, rough pricing, capabilities — rather than sending a generic capability statement.
- Recommend an SDVOSB set-aside and the NAICS code that best fits the work, with a brief rationale.
- Identify your SDVOSB status and relevant past performance so the agency counts you among capable sources.
- Mark any genuinely proprietary information appropriately, and avoid disclosing sensitive pricing you would not want competitors or the public to see.
Common Pitfalls
- Treating an RFI response as a proposal — it cannot win you a contract, and over-investing in it can waste B&P dollars.
- Submitting nothing, and so forfeiting the chance to shape the requirement and the set-aside decision.
- Disclosing proprietary or competition-sensitive information without marking it, since RFI responses may be broadly reviewed.
Run the Numbers
Frequently Asked
What is the difference between an RFI and a Sources Sought notice?
They overlap and are both pre-solicitation market research, but the emphasis differs. A Sources Sought notice primarily asks 'who can do this work?' and seeks capability statements to identify sources and test the rule of two. An RFI, under FAR 15.201(e), more broadly asks for information — pricing, technical approaches, market data — to help the government plan when it does not yet intend to award. In practice agencies use the terms loosely and post both as 'Sources Sought' or 'Special Notice' on SAM.gov.
Can I win a contract by responding to an RFI?
No. FAR 15.201(e) states an RFI is used when the government does not presently intend to award a contract, and responses are not offers that can be accepted. An RFI is a planning and market-research instrument. You win work by responding to the actual solicitation (an RFP, RFQ, or IFB) that may follow — but a strong RFI response can shape that solicitation in your favor.
Primary Sources
- FAR 15.201 — Exchanges with industry before receipt of proposals
- FAR Part 10 — Market Research
- SAM.gov — Contract Opportunities
Plain-English reference, not legal advice. How a notice or solicitation is structured, and which procedures apply, is set by the specific posting, and the FAR is periodically amended — always read the actual notice and solicitation in SAM.gov and confirm its terms with the contracting officer before relying on this.
Change log (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.