O&M

Definition

O&M (Operations and Maintenance) is a one-year appropriation used for day-to-day operations, maintenance, training, and most services contracts. The most common appropriation type for services contracting.

Where this matters in federal contracting

O&M is a measurement used in federal contract evaluation, source selection, oversight, or performance management. Understanding O&M matters because evaluators use metrics like it to compare proposals quantitatively, score past performance, set award-fee outcomes, and decide who gets the next option year. Contractors who track how O&M is calculated — and what target values look like in their NAICS or service area — write proposals that are concrete and defensible instead of generic and easily dismissed. O&M also has implications for contract administration: getting the calculation methodology wrong post-award is a common source of disputes and contracting-officer modifications. Pair O&M with the related metrics above to see how the federal government composes evaluation criteria into source-selection narratives.

More metric terms