What Is LPTA (Lowest Price Technically Acceptable)?
LPTA is a way of picking a winner: proposals are rated acceptable or not, and the lowest-priced acceptable one wins. Extra quality earns no credit.
LPTA (lowest price technically acceptable) in plain English
In an LPTA competition, the solicitation sets the minimum requirements. Each proposal is judged only on whether it meets them, and the award goes to the acceptable proposal with the lowest evaluated price. The FAR says tradeoffs are not permitted and that proposals are evaluated for acceptability but not ranked on the non-price factors.
That changes how you write. Show clearly that you meet every minimum, leave out features the requirement doesn't ask for, and price sharply. A stronger technical approach earns nothing.
Outside the Defense Department, the FAR allows LPTA only when conditions are met, such as the agency can describe its minimum requirements in clear performance standards and would get little or no value from a proposal that exceeds them (FAR 15.101-2). Defense buys follow separate rules.
The same section also tells non-Defense contracting officers to avoid LPTA, as far as practicable, for mostly knowledge-based work such as IT, cybersecurity, audit and engineering support services. The FAR overhaul text moves LPTA to 15.103-2, and it lists three approaches: tradeoff (15.103-1), LPTA, and highest technically rated with a fair and reasonable price (15.103-3), where the agency pays any fair price for the best quality.
Related terms
- RFP (request for proposals): A request for proposals (RFP) is the solicitation for a negotiated contract, where the agency can weigh price against your approach and past performance.
- RFQ (request for quotations): A request for quotations (RFQ) is a solicitation asking businesses for price quotes. It's common on smaller and simpler federal purchases.
- 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.
- Solicitation: A solicitation is an agency's official request for bids, quotes or proposals. It describes the work, the terms, how to respond and how offers are judged.
Put it to work
- How to read a government solicitation
- How to price a government contract
- Codified FAR 15.101-2, the LPTA process
Looking for another term? Browse the full glossary or the government contracting glossary guide.
Cyrus Hakimi writes and edits these definitions, using AI tools to help research and draft them, from the FAR, SBA rules and SAM.gov documentation. They're general information, not legal advice. Rules and thresholds change, so confirm the numbers on the official source before you act.