Category Archives: SBA OHA Decisions

Includes decisions of the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals, including size appeal decisions, service-disabled veteran-owned small business appeal decisions, NAICS code appeal decisions, and women-owned small business appeal decisions.

OHA: Sold Corporate Division Isn’t a Former Affiliate

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Affiliation is a dirty word to small business federal government contractors. For good reason: it can turn a small business into a large one and destroy its eligibility for socioeconomic programs and set-aside contracts. Proactive small business contractors, therefore, routinely audit their affiliation risks and, if necessary, take actions to fracture that affiliation.

One of the ways a company might try to fracture affiliation is to sell a division or business line to a third party. Because this division is sold, the company might be tempted to assume that its corresponding revenues are not considered as part of the affiliation analysis (under the former affiliate rule).

A recent OHA decision, however, instructs that a division or line of business does not qualify under the former affiliate rule.

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OHA Reiterates that Filing Deadlines Cannot be Extended

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As I’m sure most other attorneys can commiserate with, I often have a recurring nightmare that I miss a filing deadline. Doing so can lead to terrible results: dismissed cases and, in some cases, sanctions against the attorney. For this reason, we always check, double-check, and triple-check our filing deadlines, and strive to file documents early, when possible.

Given my fear, I gain no pleasure in reading about missed filing deadlines, especially when the goof is the subject of a matter outside the attorney’s control.

But as a recent decision by the SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals demonstrates, even the most sympathetic of excuses won’t excuse a late appeal filing.

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OHA Denies Protest: Veteran Didn’t Need to List Disability on Social Media

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The SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals denied an SDVOSB-status protest recently where the protester’s main argument amounted to an allegation that the owner of a competitor failed to identify on social media that he had a service-related disability.

OHA called the allegation “completely without merit.”

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OHA Lacks Jurisdiction for NAICS Appeal of GPO Procurement on VA’s Behalf

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OHA recently confirmed that it lacked jurisdiction to decide a NAICS code appeal regarding a GPO procurement, even though that procurement was conducted on behalf on the VA. OHA’s dismissal was based on the fact that GPO, a legislative branch agency, is not subject to the same rules as the executive agencies.

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SDVOSB Start-Ups Continue to Face Obstacles to CVE Verification

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Several years ago, we argued that VA’s rule, requiring a veteran to devote herself full time to an SDVOSB during normal working hours, unnecessarily handicapped SDVOSB start-ups seeking CVE verification. This same requirement–though now in a slightly different form–continues to impede new businesses from obtaining verification, a key credential for many SDVOSBs. Beyond that, CVE’s application of the managerial experience requirement also poses a potential hurdle for incipient SDVOSBs.

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Alert! SBA OHA Decides 3-Year Receipts Calculation Period Still Applies

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Since being passed by Congress in late 2018, the Runway Extension Act has been the source of great confusion among small business contractors: would size under receipts-based NAICS codes be calculated under the 3-year calculation period set out in the SBA’s regulations, or under the new 5-year calculation period mandated by Congress?

In a decision just publicly released, the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals has weighed in. As of now, the SBA will still calculate size under the 3-year calculation period.

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