The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently issued a very important, but under-the-radar, “technical correction” to its regulations pertaining to recertification of a federal contractor’s status for Multiple Award Contracts. In particular, the SBA is amending its regulations to provide that where a “concern grows to be other than small” or no longer qualifies for a given socio-economic status (e.g., HUBZone, woman-owned, economically-disadvantaged woman-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned, etc.) as a result of a novation, merger/sale/acquisition, or “negative status determination,” the company is ineligible to compete for set-aside task orders under the company’s Multiple Award Contracts. Importantly, this new rule applies regardless of whether or not “the contracting officer requests a new [status] certification in connection with a specific order.”
Previously, the SBA’s rules in this area were widely interpreted to mean that where a “concern grows to be other than small” or no longer qualifies for a given socio-economic status as a result of a novation, merger/sale/acquisition, or “negative status determination,” the company was eligible to compete for set-aside task orders under the company’s Multiple Award Contracts, unless “the contracting officer requests a new [status] certification in connection with a specific order.” See Analytic Strategies, Inc., SBA No. VET-268 (Jan. 29, 2018).
The SBA’s “technical correction” to its regulations becomes effective on May 25, 2018. If you have any questions about the SBA’s new rules, or any other related issues, please do not hesitate to contact Aron Beezley.