A capability statement is the document a commercial buyer forwards to whoever approves vendors. For a hydro-excavation or drainage company, it answers one question before anyone calls you: can we trust this contractor on our site? This guide explains what to put in it, in what order, and how to keep it current. It's general guidance based on how vendor reviews usually work, not the rules of any particular owner's prequalification system. If you'd like us to write it, see capability statements and prequalification pages.
What a capability statement is for
Superintendents, facility managers and procurement officers see many contractors. When someone says "send us something about your company", they mean a document they can read in minutes, check against a mental or written list, and forward. A capability statement does three jobs:
- Gets you on a shortlist for work you haven't been invited to yet.
- Speeds up formal prequalification, because every fact the owner's form asks for is already organised.
- Signals how you run your business. A precise, current document suggests a precise, current crew.
It isn't a brochure. There are no slogans, no claims you can't document and no stock photos of someone else's trucks.
The structure: two pages, eight sections
Here is the order we recommend for hydro-excavation and drainage companies. It mirrors the order reviewers tend to work through.
Page one
1. Company identity. Legal name, operating name if different, where you're registered, year founded, and head office or yard location. One line describing what you do, for example: "Hydro-excavation and commercial drainage services for contractors, utilities and facility owners in [region]."
2. Core services. A short list, specific enough to be meaningful:
- daylighting and potholing to expose buried utilities
- slot trenching and pole or pile holes
- catch-basin, sump and storm-structure cleaning
- line jetting and camera inspection
- debris and slurry removal and disposal, if you handle it
Say what you don't do or subcontract. It builds trust.
3. Service area and mobilisation. The regions you serve, typical mobilisation time for planned work, and whether you offer after-hours or emergency response. Be exact: "Same-day mobilisation within [area] for bookings before [time]" is useful; "fast response anywhere" isn't.
4. Fleet and equipment. Number of units, truck types, and the capacities and features you'd describe to a superintendent: water and debris tank sizes, heated water for winter work, hose reach, camera systems. Use the specifications your equipment supplier gives you, not estimates.
Page two
5. Safety and workers' coverage. Name each safety program, certificate or membership you hold exactly as it appears on the document, with its issuer. Include your provincial workers' compensation coverage (for example WorkSafeBC, WCB-Alberta or WSIB, depending on where you work), as stated on your clearance. Don't summarise, round up or imply anything you don't hold.
6. Insurance. The coverage types and limits on your current certificate, worded as your broker states them, plus a line saying certificates are available on request.
7. Representative work. Three to six short project descriptions: the type of site, what you did, and anything that made it notable (tight access, winter conditions, working around live utilities). Name the customer only with permission. Otherwise, describe the work: "Daylighting for a fibre installation along a [city] arterial road."
8. Contacts. One named person for estimating or sales, one number for dispatch, one email address. Make the dispatch number the most visible thing on the page.
Wording rules that keep you out of trouble
The Competition Act prohibits false or misleading representations, and a reviewer who finds one exaggeration will doubt everything else. A few rules:
- Exact names only. Write certificates, programs and memberships exactly as issued.
- No superlatives. Leave out "best", "leading" and "safest". Let facts make the case.
- Dates on anything that expires. If a document expires, say when.
- Your own photos. Real trucks in your yard beat polished stock images.
- Numbers you can prove. "Five units" is checkable. "Hundreds of satisfied customers" isn't, so leave it out.
- Permission for every name. Customers, project names and logos all need consent.
Make a web version
The statement should also live on your website, at a short, memorable address, with the same content in the same order. A web page has three advantages: it's always current, it can be found by someone who lost the PDF, and it lets a superintendent on a phone tap your dispatch number. Keep a plain-text version too, because some vendor portals strip formatting from uploads.
Build the document pack behind it
The statement is the cover. Behind it, keep a folder of everything a reviewer might ask for next, with an owner and an expiry date for each:
| Document | Who keeps it current | Typical trigger to update |
|---|---|---|
| Insurance certificate | Office manager with your broker | Renewal date |
| Workers' compensation clearance | Office manager | Each time it's reissued |
| Safety program documents | Safety lead | Annual review |
| Equipment list and specifications | Fleet lead | Any purchase or sale |
| Business registration | Owner | Any change |
| References with permission | Owner or estimator | Every six months |
When a request comes in, you send the statement the same day and the supporting documents on request. Speed reads as competence.
Sector variants
One statement rarely fits every buyer. Keep the same facts but change the order and emphasis:
- For civil and utility contractors: lead with fleet, mobilisation and work near live utilities.
- For facility and property managers: lead with scheduled maintenance, findings reports and after-hours response.
- For municipal and institutional buyers: lead with company identity, insurance, safety documentation and references, since these are usually checked first.
A maintenance routine
Set a recurring reminder every six months to:
- check every expiry date in the pack
- update the fleet section
- refresh representative work with recent jobs (with permission)
- re-read the whole statement for anything no longer true
- update the web version and the plain-text version at the same time
A worked illustration of why this matters, with assumed figures: if a single institutional agreement is worth $12,000 a year and lasts three years, losing it because an insurance certificate in your pack had lapsed costs $36,000. Half an hour twice a year is cheap insurance against that.
Common mistakes
- Writing a brochure instead of a checklist.
- Burying the dispatch number at the bottom of page two.
- Out-of-date documents in the pack.
- Unpermitted references or project names.
- Vague scope, such as "all excavation services".
- Copying a competitor's layout, which reviewers notice.
What to do next
Draft the eight sections in a plain document first, gather the supporting files, and only then design it. If you're also pursuing commercial accounts, read our ICI prospecting page, and for the hydro-ex side of the business see hydro-excavation marketing. To have us write and maintain it, call, text or email.
Frequently asked questions
Is a capability statement the same as a prequalification application?
No. Prequalification is the owner's own process, with its own forms and criteria. A capability statement is your document, which makes filling in those forms faster and gives a first impression before you're invited.
Should we list prices?
Usually not. Rates change, and buyers expect a quote. List what affects price instead, such as mobilisation, minimum call-out and after-hours availability, if you want to set expectations.
How often should we update it?
Every six months at least, and whenever an insurance certificate, safety document or major piece of equipment changes.
Can we name customers we've worked for?
Only with their permission, ideally in writing. Many contractors and owners are happy to be named, but some have policies against it.