Decide go or no-go against a short checklist. Build a compliance matrix from the solicitation. Answer each evaluation criterion in order, with the team, relevant projects and a project-specific approach. Write for scorers: headings that match the criteria, short paragraphs, clear graphics. Keep a library of current content, and ask for a debrief every time.
For US federal architect-engineer work, the SF 330 and the Brooks Act selection process set the format and the order.
Go or no-go: choose the bids you can win
A proposal you cannot win costs as much to write as one you can. Score each opportunity before you start:
- Relationship: do we know the client and the project, or is this the first we have heard of it?
- Fit: have we done this type of work, at this scale, recently, with people we can name?
- Team: are the right people free to lead it?
- Competition: who else is bidding, and why would the client choose us over them?
- Value: is the project worth the cost of the proposal and the risk of the work?
How public clients select design firms
For US federal architect-engineer services, the Brooks Act (40 U.S.C. 1103) sets a qualifications-based process: agencies evaluate firms against criteria they establish and publish, hold discussions with at least three firms, and rank at least three in order of preference. The codified FAR part 36 fills in the steps: public announcement and negotiation at fair and reasonable prices (36.601-1), evaluation criteria that commonly include professional qualifications, specialized experience and technical competence, capacity, past performance and knowledge of the locality (36.602-1), the evaluation board (36.602-3) and the SF 330 (36.603). Many agencies, including DoD and GSA, have issued deviations to apply the FAR Overhaul's Part 36 (model text issued 24 July 2025), which puts the architect-engineer procedures at 36.102 and 36.202, so check the agency's deviation and the solicitation. Many state and local agencies use a similar qualifications-based process; read each solicitation for its own rules.
The SF 330, section by section
GSA's SF 330 form page carries the current form (revision 07/2021). Part I is project-specific: the team, key personnel resumes, example projects that show the team's relevant work, and why the firm is best suited. Part II is the firm's general qualifications, kept on file with agencies. Treat Part II as a living document you update at least yearly, and build Part I from a library of project descriptions and resumes written to the form's structure, so each submission starts from current content.
Write for the people who score it
Evaluators score against criteria, often with a sheet in front of them. Build a compliance matrix from the solicitation: every requirement, where your response answers it, and who owns it. Use the solicitation's headings in its order. Lead each section with the answer, then the proof. Name the people who will do the work and show their relevant projects. Show you understand this project and site: the constraints, the risks and how you will handle them. Cut generic claims every competitor could make.
Project sheets and resumes that do the work
Most proposal time goes into finding and fixing these. Keep them current and tagged by market, service and size:
- Project sheets: client, location, dates, your role, scope, the problem, your approach and the result in the client's terms, with photos and the client's consent.
- Resumes: role on this project, licenses held, relevant projects with the person's role on each, kept to the length the solicitation allows.
- Tailoring: pick the projects and resume lines that match this solicitation's criteria; never send the whole library.
Rules of the bid
Public solicitations usually name one point of contact and a period in which bidders may ask questions, and they bar contact with evaluators outside that channel. Follow the solicitation exactly: deadlines, page limits, font sizes, forms and signatures. A late or non-compliant submission is usually not scored. Relationship building happens before the solicitation is issued, through past work, published content and the public meetings the agency holds.
After the result: debrief and reuse
Ask for a debrief after every result, win or lose, and record what the evaluators said by criterion. Update the library with any new project sheets and resume lines written for the bid. Track your hit rate by market and client type, and use it at the next go or no-go. Proposal content also belongs on your website: project pages and team profiles help clients who research you before a solicitation.
What we do and do not do
PromotEdge International is an international strategy, technology, marketing and design company, and our delivery team is in India. We write project sheets, team profiles and market content, and build websites and content libraries for design and technical firms. We offer no engineering services, do not sign or certify technical content, and do not prepare bids on a client's behalf; your firm writes and signs every technical statement. Our engineering and industrial marketing page describes the work. This guide is general information, not legal advice.
Facts we rely on: see our company facts for what we state about ourselves and where each fact comes from.