GovCon glossary

The federal-contracting vocabulary WinLayer uses, in plain language.

Term	Meaning
`Solicitation`	An agency's formal request for vendors to submit a quote or proposal. Always open the official source notice to confirm the scope, eligibility rules, and deadline.
`Solicitation number`	The agency's tracking ID for a notice, such as SPE7MC26T221Z. It is a reference number, not necessarily the contract title.
`NAICS`	North American Industry Classification System — the six-digit code that says what kind of work a contract is. Your profile's NAICS codes are the strongest fit signal.
`Set-aside`	A competition restricted to a class of business (small business, 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, WOSB…). You can only bid if you hold the certification — or team with someone who does.
`8(a) / HUBZone / WOSB / SDVOSB`	SBA certification programs: disadvantaged businesses, historically-underutilized zones, women-owned, and service-disabled-veteran-owned small businesses.
`Sources sought`	A pre-solicitation notice testing whether capable vendors exist. Responding early can shape the competition — WinLayer flags these as early signals.
`RFI / RFP / RFQ`	Request for Information (market research), Request for Proposal (the real solicitation), Request for Quote (usually simpler, price-driven).
`IDIQ`	Indefinite Delivery / Indefinite Quantity — an umbrella contract; actual work is ordered through task orders. If you're not on the IDIQ, you can't compete for its orders.
`GWAC`	Governmentwide Acquisition Contract — an IDIQ every agency can buy through (SEWP, CIO-SP, Alliant, OASIS+…).
`BPA`	Blanket Purchase Agreement — a standing account against which agencies place repeat orders.
`GSA MAS`	The GSA Multiple Award Schedule ('the Schedule') — the government's catalog of pre-negotiated commercial offerings.
`Recompete`	The re-competition of an expiring contract. The window before expiry is where challengers can position — WinLayer ranks these by phase.
`Period of performance`	A contract's active date range. Its end date drives recompete timing.
`Incumbent`	The vendor currently holding the work. Statistically favored at recompete — but beatable with early positioning.
`PWin`	Probability of win. WinLayer's PWin is a preliminary, explainable pre-bid estimate — see the scoring model.
`Fit score`	How closely the available contract evidence matches your saved company profile. It is a screening aid, not a recommendation or guarantee.
`Pursue`	Add the contract to your active WinLayer pipeline and begin qualification or capture work. This does not submit a bid or contact the agency.
`Watch`	Save the contract for monitoring and more research without treating it as an active bid.
`Pass`	Record a no-bid decision and remove the contract from active consideration while keeping its source and decision history.
`CBJ / J-Book`	Congressional Budget Justification — the budget documents where agencies explain what they plan to fund. WinLayer mines these for predicted opportunities.
`OSDBU`	Office of Small & Disadvantaged Business Utilization — each agency's small-business office; their forecasts and events are early signals.
`CO / KO / CS`	Contracting Officer (the person with signing authority; 'KO' in DoD) and Contract Specialist — the people in WinLayer's contact intelligence.
`UEI / CAGE`	Unique Entity Identifier and CAGE code — the IDs a company registers under in SAM; WinLayer uses them to resolve and dedupe vendors.
`GAO protest`	A losing bidder's challenge to an award, decided by the Government Accountability Office. A sustained protest usually reopens the competition.
`Teaming / JV`	Partnering (subcontracting or joint venture) to combine capabilities or reach a set-aside neither firm can bid alone.
`FAR`	The Federal Acquisition Regulation — the rulebook governing all of the above.