Government contracting guides

Short, plain answers to the questions people ask before they bid, each linked to the data that answers the next one.

• How to find government contracts · Where federal, state and local governments post contract opportunities, how to search them, and how to use past awards to find the buyers for what you sell.
• What is a small business set-aside? · How federal small-business set-asides work: the rule of two, total and partial set-asides, and the 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB and WOSB programs.
• How to read a SAM.gov contract notice · The notice types on SAM.gov (sources sought, presolicitation, solicitation, award), the fields that matter, and where to look in a solicitation before deciding to bid.
• How to register in SAM.gov · What SAM.gov registration is, what you need before you start, the Unique Entity ID and CAGE code, and keeping the registration active.
• NAICS codes and small-business size standards · What NAICS codes are, how they decide whether you count as small for a federal contract, and how to pick the codes for your business.
• Federal contract types, explained · Firm-fixed-price, cost-reimbursement and time-and-materials contracts, IDIQs, BPAs, GSA Schedules and GWACs: what each means for the contractor.

General information, not legal advice; the solicitation and the FAR govern each purchase.