(a) Size Status Protests.
(1) For SBA's Small Business Set-Aside Program, including the Property Sales Program, the following entities may file a size protest in connection with a particular procurement or sale:
(i) Any offeror;
(ii) The contracting officer;
(iii) The SBA Government Contracting Area Director having responsibility for the area in which the headquarters of the protested offeror is located, regardless of the location of a parent company or affiliates, or the Associate Administrator for Government Contracting; and
(iv) Other interested parties. Other interested parties include large businesses where only one concern submitted an offer for the specific procurement in question. A concern found to be other than small in connection with the procurement is not an interested party unless there is only one remaining offeror after the concern is found to be other than small.
(2) For competitive 8(a) contracts, the following entities may protest:
(i) Any offeror;
(ii) The contracting officer; or
(iii) The SBA District Director, or designee, in either the district office serving the geographical area in which the procuring activity is located or the district office that services the apparent successful offeror, or the Associate Administrator for 8(a) Business Development.
(3) For SBA's Subcontracting Program, the following entities may protest:
(i) The prime contractor;
(ii) The contracting officer;
(iii) Other potential subcontractors;
(iv) The responsible SBA Government Contracting Area Director or the Associate Administrator for Government Contracting; and
(v) Other interested parties.
(4) For SBA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program, the following entities may protest:
(i) A prospective offeror;
(ii) The funding agreement officer;
(iii) The responsible SBA Government Contracting Area Director or the Assistant Administrator for Technology; and
(iv) Other interested parties.
(5) For the Department of Defense's Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) Program, and any other similar program of another Federal agency, the following entities may file a protest in connection with a particular SDB procurement:
(i) Any offeror for the specific SDB requirement;
(ii) The contracting officer; and
(iii) The responsible SBA Government Contracting Area Director, the Associate Administrator for Government Contracting, or the Associate Administrator for MED.
(6) For SBA's HUBZone program, the following entities may protest in connection with a particular HUBZone procurement:
(i) Any concern that submits an offer for a specific HUBZone set- aside contract;
(ii) Any concern that submitted an offer in full and open competition and its opportunity for award will be affected by a price evaluation preference given a qualified HUBZone SBC;
(iii) The contracting officer; and
(iv) The Associate Administrator for Government Contracting, or designee.
(7) For any unrestricted Government procurement in which status as a small business may be beneficial, including, but not limited to, the award of a contract to a small business where there are tie bids, the opportunity to seek a Certificate of Competency by a small business, and SDB price evaluation preferences, the following entities may protest in connection with a particular procurement:
(i) Any offeror;
(ii) The contracting officer; and
(iii) The responsible SBA Government Contracting Area Director, the Associate Administrator for Government Contracting, or the Associate Administrator for MED.
(b) Request for Size Determinations.
(1) For SBA's Financial Assistance Programs, the following entities may request a formal size determination:
(i) The applicant for assistance; and
(ii) The SBA official with authority to take final action on the assistance requested. That official may also request the appropriate Government Contracting Area Office to determine whether affiliation exists between an applicant for financial assistance and one or more other entities for purposes of determining whether the applicant would exceed the loan limit amount imposed by Sec. 120.151 of this chapter.
(2) For SBA's 8(a) BD program:
(i) Concerning initial or continued 8(a) BD eligibility, the following entities may request a formal size determination:
(A) The 8(a) BD applicant concern or Participant; or
(B) The Assistant Administrator of the Division of Program Certification and Eligibility or the Associate Administrator for 8(a)BD.
(ii) Concerning individual sole source 8(a) contract awards, the following entities may request a formal size determination:
(A) The Participant nominated for award of the particular sole source contract;
(B) The SBA program official with authority to execute the 8(a) contract; or
(C) The SBA District Director in the district office that services the Participant, or the Associate Administrator for 8(a)BD.
(3) For SBA's Certificate of Competency Program, the following entities may request a formal size determination:
(i) The offeror who has applied for a COC; and
(ii) The responsible SBA Government Contracting Area Director or the Associate Administrator for Government Contracting.
(4) For SBA's sale or lease of government property, the following entities may request a formal size determination:
(i) The responsible SBA Government Contracting Area Director or the Associate Administrator for Government Contracting; and
(ii) Authorized officials of other Federal agencies administering a property sales program.
(5) For eligibility to pay reduced patent fees, the following entities may request a formal size determination:
(i) The applicant for the reduced patent fees; and
(ii) The Patent and Trademark Office.
(6) For purposes of determining compliance with small business requirements of another Government agency program not otherwise specified in this section, an official with authority to administer the program involved may request a formal size determination.
Source: Code of Federal Regulations, Title 13, Volume 1, Revised as of January 1, 2003, Part 121 - Small Business Size Regulations, Subpart A - Size Eligibility Provisions and Standards, Procedures for Size Protests and Requests for Formal Size Determinations
