SBA implements stricter requirements for size certifications

Management

SBA implements stricter requirements for size certifications

The SBA updated regulations governing how small businesses represent their size and status in order to guard against businesses falsely representing themselves as...

Federal News Network Staff

July 1, 2013 8:34 pm

1 min read

By Melissa Dawkins
Special to Federal News Radio

The Small Business Administration is updating the regulations that govern how small federal contractors work with agencies.

A final rule published in Monday’s Federal Register changes the Federal Acquisition Regulations to address the requirements detailed in the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed the bill into law in September 2010.

The new rule, effective Aug. 27, will ensure vendors that claim to be small businesses, are, in fact, small.

The final rule stated small businesses that fail to update their size or status annually no longer will be identified as “small” until they update their listing in the System for Award Management (SAM).

In addition to requiring small business to update their size or status online, the new rule requires an authorized official to assert the company’s size or status certification by signing the certification page for a contract or grant as well as documentation in SAM.

The final rule would apply to the roughly 348,000 companies that are listed as small businesses in the Dynamic Small Business Search (DSBS) database.

If a small business falsely portrays itself as a small business in order to claim a small business contract, the rule mandates the contractor pays the government the value of the contract as punishment.

In fiscal 2010, SBA found 200 firms ineligible for small business contracts. Not all of these concerns, however, intentionally misrepresented their size or status, according to the SBA.

Melissa Dawkins is an intern for Federal News Radio

Report: Many small-business contracts awarded to large companies