(a) VA procurements. For VA procurements, a contracting officer may set aside a contract for a VOSB or SDVOSB as set forth in the VAAR. For non-VA procurements, the contracting officer first must review a requirement to determine whether it is excluded from SDVOSB contracting pursuant to § 128.403.

(b) Contracting among small business programs—(1) Acquisitions valued at or below the simplified acquisition threshold. For VA procurements, a contracting officer may award at or below the simplified acquisition threshold as set forth in the VAAR. For non-VA procurements, the contracting officer shall set aside any acquisition with an anticipated dollar value exceeding the micro-purchase threshold but not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold (defined in the FAR at 48 CFR 2.101) for small business concerns, regardless of the place of performance, when there is a reasonable expectation that offers will be obtained from at least two small business concerns that are competitive in terms of quality and delivery and award will be made at fair market prices. The requirement in this paragraph (b)(1) does not preclude a contracting officer from making an award to a small business under the 8(a) BD, Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone), SDVOSB, or WOSB Programs.

(2) Acquisitions valued above the simplified acquisition threshold. (i) For VA procurements, a contracting officer may award above the simplified acquisition threshold as set forth in the VAAR. For non-VA procurements, the contracting officer shall set aside any acquisition with an anticipated dollar value exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold (defined in the FAR at 48 CFR 2.101) for small business concerns, regardless of the place of performance, when there is a reasonable expectation that offers will be obtained from at least two small business concerns that are competitive in terms of quality and delivery and award will be made at fair market prices. However, after conducting market research, the contracting officer shall first consider a set-aside or sole source award (if the sole source award is permitted by statute or regulation) under the 8(a) BD, HUBZone, SDVOSB, or WOSB programs before setting aside the requirement as a small business set-aside. There is no order of precedence among the 8(a) BD, HUBZone, SDVOSB, or WOSB programs. The contracting officer must document the contract file with the rationale used to support the specific set-aside, including the type and extent of market research conducted. In addition, the contracting officer must document the contract file showing that the apparent successful offeror’s certifications in the System for Award Management (SAM) (or any successor system) and associated representations were reviewed.

(ii) SBA believes that progress in fulfilling the various small business goals, as well as other factors such as the results of market research, programmatic needs specific to the procuring agency, anticipated award price, and the acquisition history, will be considered in making a decision as to which program to use for the acquisition.

(c) SDVOSB set-asides. If the contracting officer decides to set aside the requirement for competition restricted to SDVOSBs, the contracting officer must:

(1) Have a reasonable expectation that at least two responsible SDVOSBs will submit offers; and

(2) Determine that the award can be made at fair market price.

(d) Prohibition on competitions requiring or favoring additional socioeconomic certifications. A procuring activity cannot restrict an SDVOSB competition (for either a contract or order) to require certifications other than SDVOSB certification (i.e., a competition cannot be limited only to business concerns that are both SDVOSB and 8(a), SDVOSB and HUBZone, or SDVOSB and WOSB) or give evaluation preferences to firms having one or more other certifications.

[87 FR 73412, Nov. 29, 2022, as amended at 88 FR 26216, Apr. 27, 2023]