Army ERDC Broad Agency Announcement W912HZ26S0001: who can submit, the deadline and the page limit

Who can submit

"Proposals from U. S. Government facilities and organizations will not be considered under this program announcement." (Introduction). Federally funded research centers and government entities "cannot propose to this BAA in any capacity unless they meet the following conditions" (Introduction).

"All offerors must be registered and active in the System for Award Management (SAM) at https://sam.gov/content/home prior to submission of offer." (Part IV, A). "ERDC also encourages small business concerns, women owned small businesses, small disadvantaged business concerns, small businesses located in HUBZones, businesses participating in the Small Business Administration 8(a) program, and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses to submit research proposals for consideration." (Introduction)

The announcement states no rule for foreign-owned or non-U.S. organizations. It does say that ERDC's International Research Office in London "promotes cooperation with the international research community as a means to advance science and engineering knowledge and technical capabilities in areas relevant to ERDC research interests" and that "Research Grants that address topics in this BAA" are available in that context, with a contact for questions (Introduction).

What kind of work it covers

"To be eligible for consideration and possible contract award, the technology or methodology shall be either basic research, applied research, advanced technology development not for a specific system/hardware, or demonstration and validation." (Introduction). Proposals "should clearly identify within the proposal any research that is expected to be fundamental in nature as defined in National Security Defense Directive 189" (Introduction).

Seven laboratories take pre-proposals: Coastal and Hydraulics (CHL), Geotechnical and Structures (GSL), Environmental (EL), Information Technology (ITL), Construction Engineering Research (CERL), Cold Regions Research and Engineering (CRREL) and Geospatial Research (GRL). Each laboratory lists numbered research topics with a point of contact in Part I of the BAA and on ERDCWERX. "Offerors may submit pre-proposals against any research area." (ERDCWERX BAA page)

The deadline

The announcement text has no closing date. The SAM.gov notice says "This announcement is continuously open; pre-proposals may be submitted and will be reviewed at any time throughout the year." ERDCWERX says "This announcement is open until superseded by another announcement." The BAA says "This BAA supersedes all previous editions and shall remain in effect until superseded." (Introduction)

The SAM.gov posting for this edition shows a response date of January 1, 2027 (12:00 a.m. Central) and an archive date of January 2, 2027. Checked on November 3, 2026: ERDCWERX still links the April 2026 text and SAM.gov shows no newer edition. Check SAM.gov for a newer edition before you submit.

Page limit and format

"Pre-proposals shall not exceed five (5) pages and shall reference the Topic Number for the specific research area (e.g., CHL-1, CRREL-10, CERL-15) under which they are being submitted." (Part II, C). A pre-proposal may be submitted under one topic area only (Part II, D). The BAA text sets no font or margin rule for pre-proposals.

"The executive summary shall not contain any sensitive data or proprietary information and is excluded from the pre-proposal page limitation of five pages." (Part II, E.10)

What goes in a pre-proposal

• "A title descriptive of the research to be performed." (Part II, E.1)
• "The name and phone number of the principal investigator or senior researcher who would be in charge of the project." (Part II, E.3)
• "The duration of the project." (Part II, E.4)
• "Statements describing the objective(s) or goal(s) of the working hypothesis to be proved or disproved, if appropriate." (Part II, E.5)
• Technical approach and "the potential military and/or civil payoffs that might ultimately derive from the proposed research to the Corps of Engineers." (Part II, E.6 and E.7)
• "A one-page curriculum vitae of the principal investigator." (Part II, E.8)
• "A one-page Executive Summary describing the background, scope of work, deliverables, and total proposed price (no cost breakdown is required in the executive summary)." (Part II, E.10)

How the government judges it

Pre-proposals "will undergo a technical review, as received, using the following factors/criteria" (Part II, F): "The overall scientific and/or technical merits of the proposal, including how the proposal meets the FAR requirements for scientific study and experimentation directed toward advancing the state-of-the-art or increasing knowledge or understanding, rather than focusing on a specific system or hardware solution." (Part II, F.1); "The potential contributions of the effort to the ERDC mission." (Part II, F.2); and "Available funding." (Part II, F.3)

"Pre-proposals will be evaluated against the criteria stated in the announcement without regard to other submissions." (ERDCWERX BAA page). "Pre-proposals will be responded to within 60 days of receipt, either encouraging submission of a full proposal or advising the offeror of the unfavorable review." (Part II, G). "Pre-proposals that do not have sufficient scientific merit or relevance to the Army's needs, or those in areas for which funds are not expected to be available, may be declined." (Part II, G)

"An invitation to submit a full proposal based off a favorable pre-proposal review will be submitted directly to the offeror from the ERDC Contracting Office." (Part III, A)

Contract type

"Resulting awards may be in the form of purchase orders, contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements depending upon the specifics of the effort, such as extent of Government involvement, actual scope of work, and cost." (Introduction). "This BAA affords the offeror the option of submitting proposals for the award of a contract, grant, or cooperative agreement. However, the type of agreement may change based on the nature of the effort and as a result of negotiation." (Part IV, D)

How to submit

Before writing, the BAA says organizations "are encouraged to make preliminary inquiries as to the general need for the type of research effort contemplated before expending extensive effort in preparing a detailed research proposal" and that "Points of contact are listed with the specific research areas for each laboratory." (Part II)

"Pre-proposals shall be submitted electronically at https://www.erdcwerx.org/" (Part IV, A). "For contractual questions concerning pre-proposals to ERDC, contact the personnel listed at the end of each topic area." (ERDCWERX BAA page)

Funding

"The availability of funds may limit the ability of the U.S. Government to make awards in specific areas, nevertheless pre-proposals are sought under this announcement for all research areas identified." (SAM.gov notice)

Sources

Checked November 3, 2026.

• ERDC, 2026 Broad Agency Announcement W912HZ26S0001, April 2026 text (PDF)
• ERDCWERX, ERDC Broad Agency Announcement page
• SAM.gov notice (response date January 1, 2027, 12:00 a.m. CST)