Size Protests and NAICS

Any interested party to a procurement may protest the self-certification of a bidder as a small business. The protest must follow certain procedures and include the specific reason(s) why the protester believes the challenged firm is not a small business. A protest must be sent to the contracting officer, who transmits it to an SBA Office of Government Contracting for a size determination of the challenged firm. Procedures for protest and appeal of size determinations are detailed in 13 CFR §121.1001 through §121.1010.

An interested party may appeal an NAICS designation made by the contracting officer on a specific procurement that has been set aside for small business. The most likely reason for such an appeal would be to correct an NAICS classification to one with a different size standard. These appeals are sent directly to SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) and must follow the required procedures. (Different rules apply to NAICS designations of 8(a) contracts.)

Parties interested in making a protest or appeal should avail themselves of the procedures governing the time limitations for appeals in effect at that time. These procedures are contained in 13 CFR § 121.1001 through §121.1103 and 13 CFR §134 (Office of Hearings and Appeals).

SBA has compiled a list of business entities that its Office of Government Contracting has determined are “other than small” under specific size standards. This list is available to contracting officers, SBA personnel and other interested members of the public. In most cases, SBA determined the size status of the listed firms after receiving protests challenging the firms’ self-certification. For more information, go to Businesses Determined Other Than Small.