Dictionary of Procurement Terms

Contracts awarded to more than one supplier for comparable supplies and services.

Denotes the imperative in contract clauses or specifications/statements of work. Also indicates a legal condition required to occur before a prescribed consequence will happen.

In contracts, the agreement of each party to all the terms and conditions in the same context and with the same meaning.

An action by all parties to a contract that ends the contract.

One of the elements of a contract. Both parties to an agreement are obligated, or none of the parties is obligated. Both parties must supply consideration to the other party. It is a sub-element of consideration. There may be more than two parties obligated in an agreement.

Minority and Woman’s Business Enterprises. See also: Historically Underutilized Business (HUB), Minority-Owned Business Enterprise (MBE), Small Disadvantaged Business, Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE), Economically Disadvantaged Individuals.

North American Free Trade Agreement.

A form of performance measurement and feedback that can be used as an alternative or supplement to other evaluation criteria. Narrative evaluations generally consist of several paragraphs of written text about an individual’s performance. This type of evaluation can be very subjective, depending on the use of words, phrases, and tone.

Founded in 1915, ISM is a nonprofit professional global supply management association. It provides certification, development, education, and research for the supply management and purchasing professions

A numbering system developed by NIGP to identify goods and services purchased by public purchasing entities. The system serves as the cornerstone of an automated purchasing function, helps suppliers identify the goods and services to bid, and enables different jurisdictions to share purchasing information.