Federal Contracting Glossary
Evaluation Factors (Section M)
The published factors and subfactors an agency uses to evaluate proposals and select for award, set out in Section M of the solicitation.
Definition
Evaluation factors are the specific criteria an agency uses to evaluate proposals and make a source-selection decision, stated in Section M of the solicitation. They commonly include technical/management approach, past performance, and price or cost, often broken into subfactors, with the solicitation disclosing their relative importance — for example whether the non-price factors, combined, are more important than price.
Under FAR Part 15, the agency must evaluate proposals solely against the stated factors and may not apply unstated criteria. Section M also signals the basis for award — a best-value tradeoff (where the government may pay a premium for higher-rated non-price factors) or lowest-price technically acceptable (LPTA), where among technically acceptable offers the lowest price wins.
How this affects your proposal
Map your proposal section by section to the Section M factors and subfactors. Self-score each response against the stated relative importance; where you fall short of the highest rating, redraft before you submit.
Common questions about evaluation factors (section m)
Can an agency evaluate on factors not listed in Section M?
No. The agency must evaluate against the factors and subfactors disclosed in the solicitation. Applying unstated evaluation criteria is a frequent and successful basis for a GAO protest.
How are non-price factors rated?
Commonly with adjectival or color ratings (for example Outstanding/Good/Acceptable, or Blue/Green/Yellow) tied to identified strengths, weaknesses, significant weaknesses, and deficiencies — not a single numeric score.
Related terms
Writing a proposal that involves evaluation factors (section m)?
GovCon is the AI proposal-writing tool built specifically for federal offerors. Free plan, no card required.
Start free →See all federal contracting terms in the GovCon glossary, or read our long-form federal contracting guides.