How to Write a Construction Capability Statement in San Antonio

A construction capability statement is the one page a contracting officer, facility manager or prime contractor in San Antonio skims to decide whether your firm is worth a phone call. It has one job: show what you build or manage, prove you are registered and eligible, and make every claim easy to check. The advice here is general, for small contractors and the buyers who read their statements. It does not describe any certification held by 214 Veteran Solutions.

Start with your SAM.gov profile

The U.S. Small Business Administration's contracting basics page says firms must register in the System for Award Management to take part in federal contracting, and that a 12-character Unique Entity ID issued through SAM.gov is needed before you bid. SBA also describes your SAM profile as being like a résumé that contracting staff search. Your capability statement should match that profile word for word on the facts: legal name, UEI, NAICS codes and any certifications. A buyer who sees a mismatch stops trusting the rest.

Where San Antonio buyers will read it

You will hand the same page to very different readers: with a sources-sought response, after an industry day, or when you ask a prime contractor about subcontracting. Each one checks it against a different list.

The Texas Comptroller describes the CMBL as the master database Texas purchasing entities use, and says state agencies use the VetHUB Directory with the CMBL to solicit bids for state purchasing and public works contracts, while prime contractors use the directory to find VetHUB subcontractors. For City work, the City of San Antonio's Become a Vendor page says to register with CIVCAST to bid public works such as construction, and with SAePS for other City solicitations.

What to include in a construction capability statement

Header and snapshot. Legal name and any DBA, address, website, and one sentence that says what you do, for example "interior renovation and site concrete for occupied public buildings in Bexar County."

Core competencies. Four to six scopes, in the buyer's vocabulary. Separate the work your own crews perform from the work you manage through subcontractors. Buyers notice when a firm claims to self-perform everything.

Identifiers. UEI, CAGE code if you have one, and the NAICS codes you are registered under. SBA notes a firm can hold several NAICS codes when it sells different services. List the ones that match the work you are pitching, not every code in your profile.

Size and eligibility. SBA's size standards page explains that each NAICS code carries its own size standard, measured by employees or average annual receipts. Only call yourself small for codes where you actually qualify, and check them in SBA's Size Standards Tool.

Certifications. List only designations that have been granted and are current, with the issuing program. For federal veteran set-asides, SBA certifies VOSB and SDVOSB firms through VetCert, and buyers can verify certified firms in SBA's Small Business Search. SBA's VetCert page lists at least 51% veteran ownership, small business registration in SAM.gov and meeting SBA size standards among the basics. Texas state work uses the Comptroller's separate VetHUB certification for service-disabled veteran-owned businesses: the owner must be a service-disabled veteran with a service-related disability of 20% or more who owns at least 51% and controls day-to-day operations, and the business must be for-profit with its principal place of business in Texas. The Comptroller says VetHUB certification is free and good for up to four years while the business stays eligible. If a certification is pending, leave it off.

Past performance. For each project: owner or agency, scope, period, your role (prime or sub) and a reference you have permission to share. New to public work? List relevant private projects and label them as private. Never borrow a partner's or a former employer's projects.

Differentiators. Two or three facts a buyer can check: a written safety program, experience working in occupied or secured facilities, in-house estimating and scheduling tools, or a documented bonding capacity letter. Leave out adjectives like "best" or "premier."

Contact. One named person with a direct phone number and email who will actually answer.

A capability statement template you can fill in

Lay the page out in this order, as stacked blocks or two columns. The example wording describes a fictional firm; replace every line with your own verified facts.

Keep an editable master version and export a PDF for each buyer.

Construction-specific details buyers look for

• Service area. Where you will realistically mobilize. Be honest about distance.

• Typical project size range by type of work, described in words (small interior refreshes, multi-phase renovations), so a buyer can see fit at a glance.

• Trade coverage. Which licensed trades you coordinate, and confirmation that electrical, plumbing and mechanical work is performed and permitted by appropriately licensed contractors.

• Compliance readiness. If you pursue federally funded work, say how you handle weekly certified payroll. Our Davis-Bacon prevailing wage and certified payroll explainer shows what that involves. On City of San Antonio construction contracts, the Capital Delivery Department's Labor Compliance unit requires weekly certified payrolls through LCPtracker, so expect the question.

Format and tailoring

1. Keep it to one page; two at most.

2. Mirror the language in the solicitation or sources-sought notice. If the agency says "facility repair," use that phrase.

3. Make a version for each agency or prime, reordering competencies and past performance to fit.

4. Save as a PDF named with your company and the buyer, and keep the text selectable so it can be searched.

5. Review it each time your SAM registration, NAICS codes or certifications change.

6. Use one accent color, generous white space and only photos of your own completed work.

7. Email a test copy to yourself and open it on a phone and a laptop before it goes to a buyer.

Mistakes that cost credibility

• Listing a set-aside designation you do not hold, or implying that "veteran-owned" means certified

• NAICS codes or a size claim that do not match SAM.gov

• Past performance with no way to verify it

• Stock photos presented as your own projects

• A generic statement sent unchanged to every buyer

• A phone number or email that nobody monitors

A last check before you send it

• Your legal name, UEI and CAGE code match SAM.gov character for character.

• Every NAICS code listed is in your SAM profile, and you meet its size standard.

• Every certification can be found in SBA's Small Business Search or the Texas VetHUB Directory today.

• Each past-performance reference has agreed to take a call.

• The scope wording mirrors this buyer's notice, and the file name includes the buyer.

How Veteran Set-Asides and SBA VetCert Work on Public Construction

A capability statement supports a bid or a sources-sought response; it never replaces one. For SBA VetCert for SDVOSB and VOSB firms, Texas VetHUB, SAM.gov registration and how a buyer verifies a claim, see how veteran set-asides and SBA VetCert work.

For a sense of how interior projects are planned and permitted, see tenant improvement in San Antonio. 214 Veteran Solutions is a general contractor in San Antonio that plans and manages projects and coordinates licensed trade contractors; our government construction page covers public work, and our commercial construction services cover offices, retail and other business properties.

Next step

Planning a public or institutional project in San Antonio and want a contractor's view of the scope? Call (210) 796-3695, request an estimate or book an estimate consultation with 214 Veteran Solutions, a veteran-owned contractor in San Antonio.