How To Write Past Performance That Evaluators Can Score
Short answer: evaluators judge past performance on three things: how recent the work is, how relevant it is to this job, and how well you did it. Pick the projects closest to this scope, describe each one with hard facts (customer, contract number, dates, value, your role, what you did, results, and a reachable reference), and spell out exactly why each one matches. If you have no relevant record, the rules say you cannot be rated favorably or unfavorably for it.
Why Past Performance Carries So Much Weight
Under the FAR rewrite most agencies have used since 2025, past performance must be evaluated in every competitive source selection, unless the contracting officer documents why it is not appropriate. For commercial buys, the rules say past performance should be an important evaluation factor. Government buyers treat your record as the best predictor of how you will do on their contract.
The solicitation must describe how past performance will be evaluated, including how offerors with no relevant history are handled, and must let you identify past or current contracts for similar work. That includes federal, state, local government, and private sector contracts.
Where Evaluators Get The Information
What you submit in your past performance volume.
Past performance questionnaires the solicitation asks your references to fill out and send to the government.
Government records, especially the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS), which the FAR names as the official source for past performance information on federal contracts.
Other sources the evaluators find, such as interviews with program managers and contracting officers.
Evaluators can also consider information about predecessor companies, key personnel with relevant experience, and subcontractors who will perform major or critical parts of the work, when relevant to the job.
How Recency, Relevance, And Quality Are Rated
Recency is defined in each solicitation, usually as a window of years before the due date. Read the definition and do not submit work outside it.
Relevance compares the scope, size, and complexity of the old work to this job. In Department of Defense source selections, the scale is:
Rating | Meaning |
|---|---|
Very Relevant | Essentially the same scope, size, and complexity |
Relevant | Similar scope, size, and complexity |
Somewhat Relevant | Some of the scope, size, and complexity |
Not Relevant | Little or none of it |
Quality is how well you performed: on time, on budget, problems handled, customer satisfaction.
These roll up into a confidence rating, such as Substantial, Satisfactory, Neutral, Limited, or No Confidence. Our guide to how evaluators score proposals explains each one.
No Federal Record? Here Is What Happens
The rules say an offeror without a record of relevant past performance, or whose information is not available, may not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on past performance. DoD calls that Neutral Confidence.
Neutral will not knock you out. But in a tradeoff, a competitor with Substantial Confidence may still be preferred. So use everything that counts:
Commercial and state or local work. The rules let you identify private sector and state and local contracts for similar efforts.
Subcontract work. For commercial buys, the rules say contracting officers may consider your experience as a subcontractor.
Key personnel experience, when the solicitation allows it.
A teaming partner or subcontractor with a strong record, if they will do a major part of the work.
The Write-Up Template
Use this structure for each project, unless Section L gives you a different one (if it does, follow Section L exactly).
Field | What To Write |
|---|---|
Customer | Agency or company name, and office |
Contract Number | The real number |
Period Of Performance | Start and end month and year |
Value | Total and annual dollar value |
Your Role | Prime or subcontractor, and your share of the work |
Scope | What you did, with quantities (acres, sites, units, staff, calls per month) |
Why It Is Relevant | The specific features that match this job: type of work, size, location, customer, complexity |
Results | Measurable outcomes you can prove (on-time rate, awards, renewals, problems solved) |
Reference | Name, title, phone, and email of someone who will answer |
Here is a made-up example of the "Why It Is Relevant" line done well:
Like this requirement, this contract covered grounds maintenance on an active federal installation with gate access controls, a 7-day mowing cycle on more than 150 acres, and licensed irrigation repair, delivered by a crew of similar size.
And done poorly:
We have extensive experience in similar work and always exceed customer expectations.
The first one gives the evaluator something to rate. The second one does not.
Make Relevance Obvious
In grades we ran in October 2026 on real solicitations, one draft offered three building renovation projects as past performance for an erosion control and stabilization job. The fix list was blunt: replace them with the closest real work (hand crews, rock placement, seeding, work on public land), or, if there is none, say so plainly and explain which features transfer. That is the right instinct. Do not stretch a project into something it was not. Evaluators notice, and a claim that does not match the record hurts trust everywhere else in the proposal.
Past Performance Questionnaires
Many solicitations ask your references to fill out a questionnaire and send it directly to the government by a deadline.
Send it to your references the day you decide to bid.
Tell them the deadline and exactly where to send it.
Give them the contract number, dates, and scope so they do not have to look it up.
Follow up until they confirm it was sent.
A questionnaire that never arrives does you no good.
Check Your CPARS Record
If you have federal contracts, read your CPARS evaluations. The FAR gives contractors 14 days after notification to comment on an evaluation before it is made available to source selection officials. Use that window. A factual, calm response to an unfair rating is part of your record too.
Common Past Performance Mistakes
Projects outside the recency window.
No explanation of why a project is relevant.
Missing contract numbers, values, or reference contact details.
Claims that do not match the dates or dollar values elsewhere in the proposal.
Past performance placed in the wrong volume, contrary to Section L.
References who never send their questionnaires.
How GradeTheBid Helps
GradeTheBid compares your past performance write-ups to the solicitation's relevance criteria and flags projects that do not match the scope, missing contract details, and claims that conflict with the rest of your draft. It never invents a project or a fact. Gaps are marked for you to fill.
Get Your Free Proposal Grade
See how your past performance reads to an evaluator before you submit.
No credit card. No win promises. Just a clear list of what to fix before you submit. GradeTheBid never submits anything to the government. You download your files and submit them yourself.
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Keep Reading
How To Write A Capability Statement For Government Contracting (Layout And Example)
How Government Evaluators Score Proposals: Outstanding To Unacceptable
Sources
FAR Overhaul Part 15 (15.104(b)(3), Past Performance; 15.202(c), Past Performance Evaluation), Acquisition.gov
FAR Overhaul Part 12 (12.203(a)(2), Past Performance In Commercial Buys), Acquisition.gov
FAR Overhaul Part 42 (Subpart 42.11, Contractor Performance Information), Acquisition.gov
DFARS PGI 215.3, Source Selection (DoD Source Selection Procedures), Acquisition.gov
A note on rule numbers: in 2025 the federal government began rewriting the Federal Acquisition Regulation (the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul). Most agencies now use overhaul deviation text, and the formal rule was still in progress in October 2026, so a section number in your solicitation may differ from the one cited here. When they differ, follow your solicitation. GradeTheBid is not a law firm, and this article is general education, not legal advice.
