Glossary

How to Speak SBIR: A Glossary of Phase III, DoD, and Acquisition Terms

DEC, J&A, IDIQ, OTA, FAR 6.302-5, DFARS 252.227-7018. The SBIR transition vocabulary is dense and acronym-heavy. This glossary defines the 30+ terms you'll meet in any Phase III conversation.

The short answer

SBIR Phase III conversations use vocabulary from the FAR, the DFARS, the SBIR statute, and agency guidebooks. The 30+ terms below are the ones that come up in almost every Phase III transition.

From the inside — Nicole Tripputi

Half the misunderstandings I watched in Phase III meetings were vocabulary problems disguised as policy disagreements. The CO would say "we'll need a J&A" and the contractor would hear "your award is going to be slow." Same room, different decade of jargon. Getting the terms right early changes the speed of every later conversation.

SBIR transition work is conducted in a dialect. It is a mix of acquisition regulation acronyms, statute citations, agency-specific terms, and contracting shorthand that mostly nobody bothers to define. Reading any Phase III guidebook or sitting in on a contracting officer's review meeting cold is a frustrating experience. This glossary covers the 30+ terms you'll encounter most often, with plain-English definitions and pointers to where each one lives in the regulation.

Phase / award terms

SBIR: Small Business Innovation Research. Federal R&D program that funds small businesses through three phases.
STTR: Small Business Technology Transfer. SBIR's sibling program that requires a partnership with a nonprofit research institution.
Phase I: Feasibility study. Six to twelve months. Small dollar award.
Phase II: Full R&D and prototyping. Up to two years. Dollar-capped per agency.
Phase III: Commercialization. Sole-source authority. No dollar cap. No time limit. Funded by non-SBIR dollars.
DEC statement: "Derives from, extends, or completes." The contract-file document showing the proposed Phase III work qualifies under the SBIR statute.

Contracting authorities and documents

FAR: Federal Acquisition Regulation. The primary rulebook for all federal contracting.
DFARS: Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement. DoD's overlay on the FAR.
FAR 6.302-5: Sole-source authority for awards "authorized or required by statute" — the FAR provision that recognizes the SBIR statutory authority.
15 U.S.C. § 638(r): The SBIR statute provision authorizing sole-source Phase III awards.
DFARS 252.227-7018: The DoD clause that governs SBIR/STTR data rights. 20-year protection.
J&A: Justification & Approval. Required for FAR Part 6 sole-source awards. Not required for Phase III SBIR.
D&F: Determination & Findings. A short memo by the contracting officer documenting the basis for a decision. Used for Phase III in place of a J&A.
SOO / SOW / PWS: Statement of Objectives / Statement of Work / Performance Work Statement. Three formats for describing what the contract requires.
CLIN: Contract Line Item Number. The numbered line on a contract for each deliverable or service.

Contract vehicles and procurement mechanisms

IDIQ: Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity. A contract umbrella under which task orders are issued.
BOA / BPA: Basic Ordering Agreement / Blanket Purchase Agreement. Pre-negotiated ordering structures.
OTA: Other Transaction Authority. A non-FAR-based agreement type used by DoD for prototyping and follow-on production. Different rules from SBIR Phase III.
FFP / CPFF / T&M: Firm Fixed Price / Cost Plus Fixed Fee / Time and Materials. Three of the most common contract pricing types.
GSA Schedule: A pre-negotiated multi-award contract vehicle managed by the General Services Administration.

Funding, appropriations, and budget

RDT&E: Research, Development, Test & Evaluation. The DoD appropriation category that funds R&D activity.
O&M: Operations & Maintenance. The appropriation category that funds day-to-day operational spending. A common source of Phase III funding.
Color of money: Slang for the type of appropriation (RDT&E, O&M, procurement). Different colors fund different types of work and have different obligation windows.
CR / Continuing Resolution: Temporary funding that keeps the government running when a new appropriations bill isn't passed on time. New starts are usually restricted.
FY: Fiscal Year. The federal fiscal year runs October 1 through September 30. Most appropriations expire at year-end.

People, roles, and shorthand

CO / KO: Contracting Officer. The warranted federal employee with authority to sign contracts.
COR: Contracting Officer's Representative. The CO's designated technical lead on a contract.
PM: Program Manager. The official responsible for the program receiving the deliverable.
DCAA: Defense Contract Audit Agency. Audits cost-type contracts.
DCMA: Defense Contract Management Agency. Administers contracts post-award.

Other terms worth knowing

Valley of death: The funding gap between the end of Phase II and the start of Phase III. Most SBIR-funded technologies do not cross it.
TRL: Technology Readiness Level. NASA-originated 1–9 scale describing how mature a technology is.
CTAS / TAS: Commercialization (Technology) Achievement Score. SBA's measure of an awardee's commercialization track record.
SAM.gov: System for Award Management. The federal site for entity registration and contract opportunity posting.
UEI: Unique Entity Identifier. The 12-character ID assigned in SAM.gov. Replaced the DUNS number in 2022.
SBIR/STTR Policy Directive: The SBA-issued document that operationalizes the SBIR statute. Every agency's SBIR program has to comply with it.

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Frequently Asked

Where do most SBIR acronyms come from?

Most SBIR transition vocabulary is borrowed from FAR/DFARS (the federal acquisition regulations), the SBIR statute, and agency-specific guidebooks (DoD, Navy, Air Force, NASA). Understanding the regulatory source helps decode what each term means in context.

What is the most commonly misunderstood SBIR term?

DEC — for derives, extends, or completes. Most awardees treat it as a phrase rather than a defined regulatory test. It is the test that determines whether proposed Phase III work qualifies for sole-source SBIR authority.

What's the difference between FAR and DFARS?

The FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulation) governs all federal contracting. The DFARS (Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement) is the DoD-specific layer on top. SBIR data rights live primarily in DFARS 252.227-7018 for DoD work.

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