Terms of Service
Effective Date: September 13, 2026. Supersedes the Terms of Service dated July 17, 2025.
1. Agreement and Acceptance
1.1 These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are a binding agreement between Contracting Intelligence Group, LLC, a Virginia limited liability company (“CIG,” “we,” “us,” “our”), and you or the entity you represent (“Client,” “you,” “your”).
1.2 These Terms govern your use of www.contractingintelligencegroup.com (the “Site”) and your purchase of any service, package, or digital product offered through the Site (each, a “Service”).
1.3 By using the Site, or by placing an order, you accept these Terms. If you are accepting on behalf of a company, you represent that you are authorized to bind that company.
1.4 If you do not agree to these Terms, do not use the Site and do not place an order.
2. Order of Precedence
2.1 Some engagements are governed by a separate signed agreement, statement of work, engagement letter, or non-disclosure agreement between CIG and the Client.
2.2 Where a conflict exists, the documents control in this order: (a) an agreement or statement of work signed by both parties; (b) a written quote issued by CIG and accepted in writing by the Client; (c) these Terms; (d) the service descriptions published on the Site.
2.3 These Terms apply to every Service purchased through the Site unless a document higher in the order of precedence says otherwise.
3. Use of the Site
3.1 You agree to use the Site for lawful purposes only, and not in any way that impairs its functioning, security, or accessibility to others.
3.2 You may not scrape, mirror, frame, or systematically extract Site content, or use the Site to develop a competing product or service.
3.3 CIG may modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Site at any time.
4. Intellectual Property in Site Content
4.1 All Site content — text, graphics, logos, layouts, checklists, templates, and downloadable resources — is owned by CIG or its licensors and is protected by United States copyright and trademark law.
4.2 You may view and print Site content for your internal, non-commercial use. Any other reproduction, distribution, resale, or creation of derivative works requires CIG’s prior written consent.
5. Services
5.1 CIG offers the fixed-price Services set out below through the Site. Prices, page thresholds, and turnaround commitments are as published on the Site at the time of purchase.
5.1(a) Proposal Precheck — $750, charged in full at checkout, 48 to 72 hours.
5.1(b) Proposal Precheck+ — $1,500, charged in full at checkout, 3 to 5 business days.
5.1(c) Micro Compliance & Enhancement Sprint, for drafts up to 20 pages — $3,500 total, $1,750 (50%) deposit charged at checkout, 24 hours.
5.1(d) Standard Compliance & Enhancement Sprint, for drafts of 21 to 60 pages — $5,000 total, $2,500 (50%) deposit charged at checkout, 3 business days.
5.1(e) Custom Extended Engagement, for drafts over 60 pages or multi-volume submissions — quoted per engagement, no payment charged at request, turnaround set per engagement.
5.2 The Custom Extended Engagement listing is a scoping request, not a purchase. Submitting it creates no payment obligation. CIG will issue a written quote, ordinarily within three (3) business days.
5.3 CIG may change prices, packages, and turnaround commitments at any time. A change does not affect an order CIG has already accepted.
6. Orders, Formation, and CIG’s Right to Decline
6.1 Your order is an offer to purchase. A contract is formed only when CIG accepts the order in writing, which ordinarily occurs when CIG confirms intake and opens the engagement in its client portal.
6.2 CIG may decline any order, in whole or in part, including where: (a) intake screening identifies a conflict of interest; (b) the submitted materials fall outside the purchased tier’s page or scope thresholds; (c) the turnaround requested cannot be met; (d) the materials or the engagement would place CIG in violation of law or professional obligation; or (e) the Client has an unpaid balance.
6.3 If CIG declines an order before beginning work, CIG will refund amounts paid for that order in full.
6.4 If the submitted materials exceed the purchased tier — for example, a 45-page draft submitted against the Micro Sprint — CIG will notify the Client and offer either an upgrade at the published difference in price or a full refund. CIG will not begin work until the Client elects.
7. Fees, Deposits, and Payment
7.1 All prices are in U.S. dollars and exclusive of any applicable taxes, which are the Client’s responsibility.
7.2 Payment at checkout is processed by Stripe through Squarespace Commerce. CIG does not receive or store full payment card numbers.
7.3 Proposal Precheck and Proposal Precheck+ are payable in full at checkout.
7.4 The Micro Sprint and the Standard Sprint require a fifty percent (50%) deposit at checkout. The remaining balance is invoiced separately on delivery of the findings and is due on receipt of that invoice. It is not tied to a fixed calendar schedule.
7.5 An invoice unpaid more than fifteen (15) days after issuance accrues interest at the lesser of one and one-half percent (1.5%) per month or the maximum rate permitted by Virginia law.
7.6 CIG may suspend work and withhold deliverables on any engagement while any Client balance is past due.
7.7 The Client agrees to raise any billing dispute with CIG in writing at contact@contracting-intel.com before initiating a chargeback, and to give CIG a reasonable opportunity to resolve it. The Client is responsible for CIG’s reasonable costs of responding to a chargeback initiated without that notice.
8. Turnaround, Start Time, and Delivery
8.1 “Complete Materials” means all of the following, in a readable electronic format: the solicitation and every amendment issued to date; Sections L and M or their equivalent; the Client’s current draft; and any attachment, exhibit, or instruction the Client wants reviewed.
8.2 The turnaround clock starts at the later of (a) CIG’s acceptance of the order under Section 6.1 and (b) CIG’s receipt of Complete Materials. It does not start at checkout.
8.3 A turnaround period stated in hours runs on consecutive clock hours. A period stated in business days runs Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays and CIG’s published office closures.
8.4 If the Client submits materially revised or additional materials after the clock has started, CIG may restart the clock. CIG will tell the Client if it does.
8.5 CIG delivers through its client portal or to the email address the Client provides at intake.
8.6 Each Service includes one round of written clarification questions on the delivered findings, submitted within five (5) business days of delivery. Further questions, review of a revised draft, and additional rounds are separate engagements.
8.7 A deliverable is deemed accepted ten (10) business days after delivery unless, within that period, the Client notifies CIG in writing of a specific, material failure to deliver what the purchased tier describes.
9. Client Responsibilities
9.1 The Client is solely responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the materials it provides and for deciding what to do with CIG’s findings.
9.2 The Client remains the offeror. The Client alone is responsible for the content of its proposal, for its representations and certifications (including those required under FAR 52.204-8), for acknowledging amendments, and for submitting on time and in the manner the solicitation requires. Under FAR 52.215-1(c)(3) and FAR 52.212-1(f), a proposal received after the exact time specified is generally not considered.
9.3 The Client represents that it has the right to share every document it provides to CIG.
9.4 The Client will not provide to CIG: classified information; source selection information the Client is not authorized to possess or disclose, as that term is defined at FAR 2.101 and addressed at FAR 3.104; or another offeror’s proprietary or bid information.
9.5 The Client will not provide Controlled Unclassified Information without CIG’s prior written agreement on how it will be handled.
9.6 The Client will designate one point of contact for the engagement.
10. What the Services Are Not
10.1 The Services are a review. They are not proposal writing, not proposal management, and not a rewrite of the Client’s draft.
10.2 CIG is not a law firm. Nothing CIG delivers is legal advice or a legal opinion.
10.3 CIG does not certify compliance. A CIG deliverable is an informed professional assessment, not a warranty, certification, or guarantee that a proposal is compliant, responsive, or acceptable to any agency.
10.4 CIG does not act as the Client’s agent, does not communicate with contracting officers on the Client’s behalf unless separately engaged in writing to do so, and does not sign or submit anything on the Client’s behalf.
10.5 These Terms create no teaming arrangement, joint venture, partnership, employment relationship, or subcontract.
11. No Guarantee of Award
11.1 The award of a federal contract is within the sole discretion of the Government. CIG makes no representation, warranty, or guarantee that the Client will win an award, be included in a competitive range, receive a particular rating, or avoid an adverse finding.
11.2 CIG’s fees are earned for performing the review, not for any procurement outcome.
12. Cancellation and Refunds
12.1 The Client may cancel an order at any time before CIG begins work, by written notice to contact@contracting-intel.com. CIG will refund all amounts paid for that order.
12.2 Once CIG has begun work, fees — including Sprint deposits — are non-refundable. This reflects the compressed turnaround of these Services and the fact that CIG reserves senior reviewer time on acceptance of the order.
12.3 CIG may, at its sole discretion, apply all or part of a non-refundable fee as a credit toward a future Service within twelve (12) months.
12.4 If CIG fails to deliver by the turnaround committed for the purchased tier for reasons within CIG’s control, the Client may elect, as its sole and exclusive remedy, either (a) a full refund of amounts paid for that Service or (b) a credit in the same amount. The Client must make the election in writing within ten (10) business days of the missed delivery date.
12.5 Section 12.4 does not apply to a delay caused by the Client’s late or incomplete submission of Complete Materials, by a restart under Section 8.4, or by an event under Section 19.5.
12.6 A withdrawn, cancelled, or amended solicitation does not entitle the Client to a refund of fees for work already performed.
13. Confidentiality
13.1 Each party will protect the other’s Confidential Information with at least the care it uses for its own confidential information of like importance, and will not disclose it except to personnel and contractors who need it for the engagement and who are bound by confidentiality obligations no less protective than these.
13.2 “Confidential Information” includes the Client’s solicitation materials, draft proposals, pricing, teaming relationships, past performance data, and business plans, and CIG’s methodologies, templates, evaluation frameworks, checklists, and pricing.
13.3 Confidential Information does not include information that is or becomes public without breach, was rightfully known without a duty of confidence, is independently developed without use of the other party’s Confidential Information, or is rightfully received from a third party without restriction.
13.4 A party may disclose Confidential Information to the extent required by law, subpoena, or government order, after giving the other party prompt notice where legally permitted.
13.5 CIG will not identify the Client as a client, use the Client’s name or logo, or describe the engagement publicly without the Client’s prior written consent. Consent to be named as a reference or in a testimonial may be withdrawn at any time in writing.
13.6 These obligations continue for three (3) years after the engagement ends. Obligations with respect to trade secrets continue for as long as the information remains a trade secret under applicable law.
14. Conflicts of Interest
14.1 CIG serves multiple clients across the federal market. CIG screens every order at intake against its active and recent engagements.
14.2 If screening identifies a conflict — including a request to review competing proposals under the same solicitation — CIG will decline the later order and refund it in full under Section 6.3.
14.3 CIG will not use one Client’s Confidential Information for the benefit of another Client. CIG’s general knowledge, skill, and experience are not Confidential Information.
14.4 The Client is responsible for determining whether its engagement of CIG creates or contributes to an organizational conflict of interest under FAR Subpart 9.5 in any procurement in which the Client competes, and for making any disclosure its solicitation requires.
15. Intellectual Property in Deliverables
15.1 CIG retains all right, title, and interest in its methodologies, templates, compliance matrices, evaluation frameworks, scoring rubrics, checklists, and general know-how, including improvements developed during an engagement.
15.2 Subject to payment in full, CIG grants the Client a non-exclusive, non-transferable, perpetual license to use the deliverable internally for the Client’s own proposals and business operations.
15.3 The Client may not resell, publish, sublicense, or distribute a CIG deliverable to third parties, and may not use it to provide review services to others. The Client may share a deliverable with its own teaming partners and subcontractors on the specific procurement it concerns, provided they are bound by confidentiality obligations.
15.4 The Client retains all right, title, and interest in its own proposal, solicitation materials, and business information.
16. Disclaimer of Warranties
16.1 Site content is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal, accounting, or other professional advice. CIG does not warrant that Site content is accurate, complete, or current.
16.2 Except as expressly stated in these Terms, the Services and all deliverables are provided “as is.” CIG disclaims all implied warranties, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.
16.3 CIG warrants only that it will perform the Services in a professional and workmanlike manner consistent with generally accepted standards for federal acquisition consulting.
17. Limitation of Liability
17.1 To the fullest extent permitted by law, neither party is liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost revenue, lost business opportunity, the loss or non-award of any contract, protest costs, bid and proposal costs, or reputational harm, regardless of the theory of liability and even if advised of the possibility.
17.2 CIG’s total aggregate liability arising out of or relating to a Service will not exceed the amount the Client actually paid CIG for that Service.
17.3 CIG’s total aggregate liability arising out of or relating to the Site, where no Service was purchased, will not exceed one hundred dollars ($100).
17.4 These limits do not apply to a party’s obligations under Section 13, to the Client’s payment obligations, or to liability that cannot be limited under Virginia law.
17.5 Any claim must be brought within one (1) year after the cause of action accrues.
18. Indemnification
18.1 The Client will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless CIG and its members, officers, employees, and contractors from any third-party claim, loss, liability, or expense, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising out of: (a) materials the Client provided to CIG, including any claim that they infringe or misappropriate a third party’s rights or were provided in breach of Section 9.3, 9.4, or 9.5; (b) the Client’s proposal, representations, or certifications; or (c) the Client’s breach of these Terms.
19. General
19.1 Governing law. These Terms and any dispute arising from them are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules.
19.2 Dispute resolution and venue. The parties will first attempt in good faith to resolve any dispute through discussion between senior representatives within thirty (30) days of written notice. Any dispute not resolved that way will be brought exclusively in the state courts of Loudoun County, Virginia, or in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division. Each party consents to personal jurisdiction and venue there.
19.3 Notices. Notices to CIG go to contact@contracting-intel.com. Notices to the Client go to the email address given at intake. Notice is effective on transmission, absent a bounce.
19.4 Assignment. Neither party may assign these Terms without the other’s written consent, except to a successor in a merger or sale of substantially all assets.
19.5 Force majeure. Neither party is liable for a delay or failure caused by an event beyond its reasonable control, including a government shutdown or lapse in appropriations, natural disaster, labor disruption, act of war or terrorism, epidemic, or failure of a third-party platform or communications network. A delay under this section extends the turnaround by the duration of the event.
19.6 Severability. If a provision is held unenforceable, it is modified to the minimum extent necessary and the rest remains in effect.
19.7 No waiver. A failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it.
19.8 Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any document higher in the order of precedence under Section 2, are the entire agreement on their subject matter and supersede prior discussions.
19.9 Changes. CIG may revise these Terms by posting an updated version with a new Effective Date. Continued use of the Site after posting constitutes acceptance. The Terms in effect when CIG accepted an order govern that order.
19.10 Privacy. CIG’s handling of personal information is described in the Privacy Policy at www.contractingintelligencegroup.com/privacy-policy.
19.11 Survival. Sections 4, 9.2, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19 survive termination.
20. Contact
Contracting Intelligence Group, LLC
Ashburn, Virginia