Grade your PBS scorecard before the government does
GSA's Public Buildings Service is weighing a nationwide large construction IDIQ scored on a self-scoring scorecard: you claim your own points, attach the proof, and after closing the government expects to validate every point you claimed. This kit tells you which of your points will hold.
What the notice says: a contemplated multiple-award IDIQ for general construction with design-build and construction manager capability, seven zones, one scorecard per zone, and supporting documentation for each point claimed. Responses to the RFI are due Monday, October 5, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. Central. Read the notice on SAM.gov.
Our read: on a self-scored vehicle the score is not the hard part. The proof is. The CPARS that is interim, not final. The project that finished two months outside the recency window. The certification that is still pending in SAM. Each one quietly costs points, and you find out after closing.
The GSA PBS Scorecard Grader Kit
- The grader, already mapped. Every element of the draft scorecard is loaded: the $20 million floor, the six- and three-year windows, NAICS 236220, the zone test, CPARS thresholds, federal prime, courthouse / port of entry / laboratory, design-build and CMc, the PLA, the geographic spread and the small business section.
- Claimed versus defensible. Enter your projects and your documents, claim your points, and each line comes back defensible or not, with the reason written out.
- A worked example. The same workbook filled in for a fictional contractor, so you can see how gaps show up before you enter your own firm.
- An evidence locker. A folder structure and naming convention for the award, mods, PWS, CPARS and PPQs, PLA, bonding letter and SAM record, with a note in every folder.
The kit is mapped from the draft scorecard GSA posted with its RFI on September 17, 2026. The notice says the actual scorecard will be issued with the solicitation, so criteria, points and documentation rules may change. When the final solicitation posts, we will update the kit and email the new edition to everyone who downloaded this one. Nothing to do on your end.
Confirm your email and the download arrives straight away, on screen and in your inbox. The Monday issue comes with it: every construction sources sought, solicitation and award at DoW, VA and GSA. Unsubscribe in one click, any time. Already subscribed? Enter your address and we'll email you the kit.
Read before you rely on it. The kit is a self-assessment aid, provided as is. You are responsible for reading the solicitation, every amendment and all of its instructions, and for checking every entry, formula and result. We make no guarantee that the mapping, formulas or scores are complete, accurate or current, and we take no responsibility for your proposal, your score, the government's evaluation or any award outcome. The solicitation governs. Not affiliated with or endorsed by GSA.
What the draft scorecard leaves open
- Element order
- On qualifying projects 1 and 2, element 3 is Performance Excellence and element 4 is Federal Prime. On projects 3 to 5 they are reversed. The grader maps them by meaning, not by number.
- Small business bonus
- Stated as up to 3 points in the overview, max 5 in the section header and max 6 in the subtotal. The small business maximum of 46 implies 6.
- Eligibility as a gate
- The draft does not say whether a project’s rating, recency and facility points count when it fails eligibility. The grader assumes they don’t.
- Bonding
- Element 4.3 asks for bonding of three times a minimum the RFI does not state.
- Closing date
- Not set yet. Every recency test moves when it is.
Grading a different solicitation?
The general HTRO Score Sheet Grader maps any self-scoring sheet: per-project points, dollar floors, recency windows, rating thresholds, gate criteria and portfolio tests. It comes with the evidence locker kit and this PBS mapping as a worked example.