Contractor prequalification
TxDOT must qualify bidders to become eligible to bid or to receive a bid proposal on a construction or maintenance project.
The agency has three levels of qualification, all of which require annual requalification.
Quick links
- Confidential questionnaire
- Bidders questionnaire
- Materials questionnaire
- PDF versions must be downloaded and opened in Acrobat outside of your browser, otherwise you will get an error message.
Questionnaires
1. Confidential questionnaire (CQ)
This level of qualification is normally for construction projects. Bidders must provide an audited financial statement prepared by an independent CPA firm as outlined in Bulletin No. 2.
Financial statements must be less than one year old and must be approved for at least one letting prior to the anniversary date. Bidders must also provide a completed confidential questionnaire and related supporting documents.
2. Bidder's questionnaire (BQ)
This level of qualification is for bidding on projects for which the full requirements outlined above are waived—normally smaller construction, routine maintenance, emergency, and specialty projects. In order to satisfy the requirements for bidding on a waived project, bidders must provide a completed bidder's questionnaire and related supporting documents.
The proposal request form denotes projects eligible for this level of qualification with a “W.”
3. Materials supplier's questionnaire
This level of qualification is for suppliers bidding on material and traffic control and safety device projects, which is limited to the purchase and delivery of materials used on roadways for in house state force work only. In order to satisfy the requirements for bidding on a materials project, bidders must provide a completed Materials supplier's questionnaire and related supporting documents. Any contractor with an approved confidential questionnaire or bidder's questionnaire may bid on material projects.
Submitting a questionnaire
- Emailed submissions (see page 2 of the questionnaire for address) are recommended and will allow for faster processing.
- Contractors can also use this Box link to submit through secure file upload. Instructions and checklist for submitting using the Box link can be found here.
- If you must submit a physical copy, the mailing address has changed to:
TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
ATTN: CST-PREQUALIFICATION
6230 East Stassney Lane
Austin, TX 78744
Note: Please do not e-mail, upload, AND mail a physical copy of the questionnaire; choose ONLY one method. Submitting multiple times duplicates our work and slows down the approval process. See the Instructions to Bidders at the bottom of this page.
It may take up to 10 calendar days to review your submission.
If you have any issues accessing the questionnaires, please email cst_questions@txdot.gov
| Questionnaire | Financial statement needed | Project types | Bidding capacity |
| Materials questionnaire | None | Materials contracts | N/A |
| Bidders questionnaire | No financial statement is required, but a compiled or reviewed statement can be submitted to increase bidding capacity over $1 million. | Waived projects Materials contracts |
Contractors will be limited to $1 million unless a compiled or reviewed financial statement is submitted. The method of calculating bidding capacity with a financial statement can be found on the questionnaire. |
| Confidential questionnaire | An audited financial statement is required. | All highway construction, maintenance, and materials projects | The calculation method for bid capacity is net working capital from the financial statement multiplied by a factor determined by TxDOT. |
Bidders
Qualification of bidders
TxDOT determines each contractor’s bidding capacity—the maximum dollar value a contractor may have under contract with TxDOT at any given time. A contractor may request and receive bidding proposals for upcoming projects for which the engineer’s estimate does not exceed bidding capacity, less any other TxDOT work currently under contract.
Once TxDOT qualifies a bidder, the approval is valid for one year from the date of the financial statement balance sheet. Bidder's Questionnaires are valid for one year from the date of receipt by TxDOT if no financial statements were provided.
The Materials Supplier's Questionnaire does not require the submission of financials and therefore no bidding capacity is assigned to MQ suppliers bidding on material projects. The MQ is valid for one year from the date of the receipt by TxDOT.
TxDOT grants a three-month grace period for the preparation of a new qualification statement. All prequalification/requalification packets must be received at least 10 days prior to the date of the project letting in order to review your packet prior to the letting.
- Prequalified contractors qualified under confidential questionnaire
- Prequalified contractors qualified under bidder's questionnaire
- Prequalified suppliers qualified under materials supplier's questionnaire
- Contractors confirmed as participating in E-Verify
- Currently debarred/sanctioned contractors
Instructions to bidders
The Standard Specifications provide guidance on how to submit bid proposals. Item 2, “Instructions to Bidders,” details the process for requesting and preparing the bid documents.
You only need to complete one questionnaire. For example, contractors qualified under the confidential questionnaire can bid on projects that require a lower level of qualification.
The date on the balance sheet of the financial statement must be less than one year old.
All financial statements must be from an independent CPA firm registered as such with the applicable state board of accountancy.
Please do not e-mail a questionnaire AND mail a physical copy of the questionnaire; this duplicates our work and slows down the approval process. Email submissions are preferred and will allow for faster processing.
For security reasons, please do not submit links to cloud files. If attachments are too large for one e-mail, separate attachments into multiple e-mails or submit a file.
New contractors must provide resumes of the authorized signers. Re-qualifications do not require resumes.
Please keep attachments separate from the questionnaire; do not “weave” attachments within the pages of the questionnaire. Submit a separate file with additional documents/pages. Please annotate "see attached" on your response if attachments are used.
Limited partnerships, LLCs, and corporations must be registered with the Texas Secretary of State and be registered in the Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify Program.
TxDOT reserves the right to request additional information or any corrections the reviewer deems necessary.
We no longer require e-mod ratings.
Subcontractors
Subcontractors do NOT need to be prequalified with TxDOT. Subcontractors DO need to be registered with the Texas Secretary of State and be registered in the Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify Program. Please contact the prime contractor directly for the project of interest.
Affiliations
TxDOT will not read or accept bids submitted on the same project by affiliated firms. Affiliates must prequalify as of the same balance sheet date to prevent recording the same assets multiple times in setting contractor bidding capacities.
Each of the prequalification forms lists the definitions of firms considered to be affiliated. All existing affiliates, whether prequalifying or not, must be disclosed during prequalification.
To report an affiliation, please contact 512-416-2584.
Technical Qualification
Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)
TxDOT requires technical qualification for certain categories of ITS work. This technical qualification is in addition to all other bidder qualifications required by TxDOT.