A Statement of Qualifications is the everyday pursuit document for most AEC firms - the qualifications package a firm submits to prove it is the right team for a project. It most often responds to a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) under Qualifications-Based Selection, where owners shortlist or select firms on demonstrated competence before price is discussed. Unlike the federal SF330, an SOQ has no fixed government format - the firm controls the layout, but the solicitation controls the rules.
What an SOQ includes
Most SOQs cover the same core sections, tailored to the requirements in the solicitation:
- Firm profile and relevant experience
- Key personnel and their resumes
- Representative past projects with outcomes
- Technical approach or understanding of the project
- References and any required certifications or licenses
How an SOQ is evaluated
An owner scores an SOQ against published evaluation criteria - typically key-staff qualifications, specialized experience on similar work, capacity and schedule, past performance, and knowledge of the locality. The highest-leverage move is to build the SOQ to those factors and their stated weights, and to make each past project's relevance explicit rather than leaving evaluators to infer it.
SOQ vs. proposal
An SOQ focuses on qualifications - who you are and what you've done - while a full proposal adds detailed technical approach, schedule, and often price. QBS processes evaluate SOQs first, then invite shortlisted firms to interview or submit a full proposal. See SOQ vs. proposal for the full comparison.
SOQ vs. SF330
The SF330 is a specific, standardized federal Architect-Engineer Qualifications form; an SOQ is the general term for a qualifications package whose format the firm controls. Federal A-E pursuits usually require the SF330, while most state and local pursuits accept a free-form SOQ - always submit the document the solicitation names.
How firms speed up SOQs
The slow part of an SOQ is rarely the writing - it's finding the right past projects and the right people for each requirement, then formatting everything to the solicitation's rules. Flodoc reads the solicitation, matches your firm's staff and past projects to each requirement, and assembles the document so your team reviews instead of rebuilds.