SF 1442
Solicitation, Offer, and Award (Construction, Alteration, or Repair)
What It Is
SF 1442 is the cover form for construction, alteration, or repair work. It functions like SF 33 — solicitation, offer, and award on one page — but is tailored to construction, where Davis-Bacon wage rates, bonding (Miller Act), and a different limitations-on-subcontracting threshold apply. SDVOSBs in the trades will see SF 1442 on building, renovation, and facility-repair set-asides.
When You'll Use It
- Set-asides for construction, alteration, or repair of real property.
- Projects subject to Davis-Bacon prevailing wages and Miller Act bonding.
- As the offer page you sign and the award page the contracting officer executes.
Who Completes It
The contracting officer issues the solicitation; the offeror completes the bid/offer amount, bonding, and signature blocks and returns it.
Key Blocks to Get Right
| Block / Section | What It Captures |
|---|---|
| Offer amount & period | Your total construction price and the period for which the offer is held open. |
| Bonding | Bid, performance, and payment bond information — construction over the Miller Act threshold requires performance and payment bonds. |
| Amendment acknowledgment & signature | Acknowledge every SF 30 amendment and sign to make a binding offer; an unsigned or incomplete form is not a valid bid. |
Common Pitfalls
- Pricing without the current Davis-Bacon wage determination, then being unable to perform at the bid price.
- Overlooking the 15% self-performance limit that applies to general construction set-asides (vs. 50% for services).
- Missing bonding requirements, which can make an apparent low bid non-responsive.
Frequently Asked
How is the limitations-on-subcontracting rule different for construction?
For services and supplies the prime (plus similarly situated subs) must self-perform at least 50%. For general construction the prime must self-perform at least 15% of the cost (excluding materials), and for specialty trade construction at least 25%. The lower construction thresholds reflect how much work is normally subcontracted in the trades. See the 13 CFR 125.6 explainer for the full breakdown.
What bonding do federal construction contracts require?
Under the Miller Act, construction contracts above the statutory threshold require performance and payment bonds. Bid bonds are commonly required as well. Confirm the exact amounts and threshold in the solicitation, because they drive both responsiveness and your bonding capacity needs.
Primary Sources
Plain-English reference, not legal advice. Standard forms are periodically reissued and the FAR is amended for inflation and policy — always download the current edition from the GSA Forms Library and confirm requirements against the solicitation and your contracting officer before relying on it.
Change log (1)
- LaunchedPublished the federal contracting forms reference covering the standard forms an SDVOSB encounters when bidding and performing set-asides — SF 1449, SF 33, SF 18, SF 30, SF 1442, SF 330, SF 1408, SF 1413, the eSRS ISR (formerly SF 294), SF LLL, SF 1034/1035, and the SAM.gov representations & certifications (FAR 52.204-8) — each with a key-blocks table, filing pitfalls, FAQPage, DigitalDocument, Dataset, and BreadcrumbList structured data, primary-source FAR citations, and cross-links into the glossary, how-to guides, FAQ, and regulation explainers.