How we make each bid, review or skip call
Every Monday a script reads the public SAM.gov data, picks the notices that fit, and applies the same written rules to each one. Here is exactly what it does, and what it doesn’t.
1. Which notices make the list
- Source: the public Contract Opportunities data file from SAM.gov (System for Award Management), the federal government’s official site for contract notices.
- Work type: NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) code 236220, commercial and institutional building construction.
- Place: the place of performance is Virginia, Maryland or Washington, DC.
- Notice types: active solicitations, combined synopsis/solicitations, sources sought notices, presolicitations and special notices. Award notices are left out.
- One entry per solicitation: when an agency posts several versions under the same solicitation number, we keep only the latest one.
- Time left to respond: notices due within 4 days of the Monday issue are dropped, since there isn’t enough time to bid. Notices with no deadline stay in.
- Not stale: the first posting must be within the last 180 days, or within 365 days for a solicitation that still has an open deadline.
2. The call on each notice
The rules assume a typical small construction firm without special certifications. They are checked in this order:
The notice is a sources sought, presolicitation or special notice. There’s nothing to bid yet, but a short capability statement now can shape whether the job is set aside for small businesses. These are our early signals.
Only worth it if you qualify: the set-aside needs a certification (8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, WOSB, EDWOSB or VOSB), it is a sole-source award, the notice text says “sole source,” or the deadline is under 7 days away.
A small-business set-aside (total or partial) that any small business can compete for, with none of the skip reasons above.
Full and open competition. Large firms can bid too, so it’s worth it if you have the past performance and bonding.
Certifications: 8(a) is the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development program; HUBZone is Historically Underutilized Business Zone; SDVOSB is Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business; WOSB and EDWOSB are Women-Owned and Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business; VOSB is Veteran-Owned Small Business.
3. Top picks
Solicitations are ranked Bid, then Review, then Skip. Within each, small-business set-asides come first, then the nearest deadline. The first three are the issue’s top picks. Every open bid is listed free on /bids; the top picks also get a free full page with details, a checklist and notice history, and Pro has those for every bid. Early signals are listed separately.
4. Flags and tags
- Flags come from simple keyword matches in the notice text: site visit, security clearance, SECRET or TOP SECRET, CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification), past performance, incumbent, GSA (General Services Administration) Schedule and BPA (blanket purchase agreement).
- Under-bid signal appears only on strong evidence: the notice says it is a re-solicitation or got too few offers, its deadline was pushed back by an amendment posted on or after the original due date, or the same project title from the same office was posted earlier under another number without an award. SAM.gov doesn’t publish bid counts, so this is a signal, not a fact.
- What you’ll need lists requirements found in the notice text and set-aside field, marked Routine (site visits, posted Davis-Bacon wage rates, base access, past-performance references, small-business self-certification) or Real hurdle (bonds, a minimum bonding capacity, a specific certification, a security clearance, CMMC, a project labor agreement, or a minimum number of similar past projects).
- What it is is the sentence from the notice that best describes the scope, chosen by keyword scoring. If no sentence scores well, we write a plain summary from the notice fields instead.
5. Who’s winning
The winners table adds up prime contract dollars obligated (money actually committed, not contract ceilings) for NAICS 236220 work in VA, MD and DC over the last 12 months, from USASpending.gov. Free issues show the top 3; Pro shows the top 10.
Questions or ideas to make the calls more useful? Email jduke@govconearlysignals.com.
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