IDIQ contract: the minimum guarantee, task orders, and how federal ride contracts get ordered

What an IDIQ contract is

An IDIQ contract is an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract. The buyer commits to order at least a stated minimum, you commit to supply up to a stated maximum, and the actual work arrives later as task orders. The federal rule is FAR 16.504. Buyers use it when they know a recurring need exists but cannot say how many trips will be needed or when. VA medical centers write many of their ride contracts this way, as VA transportation contracts explains, and the wider process of winning public ride work is in government NEMT contracts.

How big is the guaranteed minimum?

The minimum must be more than a nominal amount, but it should not exceed what the buyer is fairly certain to order (FAR 16.504). In ride contracts it is small next to the ceiling. VA’s Spokane wheelchair solicitation from September 2026 sets a minimum of $17,520 and a maximum of $2,500,000 over five years, so the minimum is 0.7 percent of the ceiling. VA’s North Texas wheelchair solicitation from April 2026 sets $5,000 and $100,000,000.

Both documents say the quantities in the price schedule are estimates. Spokane’s schedule estimates 2,000 trips in the first year for riders up to 300 pounds, 200 trips for heavier riders and 24,000 miles beyond the base rate, and says those figures are not guaranteed. Treat the minimum as what you can count on and the estimates as what the buyer expects.

How task orders work

An authorized person places each order, and only during the ordering period. Every order falls under the contract’s terms. Spokane’s ordering period runs from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2031, and its orders come from a regional contracting office.

For ride service, an order is a trip or a block of trips priced from the schedule. In the North Texas solicitation a one-way trip is the unit. The price covers the first 25 miles, extra miles and waiting past 30 minutes are separate lines (waiting is billed in 15-minute steps), and riders over 300 pounds have their own line.

An order-limits clause sets a floor and ceilings for single orders. The North Texas copy sets a floor of $250, below which neither side is obliged to buy or supply, and ceilings of $10,000 for one item and $60,000 for a combination, counting a series of orders from one office within seven days. An order above a ceiling has to be honored unless you return it with written notice and your reasons within the number of days the clause states, so check that number in your copy.

One winner or several?

The federal rule tells buyers to prefer several awards where practicable. Spokane is a single award. VA’s DC medical center planned a five-year multiple-award IDIQ in February 2026, and on October 1, 2026 it posted award notices under one solicitation for at least two contracts, numbered 36C24527D0001 and 36C24527D0002.

With several holders, the buyer competes each order among them. Under the overhaul text, an order above the simplified acquisition threshold and up to $7.5 million gets a fair notice to all holders, and an order above $7.5 million gets a notice that states the evaluation factors and their relative importance (16.507-4 and 16.507-5). The overhaul also lets a buyer add companies to a multiple-award contract and remove one for poor performance or for not taking part in order competitions.

How long does an IDIQ run?

Spokane’s ordering period is five years. The North Texas solicitation sets a 54-month ordering period, August 3, 2026 through February 2, 2031, priced in five periods, with a possible extension of up to six months. Orders placed before the end may run past the ordering period, but the contractor need not deliver after the final date stated in the contract. How the later years are priced is covered in option year.

Can you leave early?

Spokane’s copy of the indefinite-quantity clause lets the government cancel the contract in whole or in part on 30 days’ written notice, and lets the contractor ask to cancel on the same notice. A contractor who asks to cancel gives up the minimum guarantee. Orders already placed are finished unless terminated.

Reading the contract number

On SAM.gov and USAspending.gov, the ninth character of a federal contract number is D for an indefinite-delivery contract, and orders under it carry an F (FAR 4.1603). VA’s October 6, 2026 award for Columbia VA Medical Center wheelchair service, 36C24727D0002, follows that pattern. A blanket purchase agreement carries an A and promises no minimum. The winner, dates and offers for a past award are findable the way find out who won a ride contract explains.

Where software helps

An IDIQ pays for orders actually placed, so your own volume data matters. HealthRide’s reports include a payer view and a trip log you can export, so you can compare real volume against the estimates in a price schedule. See reports.