Why create a Statement of Qualification (SoQ)?

Contractors seeking financing for commercial projects should maintain a Statement of Qualification (SoQ). It’s a key document to present to clients, project funders, and project investors..

It doesn’t take a lot of effort. You already have all the information you need about your company and its history of projects. Format it and put it into a document. Properly written, it puts stakeholders at ease that they are dealing with a professional and well-managed organization, a key perception.

“But we have a website. Why do we need a Statement of Qualification?”

A website is important, and it has a different function. Another way to think of this is the difference between a magazine and its media kit. The first is polish and content, while the second is inwardly facing nuts-and-bolts information about readers, distribution and pricing.

A SoQ is a living document that grows with a company. It charts the qualifications, achievements and references of a contracting business, like an individual’s resume.

“What if we look too small because we don’t have a lot of projects?”

Even if your first SoQ’s projects list is modest, the mere fact that you have an SoQ will elevate the confidence that you might otherwise elicit. Example:…if you’ve built 3 different small projects and are seeking to build a large one, an investor will respect your reaching for a new objective if you can show that your projects to date came in on budget/on time and are performing. It also makes your references important.

When does CleanFi require an SoQ?

For any submission to BidDesk, especially for PPA’s and other “3rd-party owned” project financing mechanisms like Operating Leases.

Why? Because investors receive a lot of projects to look at. But they are only actively looking for “good” projects, meaning projects that have limited risk. One of the biggest risks to an investor is during the construction phase (that’s why many do not touch a project until it completed), and in the maintenance requirements of the system. Investors don’t take contractor risks.

The SoQ shows you can deliver the project on time/budget with optimal performance for maximal lifetime, with the least liability.

CleanFi makes sure that projects presented for bid to our investor pool have clear and qualifying documentation, key project values, and that they demonstrate a qualified design/installation professional.

This impacts the response rate and response time to each submission, as well as the price investors are willing to bid when they see a project come in from BidDesk.

Per investor and funder requests, here is the information you should include in a CleanFi Statement of Qualifications:

(Use your own formatting – None is implied here)
Company full legal name , DBA if any, and business address.
License number, inclusive of trade specialty (ie, electrical) under that name for the state in which the project is being built.
Insurance and Bonding information
Additional certifications of any and all relevance
A brief history of the company, and (if applicable) your mission statement and/or corporate values.
List are the owners, principals, key executives.
List the main project team members, with their specialties and background
List key sub-contractor relationships (if any) – Who, what, where.
Annual volume of business in gross dollars and job count.
And last but most important, a list of projects developed and completed by the company, with top line, useful information for each.

(Solar contractor example: List key installations with system location, size and installation type, date of system commission, off-taker and contact info (optional but should at least be offered on an “upon request” basis), key material components (manuf/model), original anticipated production, and actual production (if/when possible, provide link to daily production monitoring site).

You only need to write it once.

…then just update it . When presenting an SoQ in relation to a project you aspire to do or get funding for, create the confidence that your company has the management expertise, the drive, the construction experience and the financial stability to be able to plan and complete the project. Show off your corporate pride, and incite others to invest in your projects via your Statement of Qualification.

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