The paper focuses on the contribution of on-site evaluation in order to promote the consolidation of the guiding principles of SINAES based on the constructive thinking of consultants and the ad hoc institution. The theoretical discussion presents aspects related to the construction of institutional identity, based on the contribution of evaluation and on the definitions of institutional evaluation in Brazil. It also discusses Sinaes as a model along with the guiding principles that structure the System, emphasizing the contribution of the on-site evaluation process on the construction of institutional epistemology. Methodological interactions occur on the bases of academic research, of indirect documental character, which can be classified as descriptive-explanatory, predominantly qualitative and designed as participative research. The constructivist investigations allow us to conclude, among other things, that, from the standpoint of the peer review panel, the aspects that determine the compliance with the structural principles of Sinaes in the context of the institutional evaluation of higher education institutions in Brazil promote a constructivist and democratic relationship of mutual and continuous learning between evaluators and the institution itself, which is responsible for consolidating these principles in Brazilian higher education.