FAR and DFARS › FAR Part 19: Small Business Programs › Subpart 19.7
FAR 19.708 Contract clauses.
The codified text (eCFR, as of 2026-10-02). Under the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul ↗, agencies follow class deviations with new text for many parts while the formal rules go through the Federal Register: check the solicitation and your contract's clauses, which rule.
In plain English
This section tells contracting officers when to include clauses about small business subcontracting in solicitations and contracts. It matters because it determines whether a contractor must have a small business subcontracting plan and may face liquidated damages for failing to meet it.
Applies to: Contracting officers and contractors on solicitations and contracts that meet certain dollar thresholds and other conditions.
What it requires
- Insert the clause at 52.219-8, Utilization of Small Business Concerns, in solicitations and contracts when the contract amount is expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold, unless exceptions apply.
- Insert the clause at 52.219-9, Small Business Subcontracting Plan, in solicitations and contracts that offer subcontracting possibilities, are expected to exceed $900,000 ($2 million for construction of any public facility), and are required to include the clause at 52.219-8, unless the acquisition
- Insert the clause at 52.219-16, Liquidated Damages—Subcontracting Plan, in all solicitations and contracts containing the clause at 52.219-9 or its Alternates I, II, III, or IV.
Key terms: simplified acquisition threshold · small business subcontracting plan · liquidated damages · 8(a) program · Federal Procurement Data System
Written by AI from this section's text. A guide, not legal advice: the text below rules.
The text
(a) Insert the clause at 52.219-8, Utilization of Small Business Concerns, in solicitations and contracts when the contract amount is expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold unless—
(1) A personal services contract is contemplated (see 37.104); or
(2) The contract, together with all of its subcontracts, will be performed entirely outside of the United States and its outlying areas.
(b)(1) Insert the clause at 52.219-9, Small Business Subcontracting Plan, in solicitations and contracts that offer subcontracting possibilities, are expected to exceed $900,000 ($2 million for construction of any public facility), and are required to include the clause at 52.219-8, Utilization of Small Business Concerns, unless the acquisition is set aside or is to be accomplished under the 8(a) program. When—
(i) Contracting by sealed bidding rather than by negotiation, the contracting officer shall use the clause with its Alternate I;
(ii) Contracting by negotiation, and subcontracting plans are required with initial proposals as provided for in 19.705-2(d), the contracting officer shall use the clause with its Alternate II;
(iii) The contract action will not be reported in the Federal Procurement Data System pursuant to 4.606(c)(5) or (c)(6), the contracting officer shall use the clause with its Alternate III; or
(iv) Incorporating a subcontracting plan due to a modification as provided for in 19.702(a)(1)(iii), the contracting officer shall use the clause with its Alternate IV.
(2) Insert the clause at 52.219-16, Liquidated Damages—Subcontracting Plan, in all solicitations and contracts containing the clause at 52.219-9, Small Business Subcontracting Plan, or the clause with its Alternate I, II, III, or IV.
(c)(1) The contracting officer may, when contracting by negotiation, insert in solicitations and contracts a clause substantially the same as the clause at 52.219-10, Incentive Subcontracting Program, when a subcontracting plan is required (see 19.702), and inclusion of a monetary incentive is, in the judgment of the contracting officer, necessary to increase subcontracting opportunities for small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business concerns, and is commensurate with the efficient and economical performance of the contract; unless the conditions in paragraph (c)(3) of this section are applicable. The contracting officer may vary the terms of the clause as specified in paragraph (c)(2) of this section.
(2) Various approaches may be used in the development of small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business concerns' subcontracting incentives. They can take many forms, from a fully quantified schedule of payments based on actual subcontract achievement to an award-fee approach employing subjective evaluation criteria (see paragraph (c)(3) of this section). The incentive should not reward the contractor for results other than those that are attributable to the contractor's efforts under the incentive subcontracting program.
(3) As specified in paragraph (c)(2) of this section, the contracting officer may include small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business subcontracting as one of the factors to be considered in determining the award fee in a cost-plus-award-fee contract; in such cases, however, the contracting officer shall not use the clause at 52.219-10, Incentive Subcontracting Program.
Sections it refers to
- 52.219-8 Utilization of Small Business Concerns.
- 37.104 Personal services contracts.
- 52.219-9 Small Business Subcontracting Plan.
- 19.705-2 Determining the need for a subcontracting plan.
- 4.606 Reporting Data.
- 19.702 Statutory requirements.
- 52.219-16 Liquidated Damages—Subcontracting Plan.
- 52.219-10 Incentive Subcontracting Program.
Sections that refer to it
- 19.704 Subcontracting plan requirements.
- 19.705-1 General.
- 19.706 Responsibilities of the cognizant administrative contracting officer.
- 52.219-8 Utilization of Small Business Concerns.
- 52.219-9 Small Business Subcontracting Plan.
- 52.219-10 Incentive Subcontracting Program.
- 52.219-16 Liquidated Damages—Subcontracting Plan.
← 19.707 The Small Business Administration's role in carrying out the program. · 19.800 General. →
Rule changes for FAR Part 19
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Inflation Adjustment of Acquisition-Related Thresholds ↗ · final rule 2025-08-27 · effective 2025-10-01
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Small Business Participation on Certain Multiple-Award Contracts ↗ · proposed 2025-06-12
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Small Business Participation on Certain Multiple-Award Contracts ↗ · proposed 2025-01-15 · comments due 2025-03-17
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Subcontracting to Puerto Rican and Covered Territory Small Businesses ↗ · final rule 2025-01-03 · effective 2025-01-17
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Rerepresentation of Size and Socioeconomic Status ↗ · final rule 2025-01-03 · effective 2025-01-17
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Certification of Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses ↗ · final rule 2024-12-16 · effective 2024-12-16
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Inflation Adjustment of Acquisition-Related Thresholds ↗ · proposed 2024-11-29 · comments due 2025-01-28
- Federal Acquisition Regulation; Technical Amendments ↗ · final rule 2024-08-29 · effective 2024-09-30
Source: eCFR, 48 CFR chapters 1 and 2 (GPO GovInfo bulk data) ↗. Plain words for the terms: glossary.