How the government asks
What is an RFI in government contracting?
Request for Information
An RFI is market research: the government is asking industry what is available and what it would take, and FAR 15.201(e) says an RFI is used when the government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of the responses.
Also written as: request for information, sources sought, market research notice.
Buyers publish RFIs, and the closely related sources-sought notice, to work out whether a requirement can be met commercially, how it should be structured, and — crucially for small firms — whether enough capable small businesses exist to justify setting the work aside. FAR 15.201(e) states plainly that responses to an RFI are not offers and cannot be accepted to form a contract.
Answering one is nevertheless the highest-leverage unpaid hour in federal contracting. The requirement has not been written yet. The NAICS code has not been chosen. The decision to set the work aside for small business has not been made. Every one of those is influenced by who responds and what they say they can do.
A response that says only "we are interested" does nothing. A response that names the NAICS code you perform under, states your certifications, describes comparable work with specifics, and answers the buyer's actual questions is a data point the contracting officer can cite in a set-aside decision.
What this means when you bid
The rule of two is decided partly by who answers the sources-sought notice. Responding is how a small business argues for a set-aside before the solicitation exists.
RFI compared with the terms it gets confused with
RFI vs RFP
An RFI gathers information and awards nothing; an RFP solicits proposals the government intends to award from.
What RFPmeans →RFI vs Rule of two
RFI and sources-sought responses are the evidence a contracting officer uses to decide whether two or more capable small businesses exist — which is the rule-of-two test.
What Rule of twomeans →Where this definition comes from
Federal contracting is one of the few fields where the authoritative answer is free, public and one click away. These are the sources this page is built from — go and read them.
- FAR 15.201→
Exchanges with industry before receipt of proposals.
- FAR 10.001→
Market research policy.
This page explains a term in plain English and cites the authority it comes from. It is not legal advice, and the regulation governs where this page and the regulation differ.
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RFI— common questions
- What is an RFI in government contracting?
- An RFI is market research: the government is asking industry what is available and what it would take, and FAR 15.201(e) says an RFI is used when the government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of the responses.
- What is the difference between RFI and RFP?
- An RFI gathers information and awards nothing; an RFP solicits proposals the government intends to award from.
- What is the difference between RFI and Rule of two?
- RFI and sources-sought responses are the evidence a contracting officer uses to decide whether two or more capable small businesses exist — which is the rule-of-two test.
- Why does an RFI matter when you are bidding?
- The rule of two is decided partly by who answers the sources-sought notice. Responding is how a small business argues for a set-aside before the solicitation exists.
Related terms
- RFP — Request for Proposal
- Rule of two
- Set-aside
- Capability statement
- NAICS code — North American Industry Classification System code