FPDS Query Library
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Commercial Item Acquisition Procedures Description

Human-readable text that describes the value in the paired Commercial Item Acquisition Procedures code field. It records the procurement procedure description rather than the underlying code itself, and is typically used to display or interpret the coded competition attribute.

Family: Award
Category: Competition
Data Type: string
Semantic Type: description
Mapping: flattened_fpds_xml_field
AI Confidence: high

Variable Overview

FPDS Query Variable
content__award__competition__commercialItemAcquisitionProcedures__description
Title
Commercial Item Acquisition Procedures Description
FPDS Path
award/competition/commercialItemAcquisitionProcedures/description
Description
Human-readable text that describes the value in the paired Commercial Item Acquisition Procedures code field. It records the procurement procedure description rather than the underlying code itself, and is typically used to display or interpret the coded competition attribute.
Business Meaning
This field helps analysts understand how the acquisition was handled when commercial item procedures were involved, which is important for assessing procurement method, competition patterns, and compliance with FAR-based acquisition rules. It provides readable context for coded data so analysts can distinguish among procurement actions that may otherwise look similar in raw code form.
Example Value
COMMERCIAL ITEM PROCEDURES NOT USED
Observed Non-Null Count
110,811,011

FPDS Compare

FPDS Query Variable
content__award__competition__commercialItemAcquisitionProcedures__description
FPDS XML Path
award/competition/commercialItemAcquisitionProcedures/description
Mapping Type
flattened_fpds_xml_field
Comparison Summary
FPDS Query flattens the original nested FPDS XML path 'award/competition/commercialItemAcquisitionProcedures/description' into the SQL-ready variable 'content__award__competition__commercialItemAcquisitionProcedures__description'.

Use Cases

  • Dictionary lookup and field explanation
  • SQL filtering and grouping
  • Analytical reporting and reusable query building
  • Competition and sole-source analysis

Common Usage

  • Interpreting the commercial item procedures code in award records
  • Grouping awards by procurement procedure description
  • Validating code-to-label mappings in FPDS extracts

Common Mistakes

  • Using the description field as if it were the authoritative code
  • Filtering on free-text description without checking the paired coded field

Query Guidance

Use this field for display, validation, or text-based grouping, but join or filter on the paired code field when possible. In SQL, prefer exact matches or normalized comparisons rather than broad pattern searches, and keep the description aligned with the corresponding code to avoid misclassification.

SQL Examples

Preview values

SELECT
    content__award__competition__commercialItemAcquisitionProcedures__description AS commercial_item_acquisition_procedures_description
FROM fpds.data
WHERE content__award__competition__commercialItemAcquisitionProcedures__description IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 25

Top values

SELECT
    content__award__competition__commercialItemAcquisitionProcedures__description AS value,
    count() AS record_count
FROM fpds.data
WHERE content__award__competition__commercialItemAcquisitionProcedures__description IS NOT NULL
GROUP BY value
ORDER BY record_count DESC
LIMIT 25

Each dictionary item includes SQL-ready examples generated alongside the variable metadata, allowing immediate use in FPDS Query for filtering, aggregation, and analysis.