How to Prepare Past Performance for Government Bids

Past performance is the evaluation factor that intimidates new contractors most — and the one with the most misconceptions. You don't need government contracts to have past performance, and 'no record' is legally neutral, not disqualifying. Here's how to build a past performance volume that scores.

Commercial work counts

Agencies evaluate relevant past performance, not federal past performance. If you've cleaned hospitals, secured stadiums, built office networks, or paved parking lots commercially, that history is admissible evidence. What matters is relevance: similar scope, similar scale, recent (typically the last 3–5 years), and verifiable.

The reference format agencies expect

• Project name and client organization
• Contract number (if any), period of performance, and dollar value
• Your role — prime or subcontractor — and what you self-performed
• Scope summary in 2–3 sentences with scale (square footage, headcount, user count)
• Measurable outcome: on-time rate, inspection results, renewals exercised
• A reference contact who knows the work — name, title, phone, email

Prepare your references before you need them

Many solicitations send past performance questionnaires (PPQs) directly to your references, and an unreturned questionnaire can score as neutral or be a missed requirement. Call each reference before submitting their name: confirm their contact details, tell them which solicitation may contact them, and make sure they remember the work favorably. A stale phone number on a reference sheet is a self-inflicted wound.

If you truly have no history

• Lean on key personnel: your project manager's experience at a previous employer is evaluable evidence on most solicitations
• Team or joint-venture with an experienced partner and use their record where rules allow
• Subcontract first: a year under a government prime creates exactly the references you're missing
• Start with state, local, and simplified acquisitions, where past performance requirements are lighter

Write outcomes, not adjectives

Evaluators must justify scores in writing. '24 months, zero missed services, 100% inspection pass rate, two renewals exercised' gives them a defensible sentence; 'excellent service and total commitment to quality' gives them nothing. Quantify everything you can, and keep a living past performance library so each new bid starts from proven text instead of a blank page.