What Is an Incumbent Contractor?
The incumbent is the company doing the work under the current contract. When the agency competes the work again, the incumbent usually bids to keep it.
Incumbent in plain English
Incumbents start a recompete with an edge: they know the work, the site and the customer, and they have past performance on the exact job.
You can usually find the incumbent, what it was paid and when its contract ends in award data on USAspending.gov. Knowing that tells you who you're up against and when to start preparing.
Incumbents can also be good teaming partners, especially if a recompete is set aside for a type of business they don't qualify for.
Related terms
- Recompete: A recompete is a new competition for work already under contract, held as the current contract ends. It's your chance to take work from the incumbent.
- Period of performance: The period of performance is the time during which a contractor must do the work under a contract, often a base period plus option periods.
- Option year: An option year is an extra year of work the government can add to a contract at its choice. Many service contracts have a base year plus option years.
- Past performance: Past performance is your record on previous contracts. Agencies use it to judge how likely you are to do a new job well.
Put it to work
- Expiring federal contracts by NAICS code
- How to research past awards on USAspending.gov
- Look up contractor award histories
Looking for another term? Browse the full glossary or the government contracting glossary guide.