How to respond to a sources sought notice, with a template you can copy

A sources sought notice isn't a bid. It's an agency asking which companies could do a job before it decides how to buy it. Nobody wins a contract from one, but a short, specific reply can help decide whether the bid that follows is set aside for small businesses. It also puts your company in front of the contracting officer weeks or months before anyone else bids.

They're common. On November 2, 2026, 217 of the 2,003 open notices on SAM.gov under ten facilities codes we track were sources sought notices, about one in nine.

What a sources sought notice is

Before an agency buys, it has to find out who's out there and what the work usually costs. A sources sought notice is one way it does that research. On SAM.gov it shows up as its own notice type, "Sources Sought", and it often says plainly that it is for planning only.

The rules treat these like other requests for information: responses aren't offers, and no contract can be awarded from them. You can't be held to anything you write, and you don't need a price.

Why it's worth an hour

• It can decide the set-aside. SBA rules tell the contracting officer to set a contract aside for small businesses when there's a reasonable expectation of offers from at least two capable small firms at fair prices. Replies to a sources sought notice are one of the main ways the agency finds out whether those firms exist. If only one small business answers, the work may go out to everyone.
• It can shape the work. Some notices include a draft work statement and ask for comments on sizes, frequencies or staffing. That's your chance to point out something unrealistic before it's locked into the bid.
• It gets you known. The contracting officer sees your name, and you learn the bid is coming, often months ahead.

What a notice asks for: a real one

Most ask for the same handful of things. Here's a recent example. On October 30, 2026, NAVFAC Washington posted a sources sought notice for janitorial services in three secured buildings at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia (notice N4008027RMCBQ on SAM.gov). It was aimed at certified 8(a) firms under NAICS 561720, with a $22.0 million size limit. It asked for a capability statement of no more than three pages covering:

1. A company profile. Number of employees, office locations, UEI, CAGE code, proof of the VETS-4212 report, your small business status and any certifications.
2. Three recent, completed projects. For each: prime or subcontractor, contract value and value per year, square footage, a short description of the work, the agency, contract number and title, where and when it was done, and any security requirements.

Replies had to go by email only, by November 20 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. The notice said respondents won't be told how they were judged, and it won't take calls asking for a bid package. One thing is unusual: every worker needs a Top Secret clearance. Most cleaning and grounds notices don't ask for anything like that.

What to send

1. Answer every question, in the order asked. Use the notice's own numbering, so the reader can check each item off.
2. Give the company basics. Legal name, UEI, CAGE code, address, a contact, your size under the notice's NAICS code and only the certifications you actually hold.
3. Show two or three jobs like this one. Commercial and local government work counts. Give the size, yearly value, dates and a reference for each. Our guide to past performance from commercial work shows how to pick them.
4. Show you understand the work. A short paragraph on how you'd staff and equip it, how fast you could start, and any license, clearance or bonding the notice mentions.
5. Say you'd bid. One sentence, such as "If this requirement is set aside for small businesses, we intend to submit an offer." That's the line that counts toward the two firms.

What to leave out

• A generic brochure. A capability statement that doesn't answer the questions is easy to skip.
• Prices, unless the notice asks for a rough estimate.
• Requests for the solicitation, a meeting or a call. Most notices say they won't answer them.
• Extra pages. Stay inside the page limit and the font size it sets.
• Late replies. Like bids, they often aren't read after the deadline.

A reply you can copy

After you send it

Follow the notice on SAM.gov, so you get an email when it changes or the bid posts. Don't expect a reply; agencies rarely send one. The solicitation can come weeks or months later, often in the busy summer months, as our guide on when agencies buy shows. If the notice is for work that's already under contract, our guide to contracts coming up for re-bid explains how to see when the current one ends.

Keep a copy. Most of it can be reused for the next notice, and for the past performance part of the bid itself.