The concept traces to FAR 11.104, "Use of Brand Name or Equal Purchase Descriptions." Federal agencies are told to prefer performance specifications. Where a brand name is used, the solicitation must spell out the salient physical, functional, or performance characteristics an "equal" product has to meet. Evaluators can only judge against those stated characteristics, nothing else. State and local agencies use nearly identical language even outside federal contracts, typically built into a project's Division 01 substitution procedures. An "approved equal" is different from a true sole-source specification, which allows no substitution at all. It is also different from a basis-of-design product, where the spec names one product the design was built around but still permits an equal. For suppliers and reps, approved-equal language decides whether only the named brand can win, or whether any product meeting the salient characteristics is in play. Nonlinear extracts that language from spec sections across live projects in a territory, so a rep can see where their brand is already specified and where their product could qualify as the equal.
Knowledge Base
What is an approved equal?
"Approved equal" language lets a contractor propose a different manufacturer's product than the one named in a specification, as long as it matches the salient characteristics the spec calls out. That keeps the bid competitive without the owner losing control of what gets built.
