Special Notice — Special Notice
Also known as: Industry day notice, pre-bid notice
What It Is
A Special Notice is the flexible, catch-all posting the government uses under FAR 5.205 for announcements that do not fit the standard presolicitation/solicitation/award categories. It covers things like industry days and pre-proposal conferences, business fairs, long-range acquisition forecasts, requests to comment on a draft solicitation, notices of public meetings, and other procurement-adjacent information. Special Notices are not solicitations and carry no proposal due date, but they are an important channel for the engagement opportunities — industry days, draft-RFP comment periods, one-on-one sessions — where relationships with a buying office are built and requirements are shaped.
When You See It
- When an agency announces an industry day, pre-proposal conference, or vendor outreach event.
- On SAM.gov under the 'Special Notice' notice type, often used for RFIs, draft solicitations, and long-range forecasts.
- For long-range procurement estimates and other planning information that helps industry anticipate future buys.
Key Features
| Feature | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Catch-all category | FAR 5.205 lets agencies post Special Notices for events and information — industry days, fairs, forecasts, draft solicitations — that don't fit the other notice types. |
| Engagement opportunities | Many Special Notices announce industry days and pre-proposal conferences where you can meet the contracting office and ask questions before a solicitation. |
| Often carries RFIs and draft RFPs | Agencies frequently use the Special Notice type to release RFIs, draft statements of work, and draft solicitations for comment. |
| No proposal due | A Special Notice is informational or event-driven; it is not a solicitation and does not request a binding offer. |
What It Means for an SDVOSB
Special Notices are where relationships get built. Industry days and pre-proposal conferences let you meet the contracting officer and small-business specialist, ask the questions that reveal whether a set-aside is on the table, and put a face to your SDVOSB. For a small firm with limited B&P budget, showing up to these events is one of the cheapest, highest-return capture activities available — and the small-business specialist you meet there is the person who advocates internally for SDVOSB set-asides.
How to Respond
- Register for and attend industry days and pre-proposal conferences the notice announces — they are prime capture opportunities.
- Introduce your firm to the contracting officer and the agency's small-business specialist, and ask whether a set-aside is being considered.
- If the notice carries a draft solicitation or RFI, submit substantive comments by the deadline.
- Track long-range forecast notices to build a pipeline of upcoming SDVOSB-eligible requirements.
Common Pitfalls
- Skipping industry days as 'just talk' — they are where set-aside decisions are influenced and relationships formed.
- Assuming a Special Notice is a solicitation and looking for a proposal due date that isn't there.
- Failing to follow up after an event, so the contracting office never connects your SDVOSB to the requirement.
Frequently Asked
What is a Special Notice on SAM.gov used for?
A Special Notice is a catch-all posting under FAR 5.205 for procurement-related announcements that don't fit the presolicitation, solicitation, or award categories — industry days, pre-proposal conferences, business fairs, long-range acquisition forecasts, requests for comment on draft solicitations, and similar information. It is not a solicitation; you don't submit a proposal in response, but it often announces the engagement opportunities where you shape a requirement.
Should an SDVOSB attend an industry day announced by a Special Notice?
Usually yes. Industry days and pre-proposal conferences are among the highest-return, lowest-cost capture activities for a small business: you meet the contracting officer and the agency's small-business specialist, learn whether an SDVOSB set-aside is under consideration, and can ask the questions that inform your bid/no-bid decision. The relationships built there often carry into the eventual competition.
Primary Sources
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.