What circumstances limit SBA's ability to accept a procurement for award as an 8(a) contract, and when can a requirement be released from the 8(a) BD program?

13 C.F.R. § 124.504
in effectEffective: 2024-07-01
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SBA will not accept a procurement for award as an 8(a) contract if the circumstances identified in paragraphs (a) through (d) of this section exist. (a) Prior intent to award as a small business set-aside, or use the HUBZone, Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, or Women-Owned Small Business programs. The procuring activity issued a solicitation for or otherwise expressed publicly a clear intent to award the contract as a small business set-aside, or to use the HUBZone, Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, or Women-Owned Small Business programs prior to offering the requirement to SBA for award as an 8(a) contract. However, the AA/BD may permit the acceptance of the requirement under extraordinary circumstances. (b) Competition prior to offer and acceptance. The procuring activity competed a requirement among 8(a) Participants prior to offering the requirement to SBA and did not clearly evidence its intent to conduct an 8(a) competitive acquisition. (c) Adverse impact. SBA has made a written determination that acceptance of the procurement for 8(a) award would have an adverse impact on an individual small business, a group of small businesses located in a specific geographical location, or other small business programs. The adverse impact concept is designed to protect small business concerns which are performing Government contracts awarded outside the 8(a) BD program, and does not apply to follow-on or renewal 8(a) acquisitions. SBA will not consider adverse impact with respect to any requirement offered to the 8(a) program under the simplified acquisition threshold (as defined in the FAR at 48 CFR 2.101). (1) In determining whether the acceptance of a requirement would have an adverse impact on an individual small business, SBA will consider all relevant factors. (i) In connection with a specific small business, SBA presumes adverse impact to exist where: (A) The small business concern has performed the specific requirement for at least 24 months; (B) The small business is performing the requirement at the time it is offered to the 8(a) BD program, or its performance of the requirement ended within 30 days of the procuring activity's offer of the requirement to the 8(a) BD program; and (C) The dollar value of the requirement that the small business is or was performing is 25 percent or more of its most recent annual gross sales (including those of its affiliates). For a multi-year requirement, the dollar value of the last 12 months of the requirement will be used to determine whether a small business would be adversely affected by SBA's acceptance. (ii) Except as provided in paragraph (c)(2) of this section, adverse impact does not apply to “new” requirements. A new requirement is one which has not been previously procured by the relevant procuring activity. (A) Where a requirement is new, no small business could have previously performed the requirement and, thus, SBA's acceptance of the requirement for the 8(a) BD program will not adversely impact any small business. (B) Procurements for construction services (e.g., the building of a specific structure) are generally deemed to be new requirements. However, recurring indefinite delivery or indefinite quantity task or delivery order construction services are not considered new (e.g., a recurring procurement requiring all construction work at base X). (C) The expansion or modification of an existing requirement may be considered a new requirement where the magnitude of change is significant enough to cause a price adjustment of at least 25 percent (adjusted for inflation) or to require significant additional or different types of capabilities or work. (D) SBA need not perform an impact determination where a new requirement is offered to the 8(a) BD program. (2) In determining whether the acceptance of a requirement would have an adverse impact on a group of small businesses, SBA will consider the effects of combining or consolidating various requirements being performed by two or more small business concerns into a single contract which would be considered a “new” requirement as compared to any of the previous smaller requirements. SBA may find adverse impact to exist if one of the existing small business contractors meets the presumption set forth in paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this section. (3) In determining whether the acceptance of a requirement would have an adverse impact on other small business programs, SBA will consider all relevant factors, including but not limited to, the number and value of contracts in the subject industry in the 8(a) BD program as compared with other small business programs. (4) SBA does not typically consider the value of a bridge contract when determining whether an offered procurement is a new requirement. A bridge contract is meant to be a temporary stop-gap measure intended to ensure the continuation of service while an agency finalizes a long-term procurement approach. (d) Release for non-8(a) or limited 8(a) competition. (1) Except as set forth in paragraph (d)(4) of this section, where a procurement is awarded as an 8(a) contract, its follow-on requirement must remain in the 8(a) BD program unless SBA agrees to release it for non-8(a) competition. Where a procurement will contain work currently performed under one or more 8(a) contracts, and the procuring agency determines that the procurement should not be considered a follow-on requirement to the 8(a) contract(s), the procuring agency must coordinate with the SBA District Office servicing the 8(a) incumbent firm and the SBA Procurement Center Representative assigned to the contracting activity initiating a non-8(a) procurement action that it intends to procure such specified work outside the 8(a) BD program through a requirement that it considers to be new. Such notification must identify the scope and dollar value of any work previously performed through another 8(a) contract and the scope and dollar value of the contract determined to be new. Additionally, a procuring agency must coordinate with SBA where it seeks to reprocure a follow-on requirement through a pre-existing limited contracting vehicle which is not available to all 8(a) BD Program Participants and the previous/current 8(a) award was not so limited. If a procuring agency would like to fulfill a follow-on requirement outside of the 8(a) BD program, it must make a written request to and receive the concurrence of the AA/BD to do so. In determining whether to release a requirement from the 8(a) BD program, SBA will consider: (i) Whether the agency has achieved its SDB goal; (ii) Where the agency is in achieving its HUBZone, SDVO, WOSB, or small business goal, as appropriate; and (iii) Whether the requirement is critical to the business development of the 8(a) Participant that is currently performing it. (2) SBA may decline to accept the offer of a follow-on or renewable 8(a) acquisition in order to give a concern previously awarded the contract that is leaving or has left the 8(a) BD program the opportunity to compete for the requirement outside of the 8(a) BD program. (i) SBA will consider release under paragraph (2) only where: (A) The procurement awarded through the 8(a) BD program is being or was performed by either a Participant whose program term will expire prior to contract completion, or by a former Participant whose program term expired within one year of the date of the offering letter; (B) The concern requests in writing that SBA decline to accept the offer prior to SBA's acceptance of the requirement for award as an 8(a) contract; and (C) The concern qualifies as a small business for the requirement now offered to the 8(a) BD program. (ii) In considering release under paragraph (2), SBA will balance the importance of the requirement to the concern's business development needs against the business development needs of other Participants that are qualified to perform the requirement. This determination will include consideration of whether rejection of the requirement would seriously reduce the pool of similar types of contracts available for award as 8(a) contracts. SBA will also seek the views of the procuring agency. (3) SBA may release a requirement under this paragraph only where the procuring activity agrees to procure the requirement as a small business, HUBZone, SDVO small business, or WOSB set-aside or otherwise identifies a procurement strategy that would emphasize or target small business participation. (4) The requirement that a follow-on procurement must be released from the 8(a) BD program in order for it to be fulfilled outside the 8(a) BD program does not apply: (i) Where previous orders were offered to and accepted for the 8(a) BD program pursuant to § 124.503(i)(2); or (ii) Where a procuring agency will use a mandatory source (see FAR Subparts 8.6 and 8.7(48 CFR subparts 8.6 and 8.7)). In such a case, the procuring agency should notify SBA at least 30 days prior to the end of the contract or order.

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