The VA healthcare construction MATOC is a planned $7.5 billion, nationwide multiple-award IDIQ contract for construction, renovation, repair, and design-build work at Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities. The VA issued its presolicitation on October 14, 2026. It anticipates releasing the formal request for proposals on or about October 30, 2026.
As of October 26, the procurement remains at the presolicitation stage. No proposals are requested, and no proposal deadline has been announced. The notice establishes the planned structure, not the final evaluation or submission rules. Those distinctions are essential to an accurate assessment of the opportunity.
VA Healthcare Construction MATOC: Solicitation Snapshot
| Item | Announced information |
|---|---|
| Program | National VA Healthcare Construction Program — Design-Build and Construction MATOC |
| Notice / Solicitation number | 36C10F27R0003 |
| Agency | Department of Veterans Affairs; Office of Facilities Acquisition Management |
| Current status | Presolicitation issued October 14, 2026; proposals not yet requested |
| Anticipated RFP release | On or about October 30, 2026; subject to confirmation |
| Contracting approach | Multiple firm-fixed-price IDIQ awards under a Multiple Award Task Order Contract (MATOC) |
| Total contract capacity | $7.5 billion across the MATOC—not a guaranteed award amount to any one contractor |
| Ordering period | One base year plus four option years, for up to five years |
| Scope and locations | Construction, renovation, repair, and design-build at VA medical centers and supporting facilities nationwide, as assigned by task order |
| Competition | Unrestricted component and an SDVOSB set-aside component |
| NAICS / stated size standard | 236220 — Commercial and Institutional Building Construction; $45 million |
| Proposal due date | Not yet announced |
These terms come from the official SAM.gov presolicitation. The final RFP and subsequent amendments will control the competition.
What Construction Work Will the MATOC Cover?
For a maintained procurement-specific baseline, see the VA healthcare construction MATOC solicitation profile. The published government solicitation and amendments remain controlling.
The program is designed to provide VA with multiple contractors capable of performing healthcare-facility construction and related work across the United States. The announced scope covers new construction, renovation, repairs, and design-build activities at medical centers and associated facilities. Individual projects and their precise requirements will be defined through task orders.
Healthcare construction presents operating conditions that differ from many conventional commercial projects. Work in or near occupied clinical buildings can involve controlled access, planned utility interruptions, infection-prevention measures, interim life-safety arrangements, and coordination with facility operations. Design-build assignments may add responsibility for coordinating architecture, engineering, constructability, and construction delivery.
These are relevant project-execution considerations, not announced evaluation factors for this MATOC. Their applicability must be established from the final solicitation and the requirements of individual task orders. Contractors evaluating the market can review VA’s Technical Information Library, which publishes design manuals, master construction specifications, design-and-construction procedures, and other technical standards used in VA projects.
How the $7.5 Billion IDIQ Ceiling Works
A multiple-award task order contract (MATOC) is not a single $7.5 billion construction project. It is a contracting framework through which the government can award multiple IDIQ contracts and subsequently place orders for discrete requirements. The published $7.5 billion figure is a shared ceiling for the overall program; it does not establish how much work will be ordered, how that work will be distributed, or the value any individual awardee will receive.
For the VA healthcare construction MATOC, the commercial implication is direct. Prospective prime contractors face two stages: qualifying for an IDIQ award and competing effectively for work after award. An initial contract position may provide access to future task-order opportunities, but it is not a commitment that a contractor will receive a particular project or annual revenue level. Federal IDIQ rules distinguish maximum contract capacity from the government’s minimum ordering obligation.
The presolicitation does not identify the intended number of awardees, task-order dollar ranges, geographic groupings, or the detailed ordering and competition procedures. Those omissions matter when estimating both the cost of pursuing the vehicle and the resources required to perform under it.
Who May Compete: Unrestricted and SDVOSB Tracks
The VA healthcare construction MATOC is expected to include both unrestricted competition and a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) set-aside component. This gives the opportunity a wider potential prime-contractor audience than an acquisition restricted entirely to one business category. However, the presolicitation does not specify how capacity, awards, or future task orders will be divided between the components.
For firms considering the SDVOSB component, certification is a substantive eligibility issue. The Small Business Administration’s Veteran Small Business Certification program administers SDVOSB certification for federal set-aside contracting. A company should verify its certification, size status, ownership and control, and any applicable joint-venture rules against the final RFP before relying on eligibility for a reserved award.
The VA notice also states that offerors must maintain active SAM.gov registration and that joint ventures must have their own SAM registration at the time of award. General small-business status, by itself, should not be mistaken for eligibility under the SDVOSB portion. Firms that do not qualify for a reserved award may still assess the unrestricted competition or potential subcontracting roles, subject to the eventual solicitation terms.
What Prospective Contractors Should Assess
The VA has not published the proposal evaluation factors. Even so, firms can evaluate whether they possess the capabilities and documentation that a nationwide healthcare-construction program may demand.
Comparable Construction and Design-Build Experience
A useful initial inventory identifies completed projects by facility type, dollar value, scope, contracting role, delivery method, completion date, and documented performance. Healthcare work, occupied-facility renovations, complex building systems, and multi-trade coordination may be particularly relevant to a contractor’s own pursuit assessment. The final RFP—not assumptions based on similar contracts—will determine which examples qualify for evaluation.
Working in Active Medical Facilities
A construction approach for an active medical campus must account for the potential consequences of noise, dust, access restrictions, life-safety disruptions, and utility outages. Contractors should assess whether their actual project history demonstrates coordinated phasing, protection of occupied areas, infection-control awareness, and restoration of building services. Applicable safety and technical obligations will be set by the specific contract documents.
Geographic Reach and Delivery Capacity
“Nationwide” describes the program’s potential work locations; it does not, by itself, establish that every successful contractor must maintain a presence in every state. Firms should examine the regions and project sizes they can serve competitively, the availability of reliable specialty subcontractors and design partners, and the ability to mobilize without compromising current obligations. Whether VA establishes regional pools or other limitations remains unknown.
Financial, Bonding, and Program-Management Readiness
Prospective primes should examine surety capacity, working capital, estimating capability, schedule control, quality management, and their ability to oversee concurrent projects. The presolicitation provides no specific bond thresholds or task-order size bands, so financial screening at this stage should be treated as internal qualification rather than a statement of VA’s final requirements.
What the Final Solicitation Must Establish
When VA publishes the solicitation, several unanswered questions will become central to the decision to bid:
- Award architecture: How many awards are anticipated, and will competition be divided into pools, regions, or other categories?
- Set-aside mechanics: How will the unrestricted and SDVOSB components be structured, and what eligibility and teaming rules apply to each?
- Evaluation standards: What are the stated past-performance thresholds, technical factors, experience requirements, and basis for award?
- Proposal process: Are there multiple submission phases, project examples, specialized forms, or other mandatory deliverables?
- Task-order economics: What are the minimum and maximum order parameters, pricing arrangements, and procedures for competing or receiving orders?
- Execution requirements: What bonding, insurance, design-professional, safety, and quality requirements apply at award or task-order level?
- Schedule: What are the confirmed deadlines for questions, proposals, amendments, and other required actions?
The earlier draft solicitation, 36C10F26R50003, belongs to the planning phase. VA explicitly states that the forthcoming solicitation 36C10F27R0003 supersedes and replaces prior draft versions. Contractors should therefore reconcile any preparation based on the draft against the new final package before submission.
How Contractors Can Prepare Before Release
Before release, firms can determine whether they intend to lead, join a team, or pursue defined subcontract work. They can also confirm active SAM registration and any applicable SDVOSB certification. A current inventory of comparable projects, documented performance, surety capacity, and qualified construction and design partners is useful preparation.
However, final compliance matrices, price assumptions, and proposal narratives should follow the controlling RFP instructions. Otherwise, teams risk spending effort against requirements that may change between the presolicitation and final release.
The anticipated October 30 release is not a proposal deadline. As of October 26, the official notice provides no proposal due date. Dates shown elsewhere in an opportunity listing, including an administrative inactive date, should not be substituted for a government-stated response deadline.
Conclusion: Qualify the Pursuit Against the Final RFP
The VA healthcare construction MATOC is notable for its $7.5 billion shared capacity, five-year potential ordering period, nationwide healthcare-facility scope, and combination of unrestricted and SDVOSB competition. Its scale makes disciplined qualification particularly important: a strong technical capability does not automatically translate into the right prime-contractor role, and an IDIQ award does not guarantee task-order volume.
Until the final RFP is issued, the sound approach is to separate confirmed procurement terms from contractor-readiness judgments. The official solicitation, attachments, and amendments will determine eligibility, evaluation, submission requirements, and the competitive opportunities actually available.
Primary source: SAM.gov — VA National Healthcare Construction MATOC, Notice 36C10F27R0003. Procurement status verified October 26, 2026.
