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Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization
Small Business Program Policy Manual
Small Business Set-Asides
****This chapter is pending revision****
A. BACKGROUND
The Small Business Act of 1953, as amended, the Congress declared that small businesses should receive a fair proportion of the Government's purchases and contracts for property, services and construction. Section 15 of the Act established the statutory authority for procurement set-asides to accomplish this policy. Also, please refer to the Federal Acquisition Regulations Part 19.8.
FAR Part 19.502 reserves requirements above $3,000 and below $100,000 for small businesses. Exceptions to FAR 19.502 are services and products required to support contingency operations, national defense or “recovery from nuclear, biological, chemical or radiological attack (41 USC 428a).
- U.S. based purchase or performance $15,000-$250,000
- Outside of the U.S. $25,000-$1,000,000
B. SMALL BUSINESS SET-ASIDES
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Criteria
An acquisition shall be conducted as a small business set-aside whenever the contracting officer determines that there is a reasonable expectation of receiving at least two offers from small business concerns and awards will be issued at fair market prices. This is commonly known as the "Rule of Two".
Past acquisition history is not the only factor to consider in determin�ing whether a reasonable expectation exists. The purpose of the OPDIV Small Business Specialist and Small Business Administration Procurement Center Representative reviews are to ensure that the capabilities of small businesses are fairly considered (Federal Acquisition Regulations Part 19.502).
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Repetitive Set-Aside Policy
Once a product or service has been acquired successfully by a contracting office on the basis of a set-aside, the contracting office shall make every effort to ensure that future purchases for that product or service is acquired using set-aside procedures.
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The 8(a) Business Development Program
If a requirement is set-aside for the 8(a) Business Development Program (8(a)), the requirement shall remain in the program. The Small Business Administration entered into a Partnership Agreement with HHS to delegate contract execution authority. OPDIV contracting offices shall contact the OPDIV Small Business Specialist or the HHS 8(a) Advocate for guidance or clarification.
For additional information, please contact your OPDIV Small Business Specialist. OSDBU staff listing is located at http://www.hhs.gov/osdbu/staff.html.
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