How common are brand name locks in government bids?
15.8% of open government solicitations (7,116 of 45,051 analyzed) specify a brand name with no or-equal clause, locking the bid to one manufacturer's product.
Source: The Wired Contract Report, BidSparq
Data as of: October 5, 2026 (refreshed weekly)
Sample: 45,051 open government solicitations analyzed
License: free to cite with attribution to BidSparq
Verify this yourself: BidSparq's live solicitation directory (the open bids these counts are drawn from, browsable without an account); SAM.gov contract opportunities (the federal notices BidSparq tracks, at the source).
Video: We Analyzed 53,170 Government Bids. 1 in 6 Looks Wired. (5 min)
Essential statistics
- 7,116 bids specify a brand name without an or-equal escape clause (15.8%).
- Brand name locks are the single most common pre-favored vendor signal we measure.
- Sample: 45,051 open government solicitations with extracted documents.
What this means
An or-equal clause is what keeps a brand name specification competitive. When it is missing, only resellers of that exact brand can realistically bid. Vendors who sell competing products should challenge the specification during the question period, which is usually the only window to unwire a locked bid.
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