Federal contracting glossary

Official Federal Terms

8(a)

A 9-year SBA development program for socially and economically disadvantaged business owners. Participants can receive sole-source awards (no competition) up to $4.5M for services — one of the most powerful tools for small business growth in federal contracting.

Combined Synopsis/Solicitation

A single SAM.gov posting that combines the public notice and the formal bid request. Common for smaller, simpler contracts — it means you can prepare and submit your offer immediately on publication, rather than waiting for a separate solicitation to drop.

NAICS code

A 6-digit North American Industry Classification System code. The federal government uses it to categorize every contract by industry. Your lane is built around one primary NAICS code — for example, 561720 = Janitorial Services, 561730 = Grounds Maintenance.

Option year

An extension period the government can exercise — or decline — at the end of the base contract year. Most federal service contracts are structured as 1 base year + 4 option years (written as 1+4). The government is not obligated to exercise them.

Period of performance

The timeframe during which a contractor is authorized to perform the work and the government is obligated to pay. Commonly structured as one base year plus option years. After the period ends, the contract either closes or goes out for rebid (a recompete).

Presolicitation

An early notice on SAM.gov announcing that a contract is coming — before the formal solicitation is posted. Not a bid opportunity itself. Useful for pipeline planning: it gives you time to research the requirement, identify the contracting officer, and position before competition opens.

Recompete

A contract that is coming up for rebid at the end of its current period of performance. The incumbent (the firm currently holding the contract) has an information advantage but must still compete. Recompetes are high-priority opportunities — the scope and pricing are known quantities.

SAM.gov

The System for Award Management — the federal government's official contract opportunity database, maintained by the General Services Administration. Every solicitation above the micro-purchase threshold ($10,000) must be posted here. Free to use and search.

SDVOSB

Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business. A set-aside category for firms majority-owned and controlled by a veteran with a service-connected disability. Verified through the VA's Center for Verification and Evaluation (CVE) — active verification is required to compete in SDVOSB set-aside contracts.

Set-aside

A federal contract reserved exclusively for firms that hold a specific small business certification. Large businesses cannot compete. Set-asides dramatically reduce the competition pool — instead of bidding against hundreds of firms, you may be competing against a handful of certified businesses in your trade.

Sole-source award

A contract awarded to one firm without competition. Permitted only under specific circumstances defined in the FAR — most commonly for 8(a) participants below the dollar threshold ($4.5M for services), urgent requirements, or when only one firm can perform the work.

Solicitation

The formal federal document that officially requests bids or proposals. Once a solicitation is posted on SAM.gov, contractors can submit offers by the response deadline. The solicitation contains the statement of work, evaluation criteria, contract terms, and instructions for submitting a proposal.

Sources Sought

A market research notice asking whether qualified small businesses exist for a potential upcoming contract. Not a solicitation — responding does not commit you to anything and does not constitute a bid. Responding puts your firm on the contracting officer's radar before the competition opens.

UEI (Unique Entity Identifier)

A 12-character alphanumeric ID assigned by SAM.gov to every business that registers. Required to bid on any federal contract. Replaced DUNS numbers in April 2022. If your firm is registered in SAM.gov, you already have one — find it in your SAM.gov entity registration.

How FedLane Uses Them

FedLane-specific terms you'll see in your digest and scoring explanations.

Digest

The email FedLane sends after scanning your lane. Free sends a Monday coverage receipt even when no notice qualifies; Scout sends weekday decision alerts when activity clears the scoring bar. Each matched item includes a plain-English summary, key dates, and a reason why it matters for your firm.

Lane

Your specific set-aside + NAICS combination — the slice of the federal market where your firm has the best competitive position. Example: SDVOSB + NAICS 561720 is one lane. Contractors who pick a lane and compete consistently in it outbid those who chase everything.

Lane Fit (0–100%)

FedLane's measure of how well a notice matches your declared lane. Grounding-strict: every score requires verbatim citations from the notice text — the AI cannot infer or guess. A notice with thin information gets a conservative score, not a confident one.

Scout Intelligence (Bid / Consider / Pass)

A firm-aware recommendation available to Scout subscribers. Unlike Lane Fit (which evaluates a notice against the lane in general), Scout Intelligence evaluates each notice against your specific firm — your certifications, NAICS codes, typical contract value, and geography. Returns a Bid / Consider / Pass recommendation with a 2–3 sentence rationale.

Urgency Band

A deadline label — Today, This Week, This Month, or Later — that tells you how much time you have to respond. Never affects Lane Fit. A 40% Lane Fit contract due tomorrow does not outrank an 85% Lane Fit contract with three weeks left. Ranking is always fit-first.