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.
How the price is set
- Firm-fixed-price (FFP): one price for the work; the contractor keeps savings and absorbs overruns. The most common type.
- Cost-reimbursement (cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-plus-award-fee, cost-plus-incentive-fee): the government pays allowable costs plus a fee, used when the work can't be priced precisely, such as research and development. It needs an adequate accounting system.
- Time-and-materials and labor-hour: hourly rates for labor categories, plus materials at cost; used when the amount of work can't be known in advance.
How the work is ordered
- Definitive contract: a single contract for defined work.
- IDIQ (indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity): a ceiling and a period; the work is bought later through task or delivery orders, often competed only among the IDIQ's holders.
- GSA Multiple Award Schedule: long-term contracts with pre-negotiated prices that any agency can order from.
- GWAC (government-wide acquisition contract): an IDIQ for IT that any agency can use, such as those run by GSA and NASA SEWP.
- BPA (blanket purchase agreement): a simplified way to fill repeated needs, often set up under a GSA Schedule.
Why it matters when you look at awards
An IDIQ's or BPA's ceiling is the most that could be ordered, not money spent; the orders under it are the real spending. That's why SpendQuery shows vehicles, orders and definitive contracts separately when it reports what similar work was worth.
On SpendQuery
Questions people ask
What is an IDIQ contract?
An indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract: it sets a ceiling and a period, and the agency buys the actual work later through task or delivery orders.
What is a GSA Schedule?
The GSA Multiple Award Schedule: long-term government-wide contracts with pre-negotiated prices that any federal agency can order from.
More guides
Updated 2026-10-05. General information, not legal advice; the solicitation and the FAR govern each purchase.