Not-to-Exceed
A ceiling amount that a contract, order, or line item can't go over without a formal modification. NTE amounts show up most often in undefinitized contract actions, where work starts before final pricing is negotiated, and on time-and-materials or labor-hour work, where the contractor bills actual hours but total cost stays capped. Contractors need to track spend against the NTE closely, since costs incurred above it may not be reimbursed.
Related terms
Alliant
Alliant is GSA's governmentwide, multiple-award IDIQ contract vehicle for large-scale IT services and solutions, open to any federal agency. Now in its third generation (Alliant 3), it lets agencies skip a full open competition and issue task orders directly to a pre-vetted pool of contractors for systems engineering, cloud, cybersecurity, and other IT work.
Basic Ordering Agreement
BOAA Basic Ordering Agreement is a written understanding between an agency and a contractor that pre-negotiates terms, pricing methods, and clauses for future orders, but is not itself a contract and obligates no funds. It's used when the government expects recurring needs for supplies or services but can't yet pin down exact items, quantities, or delivery dates.
Blanket Purchase Agreement
BPAA Blanket Purchase Agreement is a simplified 'charge account' arrangement, often set up against a GSA Schedule contract, that lets an agency place repeated orders with a pre-qualified vendor without renegotiating terms each time. Like a BOA, it isn't a contract and creates no obligation until an actual order is placed against it.
Commercial Off-The-Shelf
COTSCommercial Off-The-Shelf describes a commercial product sold in substantial quantities in the open market and offered to the government in the same unmodified form ordinary buyers get. COTS items receive lighter-touch treatment under the FAR's commercial item rules, since the government is buying something already proven and priced by the marketplace rather than a custom build.
Contract Data Requirements List
CDRLA Contract Data Requirements List is the contract exhibit, built on DD Form 1423, that spells out every data deliverable a contractor owes the government under a defense contract (reports, drawings, manuals, and the like), along with format, frequency, and distribution instructions. Each CDRL line item points to a Data Item Description defining exactly what that deliverable must contain.
