GovCon Glossary: Evaluation Terms

The government-wide, web-based system contracting officers use to record formal, periodic assessments of a contractor's performance (cost control, schedule, quality, and management) on individual contracts. CPARS reports become the official past performance record that other agencies typically pull when evaluating that contractor's proposals on future source selections.

Technical evaluation of a design, system, or proposed approach against stated requirements, using calculations, modeling, simulation, or test data to confirm feasibility, performance, and risk. In a proposal, engineering analysis is the evidence that substantiates technical claims rather than simply asserting them.

A source-selection evaluation factor that examines how well an offeror executed relevant prior contracts (quality, schedule, cost control, and management effectiveness), typically documented through CPARS records, references, and questionnaires. In many best-value competitions it carries weight comparable to technical approach or price.

The government team that evaluates offerors' past performance during a source selection. The PRAG reviews the references and questionnaires in the proposal along with records in CPARS and other sources, judges how relevant and recent each effort is, and assigns a performance confidence rating. Because the PRAG often finds information the offeror didn't submit, proposal teams should know what their CPARS records say before choosing which contracts to cite.

A pricing analysis that estimates what price is needed to win a specific competitive procurement (based on competitor cost structures, historical awards, and the customer's budget), then works backward into a bid strategy and cost model that hits that price while staying profitable. PTW produces a pricing strategy, not a likelihood of winning.

A pursuit team's estimated percentage likelihood of winning a specific competitive opportunity, based on factors like incumbency, customer relationships, technical solution strength, teaming, and competitive positioning. PWin is reassessed at bid/no-bid gates to guide resourcing decisions, and is distinct from price-to-win, which sets a bid price rather than measuring how likely that bid is to win.

A group of senior government officials who review the evaluation team's findings on a major procurement and give the Source Selection Authority a comparative analysis and, if asked, an award recommendation. The SSAC sits between the Source Selection Evaluation Board, which scores the proposals, and the SSA, who makes the final decision. It's typically used on large or complex competitions, especially within DoD, where a second, senior look at the tradeoffs is warranted.

The complete set of technical documentation (drawings, specifications, models, parts lists, and standards) that fully describes an item's design well enough to build, test, maintain, or re-procure it. The completeness of a TDP and the data rights attached to it directly shape whether the government can compete future production or sustainment work.

A working-level meeting between government and contractor technical staff held to exchange information and resolve open technical issues or design questions outside the formal milestone review structure. TIRs are typically informal and frequent, focused on solving specific problems rather than making contractual or program-level decisions.