Term
Solicitation
The official ask for bids or proposals, with the rules of the competition written inside.
The umbrella word for the document that opens a competition. It carries the requirements, the deadline, the submission instructions, and the evaluation rules. Everything the agency is allowed to judge you on is supposed to be in there, which is why reading it closely beats reading it fast.
In a sentence
"See the attached solicitation for full submission instructions." The attachment is the contract exam, and the instructions section is the part that disqualifies people.
Also called
- RFP
- RFQ
- IFB
- combined synopsis
Terms like this show up in every federal notice. We translate them in place, on every notice in your trade.