Counsel Commentary: SBA Revamps Size Recertification Rules

In December 2024, the Small Business Administration (SBA) published a Final Rule that sought to clarify the timing and effect of small business size recertifications. These changes will have significant consequences for many small businesses that compete for task and delivery orders under multiple award contracts (MACs). 

Until 2020, a contractor that was certified as small for the purposes of the MAC award would generally remain eligible for all orders under that MAC unless the contracting officer requested a new size certification in connection with a specific order. However, under the adjusted rule, small businesses must now recertify at the order level for “unrestricted” MACs. 

The 2020 rule change did not require contractors to recertify their size status at the order level for MACs that were set aside or reserved for small businesses. As a result, a company that held a set-aside MAC could generally continue to compete for orders under that vehicle, including all option years, even if it outgrew the size standard during the life of the MAC. Once again, this rule has been reclarified. 

In his monthly Contract Management Magazine column, “SBA Revamps Size Recertification Rules,” Rogers Joseph O’Donnell shareholder Stephen L. Bacon explains the SBA’s new policy, along with the consequences of the rule and its potential impact on small businesses. He also analyzes prior iterations of the rule and the decisions that led up to the rule change. 

“The changes to size recertification represent a fundamental shift in how the SBA approaches ongoing eligibility for orders under MACs set aside or reserved for small businesses,” Bacon writes. “The one-year grace period provides some time to adapt, but contractors should begin planning now for how these changes will impact their strategy going forward.” 

The piece, which appears in the magazine’s May issue (subscription required), is the latest entry in Bacon’s monthly Counsel Commentary column and is published by the National Contract Management Association. It was used with permission.

Read Bacon’s latest Contract Management article here.