The Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) has a mission to “provide independent, objective, and timely oversight to improve the integrity, accountability, and performance of SBA and its programs.” As part of this mission, it investigated and recently issued a report on the federal government’s “oversight work to identify opportunities to strengthen federal-wide compliance with limitations on subcontracting requirements for set-aside awards.” The SBA’s rules on limitations on subcontracting limit how much of a federal contract a small business prime contractor can subcontract to subcontractors that are not similarly situated. OIG identified a number of areas where federal agencies could improve their oversight of small business subcontracting, noting “recurring deficiencies in the federal contracting community’s ability to interpret the rule’s requirements, apply them consistently, and monitor and enforce compliance throughout the life of a contract.” SBA has indicated it will issue a revised rule to address some of these concerns. Let’s take a look.