Is It a Recompete? How to Find the Incumbent and Award Value
Short answer: Many facilities notices in SDVOSB and 8(a) lanes replace a contract someone already holds. To find out, look for a current contract number in the notice, then search it, or the same agency and place of performance, on USASpending.gov. The award page shows the incumbent, the amount obligated so far, and the start, current end and potential end dates. That tells you who you are bidding against and roughly what the work is worth.
How can you tell a notice is a recompete?
- The notice or its attachments name a current or previous contract number.
- The text says "follow-on," "incumbent," or "continuation of services."
- The scope describes a building or grounds that clearly have been cleaned or mowed for years.
- The Q&A answers "Who is the incumbent?" Contracting officers often reply with the contract number, so ask when the notice allows questions.
Service contracts usually run a base year plus option years, and the total generally cannot exceed five years (FAR 17.204). So most janitorial and grounds work comes back to market on a regular cycle.
How do you find the incumbent on USASpending.gov?
- If you have the contract number, paste it into the USASpending.gov search bar.
- If you do not, open Advanced Search. Filter Award Type to Contracts, then add the agency, the place of performance (state or ZIP), and the NAICS code from the notice.
- Sort by end date and look for awards ending within a few months of the new notice's expected start.
- Open the award. The summary shows the recipient, the awarding office, the obligated amount and the period of performance.
What does the award page tell you?
| Field | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Recipient | Who holds the work now, and through their profile, what else they hold |
| Obligated amount | What has been funded so far, including modifications |
| Potential award amount | The value if every option is exercised |
| Current end date | When the funded period ends |
| Potential end date | When the last option would end |
| Set-aside type | Whether the last award was set aside, and for whom |
Divide the obligated amount by the years elapsed to get a rough annual run rate. Treat it as a range, not a price: modifications, added buildings and wage increases all move it.
What should you do with it?
- Check scale. If the run rate is several times your largest contract, it may be a teaming play, not a prime bid.
- Look up the incumbent. A firm with ten similar awards at the same agency is hard to unseat on past performance alone. A firm that has grown past the size standard may not be eligible to bid again.
- Note the set-aside history. Work set aside for SDVOSBs last time is more likely to be set aside again, but the market research decides it fresh each time (how to respond to a sources sought notice).
USASpending data lags the award by days to weeks, and descriptions are short. It is still the fastest public way to see who you are up against. For how recompetes fit a focused pipeline, see what a federal contracting lane is.
Watch your lane automatically
Every weekday, a Will Bid, Consider, or Pass call on each set-aside in your lane, with the reason, and a Bid Brief when you say go. Early access, by invite.
General information only, not legal, accounting or contracting advice. Rules, thresholds, wage rates and dates change. Verify every figure and requirement against the official source (acquisition.gov, SAM.gov, SBA.gov, DOL.gov) or with the contracting officer before you rely on it. FedLane.us is not responsible for errors, omissions or decisions made on the basis of this article.