How To Write A Contractor Capability Statement

A capability statement is a one-page PDF that answers "why should we hire this contractor?" in about 30 seconds of skim time. It's not a proposal, not a brochure, not your About page. It's a résumé for your business, formatted for procurement.

Every commercial buyer expects one — property managers, HOA boards, federal contracting officers, and the whole SAM.gov ecosystem use it to decide who gets invited to the next bid round. No capability statement usually means no invite.

Government buyers expect a specific structure; private commercial buyers read the same way. Use all six sections below, in this order. Keep each section to 2–4 lines — the constraint is what makes it work.

1. Core competencies. A short list of what you actually do, using the buyer's language (their NAICS descriptions, not your marketing tagline). Example: "Commercial pressure washing • Concrete flatwork cleaning • Softwash roof cleaning • Fleet washing • Post-construction cleanup."

2. Differentiators. 3–4 sentences on why hire you over the incumbent. Concrete numbers only — response time, years in business, insurance limits above minimum, certifications, crew size. No "family-owned since…" filler.

3. Past performance. 3–5 comparable projects. Each line: buyer name, scope in one line, contract value, year. Match the size and type of work you're pitching. Buyers dismiss capability statements whose past performance doesn't match the RFP.

4. Company data. Legal name, DBA, EIN, UEI/CAGE (for federal), NAICS codes, state license #, bonding capacity, and any set-aside certifications (MBE, WBE, SDVOSB, HUBZone, DBE, 8(a)).

5. Contact. Owner name + title, direct cell, direct email, website URL. Not "info@" — a name and a real phone.

6. Branded header + clean layout. Logo, brand colors, one page, exportable to PDF. Your website has to back this up — buyers Google every vendor. See our commercial contractor websites breakdown.

Here's a working template — swap the placeholders for your details:

Save as PDF, attach to every bid submission, and upload it to your profile on every vendor portal (SAM, Compliance Depot, RealPage). Rebuild once a year with fresh past-performance numbers.

MWBE, WBE, SDVOSB, HUBZone, 8(a), and DBE certifications can open closed set-aside bids where 20–40% of commercial and government work lives. Most programs are free. If you qualify, apply — it typically pays for itself with the first awarded contract.

Verify your SAM.gov registration and NAICS codes match every trade you'll bid on. Missing a NAICS code means missing every automated bid alert in that category — a silent, expensive mistake.

A Word doc in Times New Roman screams "I don't do this often." Use a branded template with your logo, a consistent color palette, and clean typography. Two columns, bold section headers, plenty of white space, one page. Export to PDF — never send .docx.

Every Attano website client gets a matching branded capability statement PDF built alongside the site. See our portfolio guide for the past-performance package you attach behind it.

We'll email you our editable capability statement template — the same one we ship to every Attano client. Fill in the placeholders from the example above, export to PDF, and start attaching it to every bid today.