Dictionary of Procurement Terms

Funds in a bank account that can be withdrawn at any time without notice or penalty (e.g., checking account).

A measure of the change in the quantity of a good purchased or demanded in relation to a change in its price.

The amount of inventory required for a given item.

All activities and costs for the removal from a construction site of supplies, equipment, and personnel once work is completed. See also: Mobilization.

A fee charged by a carrier against a consignee, consignor, or other responsible party to compensate for the detention of the carrier's equipment in excess of allowable free time for loading, unloading, reconsigning, or stopping in transit. The term is also used by suppliers of material delivered in a variety of returnable containers, such as gas cylinders, rail containers, and equipment.

1. An accounting term that denotes a loss or decrease in acquired value over a specified time period. Usually applies to the loss of value of a fixed asset (e.g., capital equipment). 2. The systematic transfer of the cost of a capital expenditure (an asset on the balance sheet) to an expense (on the income statement). 3. To diminish in price or value. 4. The consumption of capital in the production process. 5. The wearing out of plant and equipment over a specified time period.

Information, such as charts, illustrations, brochures, and technical data, furnished by an offeror on request as part of an offer to describe the items offered. The information describes the characteristics or construction of a product or explains its operation to determine the acceptability of the item.

A condition that prevents a product from being useful, the correction of which would require a design change.

A type of specification that establishes the characteristics an item must possess, including details indicating how it is to be manufactured. A design specification may include engineering plans or drawings and blueprints. It states to the contractor in prescriptive terms what the contractor must provide to the buyer. See also: Performance Specification.

The traditional project delivery method, which customarily involves three sequential project phases: design, procurement, and construction, and two distinct contracts for the design and construction (build) phases.