Contract types and vehicles
What is a task order in government contracting?
A task or delivery order is the instrument that buys actual work under an existing indefinite-delivery contract — services on a task order, supplies on a delivery order — using terms already fixed by the underlying contract.
Also written as: delivery order, task order vs delivery order, order under IDIQ.
FAR 2.101 defines a delivery order as an order for supplies placed against an established contract or with government sources. A task order is the services equivalent. Neither is a standalone contract: price structure, clauses and ceiling all come from the parent vehicle, and the order specifies scope, quantity, period and funding.
Where more than one contractor holds the parent vehicle, orders are competed among the holders. FAR 16.505 requires each awardee to be given a fair opportunity to be considered for each order above the micro-purchase threshold, subject to stated exceptions, and the vehicle's own solicitation has to have set out the procedures for doing that.
Order-level competition is faster and lighter than the original award — often a short statement of work and a few days to respond. That speed is the reason agencies favour vehicles, and the reason a firm on the vehicle can build a substantial book of business without ever running another full proposal.
What this means when you bid
The money is in the orders, not the vehicle. If you hold a vehicle and are not seeing orders, the problem is usually visibility with the ordering offices, not the contract.
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 2.101→
The FAR's own definitions section.
- FAR 16.505→
Ordering under indefinite-delivery contracts.
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.
Free tools for government contractors
Knowing the term is one thing. These free tools do something with a task order. No login, no credit card.
See the contracts this applies to
A free weekly digest of new government solicitations for your trade and your state, each summarized in plain English by Sam — so you find out about the work while there is still time to bid it.
We email you bid alerts — that's it. No spam, no selling your address. Unsubscribe anytime. Privacy Policy.
Free. No credit card. Unsubscribe any time.
Task order— common questions
- What is a task order in government contracting?
- A task or delivery order is the instrument that buys actual work under an existing indefinite-delivery contract — services on a task order, supplies on a delivery order — using terms already fixed by the underlying contract.
- Why does a task order matter when you are bidding?
- The money is in the orders, not the vehicle. If you hold a vehicle and are not seeing orders, the problem is usually visibility with the ordering offices, not the contract.
Related terms
- IDIQ — Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quantity contract
- Fair opportunity
- GWAC — Governmentwide Acquisition Contract
- BPA — Blanket Purchase Agreement