A formal procurement document inviting suppliers to submit a detailed proposal describing how they will meet the buyer’s requirements. An RFP typically sets out the scope, requirements, instructions, timetable, evaluation criteria, and contractual information, and proposals are evaluated on factors such as quality, technical approach, and price. The RFP is the standard term in U.S. and many commercial procurements and is broadly equivalent to an Invitation to Tender (ITT) in UK procurement.
Request for Proposal (RFP)
A formal document inviting detailed proposals on how suppliers will meet requirements, broadly equivalent to a UK Invitation to Tender.
Useful Links
Related articles
Thirty to forty questions. Sometimes a hundred. Capabilities, features, integrations, data handling, FAR and DFARS compliance, export controls, FedRAMP, CMMC, NIST. Almost every answer already exists somewhere in your organisation, written well, reviewed, and approved. The work is not thinking. The work is finding the good version of an answer you have written eleven times before, and rewriting it to fit the way this buyer asked the question.
An independent 3PAO auditor and VisibleThread founders explain CMMC, FedRAMP, and compliance deployment options for federal contractors.
Layer on Davis-Bacon wage provisions, DBE and MBE participation goals, Buy America requirements on federally funded infrastructure, and CUI handling on defense installations, and the document burden bears no resemblance to a commercial RFP. Most proposal software was built to answer questionnaires. AEC teams must dissect solicitations, demonstrate compliance, and carry commitments into delivery.
Related Glossary Terms
The official compilation of permanent U.S. federal laws, providing the statutory basis for many contracting requirements.
A global classification system used to categorize products and services for procurement and spend analysis.
A unique 12-character identifier assigned via SAM.gov to organizations doing business with the federal government, replacing the DUNS number.
See how VisibleThread transforms
t your RFP process.
t your RFP process.