Category Archives: SBA Size Protests

Subcontracting Plans, Full and Open Competition, and Your Small Business

Posted on by

If your small business competes on an unrestricted (aka “full and open”) solicitation, you probably don’t submit a small business subcontracting plan.  After all, small businesses are typically exempt from the subcontracting plan requirement, so why do the extra paperwork (and potentially foreclose subcontracting opportunities with large businesses?)

However, even on unrestricted procurements, you must be careful to forego a subcontracting plan only if you are actually small under the NAICS code assigned to the procurement.  Otherwise, you could end up losing a contract, as one unfortunate contractor discovered in eTouch Federal Systems, LLC, B-404894.3 (Aug. 15, 2011), a GAO bid protest decision.

Continue reading →

SBA OHA Dismisses SBA Size Protest Based on Contractor’s CCR Profile

Posted on by

To survive dismissal, a SBA size protest must be “specific,” that is, it must explain why the protested contractor is not small, and (in many cases), provide third-party evidence supporting the claim.

In Size Appeal of SoftConcept, Inc., SBA No. SIZ-5197 (2011), the SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals held that a SBA size protest was insufficiently specific when the protester alleged that the contract awardee did not list the NAICS code in question, NAICS code 541519, in its Central Contractor Registration profile.

Continue reading →

Contradictory, Post Hoc Statements Don’t “Fix” Ostensible Subcontractor Rule Problem

Posted on by

When a small government contractor gets its hand caught in the “affiliation” cookie jar, the natural reaction is to scramble to fix the problem, even if it means contradicting the contractor’s own proposal.  But don’t expect post hoc efforts at fixing a problem with the SBA affiliation rules to pan out.  The SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals has held that where a contractor’s after-the-fact statements regarding affiliation contradict its proposal, the language of the proposal governs.

Continue reading →

SBA Size Protests, Timeliness, and After Hours Notifications

Posted on by

An SBA size protest on a negotiated procurement must be submitted within five business days “after the contracting officer has notified the protester of the identity of the prospective awardee.”  But what happens if the contracting officer’s notice arrives after normal working hours?  Does the clock start ticking anyway?

Continue reading →

No Sick Notes at the SBA: Illness Doesn’t Extend SBA Filing Deadlines

Posted on by

Like many others who went to school in the 1980s, Ferris Bueller was one of my personal heroes.  Ferris took the idea of faking sick from school and turned it into an art form, complete with a moving mannequin in the bed, canned messages playing when the doorbell rang, and even a before-its-time hacking of the school computers to change his attendance records.  And of course, Ferris spent his day off tooling around in a Ferrari, attending a Chicago Cubs game (nice taste, Ferris!), and bringing The Beatles back into style.  What kid wouldn’t want to skip school for that?

Sick days–whether real or not–are a time-honored part of school.  Unfortunately, as one contractor learned the hard way, sick notes may not work at the SBA.

Continue reading →

SBA OHA: Ostensible Subcontractor Rule Shouldn’t “Close the Door” to New Businesses

Posted on by

A small business’s relative inexperience should not be the primary basis for a determination that the small business is affiliated with its subcontractor under the “ostensible subcontractor” rule, according to the SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals.  SBA OHA’s decision in Size Appeal of Fischer Business Solutions, LLC, SBA No. SIZ-5075 (2009), held that the SBA’s Area Office improperly relied upon a small business’s lack of experience in a particular field to find it affiliated with its subcontractor.

Continue reading →