Code of conduct

Updated October 2026

GovChat is a professional community for people who work in government contracting. These rules keep it useful and safe.

Be professional

• Treat everyone with respect. No harassment, threats, slurs, or personal attacks.
• Stay on topic and let others speak. Hosts and moderators run their rooms.
• Disagree with ideas, not people.

Protect information

• Never share classified information, Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), export-controlled technical data, or anything marked for limited distribution.
• Never share another company's bid or proposal information, or source selection information, and don't ask others to.
• Don't post other people's personal information.
• Talk about public solicitations and general practices, not non-public details of a competition you or your company is in.

No selling or spam

• Sharing what your company does is fine when it fits the conversation. Unsolicited pitches, repeated links and mass recruiting messages are not.

Government employees

• If you work for the government, follow your agency's ethics rules. Unless your agency has approved otherwise, you take part in your personal capacity, and nothing you say is an official position or an endorsement.

Not advice

• Conversations here are general information, not legal, financial or contracting advice. Check the solicitation, the FAR and your own advisers.

Recording

• Don't record or capture rooms without the host's and participants' permission. GovChat will always show a clear notice before any room is recorded.

What happens if rules are broken

Hosts can remove posts and pause someone's posting in their room. Anyone can report a post, question, room or member. The GovChat team reviews reports and may remove content or suspend accounts.