# How to show references and experience in a public tender

> Most public RFPs score experience and check references. Pick three to five recent, similar jobs, ask each contact for permission, and give the buyer accurate names, phone numbers, emails, dates, scope and value. Write each project as a short story that matches the tender's scope. If you have no public work yet, use similar private jobs, subcontracts and your team's own experience.

By James DeGreef. Updated 2026-10-24. Facts checked 2026-10-24. Source page: https://crewbid.tech/guides/references-and-experience-for-tenders

In a scored public bid, experience is often worth 20 to 40 percent of the points, and references can be pass or fail. Yet many firms treat the references page as an afterthought, listing whoever comes to mind with an old phone number. A well prepared experience section is one of the easiest ways to pick up points against firms that are bigger than you.

## What do buyers actually want?

They want proof that you have done this kind of work, at this size, recently, and that the client was happy. In practice:

- **Similar scope:** the same trade and type of service, not just "we do lots of work".
- **Similar size:** a contract value, site count or crew size close to theirs.
- **Recent:** usually within the last three to five years. The tender often says.
- **Public or similar clients:** public work helps but is rarely required. Strata councils, property managers, commercial owners and First Nations can all be strong references.
- **Contactable people:** a named person who will answer the phone and remember you.

Read the tender's wording closely. If it says "three references for contracts of similar scope within the last five years," then a 2017 job or a different trade may score zero. See [how to read a tender](https://crewbid.tech/guides/how-to-read-a-tender).

## How do I pick and prepare references?

1. **Keep a reference list all year,** not just at bid time. For each job, record client, contact, phone, email, dates, value, scope and a short outcome. This belongs in your [bid library](https://crewbid.tech/articles/bid-library).
2. **Ask permission every time** you use someone, and tell them which buyer may call and what the job is. A surprised reference sounds unsure.
3. **Match references to the tender.** Use the janitorial references for a janitorial bid, not your best-known name.
4. **Check contact details.** People change jobs. A wrong number can cost you the points or even make your bid non-compliant if references are mandatory.
5. **Spread them out.** Avoid using the same person on three bids in one month.

## How do buyers check references?

Buyers usually call or email with a short set of questions, often the same for every bidder: Was the work done on time and on budget? How was communication? Were there safety issues? Would you hire them again? Some score each answer. Read [how buyers check references](https://crewbid.tech/articles/how-buyers-check-references) for what those calls sound like.

Buyers can also use their own experience with you. If you worked for them before and it went badly, that may count, as long as the tender says it can. This is one reason the work you do now affects the bids you win later.

## How do I write the experience section?

Write each project as a short case study, about 150 to 250 words:

- **Client and location.**
- **Dates and contract value.**
- **What you did,** in the tender's own terms.
- **What was hard,** and how you handled it.
- **Results:** on time, complaints down, renewed, extended, or praised.
- **Your people:** who on your proposed team did the work.

Put the most similar project first. Use photos only if the tender allows them and they show something useful.

## What if I have no public experience yet?

Everyone starts somewhere, and public buyers know it. Try these:

- **Use similar private work.** A strata with 40 units is relevant to a housing society. A private office building is relevant to a municipal office.
- **Use your people's experience.** If your supervisor ran public contracts for another firm, say so, with dates and roles.
- **Start below the open thresholds.** Smaller quotes and invitations often check references lightly. See [public tender thresholds](https://crewbid.tech/guides/public-tender-thresholds-bc).
- **Subcontract first.** Working under a prime contractor on public work builds references fast. See [subcontracting on public work](https://crewbid.tech/guides/subcontracting-public-work).
- **Get on a list.** Rotations on pre-qualified lists can give small firms their first public job. See [standing offers and pre-qualified lists](https://crewbid.tech/guides/standing-offers-prequalified-lists).

And once you win one, look after it. Your first public client is your best future reference. Read [your first public contract](https://crewbid.tech/articles/first-public-contract).

## Sources

- [Government procurement processes (Government of BC)](https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/bc-procurement-resources/sell-to-government/government-procurement-processes)
- [Legal basics of competitive bidding and procurement in Canada (AHBL)](https://www.ahbl.ca/legal-basics-of-competitive-bidding-and-procurement-in-canada/)