What Is a MATOC or MACC? Multiple-Award Construction Contracts Explained

If you follow federal construction, you'll see MATOCs and MACCs everywhere. The Army, Navy, Air Force, VA and civilian agencies all use them to buy repair, renovation and new construction across their installations. For small and mid-sized contractors, they're one of the most important ways into steady federal work.

We prepare MATOC and MACC proposals regularly, including contracts with ceilings in the hundreds of millions. This guide explains how they work and what matters when you pursue one.

What a MATOC or MACC is

A MATOC (multiple award task order contract) or MACC (multiple award construction contract) is an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract awarded to several construction contractors at once. Instead of competing every project from scratch, the agency prequalifies a pool of contractors, then competes individual projects as task orders among them.

Agencies are generally required to prefer multiple awards for IDIQ contracts, which is one reason these vehicles are so common.

How a MATOC competition works

The base contract award

The initial solicitation typically evaluates:

• Past performance and experience, often the most important factor
• Technical capability, such as management approach, key personnel and safety
• Price, usually through a seed project
• Bonding capacity, often with a minimum single-project and aggregate amount

Contracts vary widely. Recent examples include contracts with ceilings around $100 million and up to seven awards, and larger vehicles with ceilings of several hundred million dollars covering many installations.

The seed project

Many MATOC solicitations include a seed project: a real project with drawings and specifications that every offeror prices. It gives the government a like-for-like price comparison, and it's often awarded as the first task order.

Pricing a seed project is a real estimate, not a formality, and it has to reconcile with the rest of your proposal, including your limitations on subcontracting.

Task orders after award

Once awarded, you compete against the other awardees for each task order. Awardees get a fair opportunity to be considered for orders above the micro-purchase threshold, and each order follows the procedures in the base contract. Some orders are price-only; others ask for a short technical or schedule submission.

Winning the contract is only step one

A MATOC award comes with a small minimum guarantee, often just a few thousand dollars. The revenue comes from task orders, and some awardees win many while others win few or none.

The contractors who do well usually:

• Know the installations and the people who manage their facilities
• Price task orders quickly and accurately, since turnaround times can be short
• Keep bonding capacity available for multiple orders at once
• Build a performance record on early orders that helps on later ones

On-ramps

Many recent multiple-award contracts include on-ramps, periodic windows to add awardees. Contracts with ordering periods longer than five years are generally expected to include them unless the contracting officer documents a reason not to. If you miss an initial award, an on-ramp may be your next chance.

Common reasons MATOC proposals fall short

• Past performance that doesn't meet the minimums for project count, value, type or recency
• Missing or incomplete past performance questionnaires for projects without CPARS
• Seed project pricing that doesn't reconcile with the rest of the proposal
• Bonding letters that don't state the required single and aggregate amounts
• Page limit and formatting violations
• Subcontracting plans that don't demonstrate the self-performance a set-aside requires

See Past Performance for Federal Construction Proposals for the most common disqualifier.

Where to go from here

MATOCs and MACCs reward contractors who prepare early: assembling past performance, securing bonding and building a team before the solicitation drops. If you're considering one, we can help you assess fit and prepare a compliant proposal.