Sources Sought Notice
A Sources Sought Notice is a pre-solicitation announcement, typically posted to SAM.gov, asking companies to identify their interest and capability to perform a prospective requirement — primarily used as market research to shape competition and set-aside decisions.
Sources sought notices are how agencies take the market's temperature before committing to an acquisition strategy. Responses tell the buying office whether enough capable small businesses exist to justify a set-aside (the "Rule of Two" analysis), whether a commercial solution exists, and how industry would structure the work.
For industry, responding is free intelligence-gathering and influence: capability statements shape how the requirement is scoped and competed. For the government, documented responses become the backbone of the market research report and any subsequent set-aside or sole-source decision.
Regulatory Reference
FAR Part 10; FAR 5.205
RFO Status
Parts 5 and 10 both carry FAR Overhaul model deviations, and the June 2026 proposed rule (91 FR 37636) moves market research from Part 10 into subpart 7.2 as part of acquisition planning; verify section numbers before citing.
Category
Processes & Methods
How AcqBot Helps
AcqBot drafts and publishes sources sought notices, ingests the responses, and rolls them directly into the market research report and set-aside analysis — no re-keying between steps.
Related glossary entries
Request for Information (RFI)
A Request for Information (RFI) is a formal market research instrument used to gather industry input on capabilities, approaches, pricing structures, or draft requirements when the government is not yet ready to solicit — responses are voluntary and non-binding.
Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA)
Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) is a source selection process that awards to the lowest-priced offeror whose proposal meets minimum acceptability standards — no credit is given for exceeding requirements, and tradeoffs between price and quality are not permitted.
Best-Value Tradeoff
The best-value tradeoff process permits award to other than the lowest-priced or highest-rated offeror when the source selection authority documents that the superior proposal's benefits are worth its price premium, or that a cheaper proposal's savings outweigh its weaknesses.
Procurement Administrative Lead Time (PALT)
Procurement Administrative Lead Time (PALT) measures the time from a defined start point — commonly a validated requirement or issued solicitation — to contract award. It is the standard metric for acquisition process speed and a primary target of federal procurement reform.