What Is an SF 330?
The SF 330 is the standard government form architect-engineer firms use to show their qualifications for a federal design or engineering contract. It replaces a price proposal in the first round.
SF 330 (Architect-Engineer Qualifications) in plain English
Part I is for one contract: your team, its key people and resumes, and example projects that match the work in the announcement. Part II is a general summary of your firm, which you can keep on file with agencies and update every year.
Read the announcement closely. It sets the evaluation criteria, page limits and how many projects to show, and the agency ranks firms on those criteria alone.
Example: an announcement for HVAC design at a VA hospital asks for up to 10 projects and resumes for a mechanical engineer of record. Your Part I shows your hospital HVAC projects and that engineer's license and experience.
Related terms
- A/E (architect-engineer) services: Architect-engineer (A/E) services are design and engineering work, such as building design, surveying and engineering studies. Agencies choose A/E firms on qualifications first and negotiate the price after.
- Brooks Act: The Brooks Act is the federal law that makes agencies pick architect-engineer firms on qualifications, then negotiate a fair price with the best-qualified firm, instead of choosing on price.
- Past performance: Past performance is your record on previous contracts. Agencies use it to judge how likely you are to do a new job well.
- Capability statement: A capability statement is a one-page summary of your business for agencies and prime contractors: what you do, what sets you apart and your past work.
Put it to work
- FAR 36.603, Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications
- How to read a government solicitation
Looking for another term? Browse the full glossary or the government contracting glossary guide.
Cyrus Hakimi writes and edits these definitions, using AI tools to help research and draft them, from the FAR, SBA rules and SAM.gov documentation. They're general information, not legal advice. Rules and thresholds change, so confirm the numbers on the official source before you act.