Solicitation
Management Capacity Study
Architect of the Capitol
AI summaryThe Architect of the Capitol wants a firm to study how well it can manage a large construction program, under solicitation AOCACB26R0052, Management Capacity Study. This is Step One of two: qualifications are due November 6, 2026, 5:00 PM Eastern. Only firms the Government shortlists after Step One may send Step Two proposals. The work runs 184 calendar days after award in Washington, DC. More in the summary
AI summary Beta
The Architect of the Capitol wants a firm to study how well it can manage a large construction program, under solicitation AOCACB26R0052, Management Capacity Study. This is Step One of two: qualifications are due November 6, 2026, 5:00 PM Eastern. Only firms the Government shortlists after Step One may send Step Two proposals. The work runs 184 calendar days after award in Washington, DC.
Who can bid (5)
- The prime offeror must have its own corporate past performance and experience; experience of key personnel or subcontractors cannot stand in for it.
- Corporate experience in designing and/or running a Program Management Office on construction projects or programs over $500 million (total program value counts) at the State and/or Federal Government level, completed in the last five years or ongoing.
- Program Executive: minimum 20 years of experience, a bachelor's degree in a related field and a Professional Engineer or Registered Architect license, and full-time employment with the prime already at proposal time.
Show all 5Show fewer
- Program Manager: minimum 15 years of experience on major capital projects, a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, a bachelor's degree, and experience on programs over $500 million. These are mandatory minimums.
- Three Team Members, each with at least 7 years of experience across the design and construction project life cycle and a bachelor's degree.
How to submit: Email to Contract Specialist Michael Hoover, michael.hoover@aoc.gov. Hard copies are not accepted.. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (7)
From the version posted Oct 26, 2026.
- Serious: Two-step process: only shortlisted firms go on to Step Two. This notice is Step One, a qualification step with no price; Marginal or Unacceptable ratings on Factors 1 or 2, or Low Confidence on Factor 3, end a firm's chance for good.
- Serious: Winner and its subcontractors are barred from follow-on AOC work. The Government says an organizational conflict of interest (OCI, a conflict that limits future bidding) will keep the awardee and its subcontractors out of future related capital program contracts.
- Serious: Very large past projects required. Corporate experience must be on construction projects or programs over $500 million, and the Government declined to lower this threshold; most small businesses will not have this.
Show all 7Show fewer
- Serious: Strict key personnel minimums, already on staff. The Program Executive needs 20 years and an engineering or architect license, and the Program Manager needs a PMP; the Government will not waive these and the Program Executive must already work for the prime.
- Worth checking: Past performance questionnaires must come from the references. References must email the questionnaires straight to the contracting officer by the response due date; the offeror cannot return them, so a late reference can hurt the rating.
- Minor: Solicitation number written two ways. The solicitation, SAM.gov and the amendment say AOCACB26R0052, while the answers say AOCACB26R00052; ask the contracting officer which to use on emails.
- Minor: Travel expected. The contractor may need to travel at least six times, with advance approval and no reimbursement within 50 miles of its worksite.
Read from the notice and 7 attachments. Show which files.
- RFI Quest_Answ_2026.10.26_Final.pdf (read)
- AOCACB26R0052 01.pdf (read)
- AOCACB26R0052 Mgmt Cap Study.pdf (read)
- Attachment 3 Statement of Work_9.23.2026.pdf (read)
- Attachment 1 Section L.pdf (read)
- Attachment 2 Section M.pdf (read)
- Attachment 4 Past Performance Questionnaire.pdf (read)
Full summary
What they want
- Task 1: assess the AOC's current management capacity and governance structure and identify capability gaps
- Task 2: review AOC policies and procedures needed to manage a program of this scale, with a policy gap analysis
- Task 3: recommend a program governance structure, decision authority matrix and reporting framework, including Rayburn Renovation Program Management Plan updates
- Task 4: build a roadmap for a Program Management Office (PMO), the team that runs a large program, in three phases (initiation, delivery, wind-down)
- Task 5: plan staffing for a $2–$4 billion capital program, including peak and wind-down staffing levels
- Task 6: recommend program controls for cost, schedule and risk, plus software tools, reporting standards and case studies
- Task 7: develop a phased implementation roadmap for building organizational capacity
- Provide a plan and schedule to finish all deliverables within 184 calendar days; a quality control plan is due seven days after award
- Contract type
- Firm-fixed-price (FFP): one set price, whatever the work ends up costing. Seven task lines are priced FFP and a separate travel line is cost-reimbursed.
- Period of performance
- 184 calendar days from award, plus an option to extend services up to six months under FAR 52.217-8
- Place of performance
- Washington, DC, USA. On-site work may be required; it will be coordinated at project kickoff.
- Estimated value
- Not stated
- How they'll choose
- Two-step best-value tradeoff for one award. Step One picks the most qualified firms using three equally weighted factors, with no price. Step Two evaluation factors are issued only with the Step Two solicitation.
- Offers due
- November 6, 2026, 5:00 PM Eastern
- How to submit
- Email to Contract Specialist Michael Hoover, michael.hoover@aoc.gov. Hard copies are not accepted.
- Page limits
- Step One (Factors 1-3): 25 pages total. Resumes: 1 page per individual. Cover page, table of contents, section dividers, SF 33 and Section K do not count; final CPARS evaluations do not count.
What they'll judge offers on
- Step One, Factor 1 - Prime Offeror Corporate Experience and Expertise: Program Management Office design and/or implementation on similar projects in the last five years
- Step One, Factor 2 - Key Personnel: resumes for the Program Executive, Program Manager and three Team Members against the Statement of Work minimums
- Step One, Factor 3 - Prime Offeror Past Performance: questionnaires and/or final CPARS evaluations, rated by confidence level
- Step Two: factors and price not yet issued
What to include when you submit
- Send Step One only: cover page, table of contents, then Factors 1, 2 and 3, each labeled and bookmarked as its own section. No price or bid schedule is requested.
- Files must be text-searchable PDFs on 8.5 x 11 inch pages, 10-point font minimum, 1 inch margins, single spaced, with no passwords or copy protection.
- Factor 1: list four past projects (at least 4, at most 6 are evaluated), each for construction over $500 million at the State and/or Federal Government level, completed in the last five years or ongoing.
- For each Factor 1 project give contract number, start and completion month and year, description, client agency, technical point of contact with phone and fax, award and final amounts, and relevance.
- Factor 2: one-page resumes for the Program Executive (1), Program Manager (1) and Team Members (3), each with projects and level of involvement, two references, years with the offeror, dates for each position and relevant education.
- Factor 3: the prime offeror must show its own past performance. Ask each reference to email the past performance questionnaire to the contracting officer by the response due date, or include a final CPARS evaluation.
- A joint venture must name its managing member and include a copy of the executed joint venture agreement, and must show which partner did which work.
- Acknowledge receipt of Amendment 01 before the response due date.
After award, you must have
- Contractor employees must submit an E-Verify form, a U.S. Capitol Police background check form (CP-491) and a badging request before starting work. From Attachment 3 Statement of Work_9.23.2026.pdf:
All contractor employees shall submit an E-Verify form and a United States Capitol Police background check…
Current contractor
No incumbent: the Government's answers say "No, there is no incumbent." One award is planned. The Government will not give its estimate for the study.
Not in the notice text
- Step Two evaluation factors, pricing format and pricing details are not issued yet; they come with the Step Two solicitation.
- Step Two dates are only approximate: the solicitation is expected about seven calendar days after shortlist notices, and proposals about 30 calendar days after that.
- The Government will not provide its estimate for this study; its value is not stated.
- Only part of the main solicitation PDF was read here (its clauses section was left out); check the full file on SAM.gov for clause details.
- The Government may limit how many firms advance to Step Two; the number is not stated.
- The amount of on-site work is left to each offeror to propose; the Government gave no estimate.
Eligibility and how to respond
- No set-aside: any business, large or small, can bid unless the notice says otherwise.
- How to submit, from the AI summary: Email to Contract Specialist Michael Hoover, michael.hoover@aoc.gov. Hard copies are not accepted. Check it in the notice before you send anything.
- Service contracts usually set minimum pay rates (the Service Contract Act). Price the labor with the SCA price calculator.
Notice details
- Posted
- Oct 26, 2026
- Notice type
- Solicitation
- Office
- Acquisition & Material Man. Div., Washington, DC
- Product/service code
- R406 · Support – Professional: Policy Review/Development
- Business type
- Consulting & professional services (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 541611)
- Versions
2 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Oct 26, 2026 · Amendment 0001 (this version)Due Nov 6, 2026 (changed)
- Sep 30, 2026 · SolicitationDue Oct 29, 2026
- Attachments
Past awards and competition
Who has won work like this before, the likely incumbent, and what similar contracts paid, from USAspending.gov.
Before you respond
- How to respond to a solicitation (8 steps)
- How to read a government solicitation
- How to price a government contract
Terms on this notice: Solicitation
Full notice text from SAM.gov
Solicitation No. AOCACB26R0052 Amendment 01 Project Name: Management Capacity Study, Architect of the Capitol; Washington, DC. This amendment is issued to: - Provide questions and answers to RFIs - Extend the proposal due date to November 6, 2026.