Certifications
Find out how your small business can qualify for federal contracting assistance programs, including certifications and set-aside opportunities designed to help you compete for federal contracts.
Contracting program benefits
The federal government uses special programs to help small businesses win at least at 23% of all federal contracting dollars each year. SBA provides several programs to help small businesses win these federal contracts. Participating in these programs helps small businesses:
- Win a fair share of federal contracts
- Qualify for exclusive set-aside and sole-source contracts
- Partner with established contractors to win contracts
- Get business mentoring and education to learn how federal contracting works
Small business certification programs
Small business contracting goals
The government works to make sure small businesses get at least 23% of all federal contracting dollars.
Additionally, the government tries to award a certain percentage of all federal prime contracting dollars to small businesses that meet certain socio-economic conditions.
| Small business category | Contracting dollar award goal |
|---|---|
| Women-owned small business | 5% |
| Service-disabled veteran-owned small business | 5% |
| Small business in a HUBZone | 3% |
For some large contracts that can’t be awarded directly to small businesses, the government requires a small business subcontracting plan as part of the award. A small business subcontracting plan directs the prime contractor to subcontract out parts of the award to small businesses. A subcontracting plan is required when these conditions are met:
- The contract is expected to exceed $900,000 ($2M for construction)
- There are capable small businesses who could do subcontract work at a fair market value, without significantly disrupting performance
The rules that govern subcontracting plans are set forth in Subpart 19.7 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).
Learn more about SBA’s current contracting data.
Set-asides
To help provide a level playing field for small businesses, the government limits competition for certain contracts to small businesses. Those contracts are called “small business set-asides,” and they help small businesses compete for and win federal contracts.
Some set-asides are open to any small business, but some are open only to small businesses who participate in SBA contracting assistance programs.
How to participate in contracting assistance programs
To participate in any of SBA’s small business contracting assistance programs, you’ll first need to qualify as a small business. SBA’s size standards determine whether or not your business qualifies as small.
Most of the socio-economic programs require some form of certification. Many programs use SBA Certifications to let you certify or do a preliminary check to see if you’re qualified.
However, each program has its own standards and process for certification, so make sure to read carefully.
Need help?
Get help with specific contracting assistance programs. For additional assistance, contact the Office of Government Contracting and Business Development.
HUBZone program
Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract program (WOSB)
8(a) Business Development program
Contracting data
Procurement data hub
These interactive charts allow you to explore procurement trends in small business contracting, including 8(a), SDVOSB, WOSB, and HUBZone. Explore the data hub.
Small business procurement scorecard
The annual small business procurement scorecard assesses how well federal agencies reach their small business contracting goals. Learn about how we measure progress, grade achievements, and explore scorecards back to 2007.
The annual scorecards provide accurate and transparent contracting data, reporting agency-specific progress on small business and socio-economic goals, such as:
- Small businesses
- Small businesses owned by women
- Small disadvantaged businesses
- Service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses
- Small businesses located in Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZones)
Every year, SBA works with agencies to set their contracting and subcontracting goals. Each agency has different goals. The aggregate of all these goals meets the 23% target for the federal government and the socio-economic goals established by statute or the president. Agencies are graded on the following scale:
- 120% or higher: A+
- 100% – 119%: A
- 90% – 99%: B
- 80% – 89%: C
- 70% – 79%: D
- 70% or lower: F
Each agency’s scorecard grade consists of its achievements in these four areas, graded by the percentages shown below:
| Area | Percentage of scorecard grade |
|---|---|
| Prime contracting achievement | 50% |
| Subcontracting achievement | 20% |
| Comparison of the number of small business prime contractors in each of the five small business categories as compared to the prior fiscal year | 10% |
| U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) peer review on agency compliance with section 15(k) of the Small Business Act (currently 21 requirements) | 20% |
You can also review the current Contracting scorecard grading methodology.
Scorecards
- FY 2021-2025 scorecard summaries
- FY 2021-2025 scorecard details
- FY 2020 through FY 2007 scorecard overviews
Federal prime contracting factsheets
- Prime contracting summary
- HUBZone
- Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB)
- Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB)