Small Business Government Contracting Programs; Subcontracting

This final rule amends the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) regulations government small business subcontracting to address comments received in response to SBA's proposed rule on subcontracting, which was published in the Federal Register on October 20, 2003. The final rule also addresses comments in response to SBA's earlier proposed rule on contract bundling, which was published in the Federal Register on January 31, 2003. Specifically, this final rule provides a list of factors to consider in evaluating a prime contractor's performance and good-faith efforts to achieve the requirements in its subcontracting plan. The final rule also authorizes the use of goals in subcontracting plans, and/or past performance in meeting such goals, as a factor in source selection when placing orders against Federal Supply Schedules, government-wide acquisition contracts, and multi-agency contracts. In addition, this final rule implements statutory provisions and other administrative procedures relating to subcontracting goals and assistance. In particular, the final rule lists the various categories of small businesses that must be afforded maximum practicable subcontracting opportunities, and clarifies the responsibilities of prime contractors and SBA's Commercial Market Representatives (CMRs) under the subcontracting assistance program. The final rule also supplies guidance on Subcontracting Orientation and Assistance Reviews (SOARs), which CMRs perform to assist prime contractors in their efforts to understand and comply with the requirements governing the small business subcontracting assistance program.