Skip to content

Term

Best value

An evaluation method that weighs technical quality and past performance alongside price, not price alone.

An evaluation approach where the agency can pay more for a proposal it judges technically stronger, weighing factors like technical approach and past performance against price rather than picking the cheapest one that passes. Section M spells out how much each factor is worth, and that weighting tells you where to spend your writing effort. Best value gives a strong technical story real room to beat a lower price, which LPTA does not allow.

In a sentence

"Award will be made to the offeror whose proposal represents the best value, considering technical merit, past performance, and price." A higher price can still win here if the technical write-up earns its keep, so read the factor weights before deciding where to spend your effort.

Also called

  • best value tradeoff
  • tradeoff evaluation
  • technical and price tradeoff
Full explainer: Sections L and M are the whole test

Terms like this show up in every federal notice. We translate them in place, on every notice in your trade.