Procurement Glossary. In plain language.
Procurement has its own vocabulary, and most of it is defined nowhere on the documents that use it. These are the terms that come up on website projects, with what each one actually means for the work.
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The main three
RFI, RFQ and RFP
RFI — Request for Information. You are gathering information, not buying yet. Used to learn what is possible, what it roughly costs, and who is in the market. An RFI response should not be priced like a bid, and a vendor treating it as one has misread it.
RFQ — Request for Quotation. You know exactly what you want and are asking for a price. Appropriate when the scope is genuinely defined — a known number of pages on a known platform. On a website project, an RFQ issued for work that is not actually specified produces prices that all mean different things.
RFP — Request for Proposal. You are describing a problem and asking vendors to propose an approach as well as a price. This is the right instrument for most website projects, because the approach is the thing you are actually buying. See our RFP checklist.
IFB — Invitation for Bid. A sealed-bid process, usually awarded on price alone to the lowest responsive bidder. Common in construction, poorly suited to website work, where the cheapest bid is frequently the one that understood the scope least.
Process terms
What comes up during the procurement
Addendum
An official amendment to the solicitation after release — a changed deadline, a clarified requirement, or answers to submitted questions. Addenda are binding, and proposals usually have to acknowledge each one.
Q&A period
A window in which vendors submit written questions, answered publicly to all bidders. The cheapest quality improvement available to a buyer, because most questions reveal genuine ambiguity.
Scoring rubric
The criteria and weights used to evaluate proposals. Publishing it produces more responsive proposals; withholding it mostly produces guesswork.
Responsive and responsible
"Responsive" means the proposal followed the instructions. "Responsible" means the vendor is capable of performing. A proposal can be excellent and still be rejected as non-responsive on a format rule.
BAFO
Best and Final Offer — a final round where shortlisted vendors revise pricing or scope. Sometimes a genuine negotiation, sometimes a request to cut price without cutting scope, which is worth naming when it happens.
Protest
A formal challenge to the conduct or outcome of a procurement. Clear rubrics, published weights and documented scoring are the practical defence against one.
Contract terms
What comes up at award
Sole source
Awarding without competition because only one vendor can supply the requirement. It usually requires written justification, and "we like working with them" is not one.
Cooperative purchasing
Buying through a contract another public entity already competed. Legitimate and often much faster than running your own procurement.
Statement of work
The contractual description of what will be delivered. This is where the line items from the proposal should end up — if the SOW is vaguer than the proposal, the proposal is not what you bought.
Retainage
Withholding a percentage of payment until acceptance. On website projects, tying final payment to accepted handover documentation is a more useful lever than tying it to launch.
Period of performance
The window during which the work must be delivered. Matters most on grant-funded work, where the money expires with the period.
Option years
Pre-agreed extensions, commonly used for maintenance and support after a build. Worth pricing in the original proposal so the rate is not negotiated from a weak position later.
Questions
Which instrument should we use?
We know we need a new website but not what it should do. RFI or RFP?
Can we just get three quotes?
Does a low bid have to win?
Project Managers who will work with you on your project!
Wondering what this costs? Every service has published pricing — no discovery call required to see it.
View pricingNot sure which instrument fits your project?
Describe what you are trying to buy and we will tell you which route usually fits — including when a full RFP is more process than the project warrants.
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