48 CFR · Federal Acquisition Regulation and Defense supplement

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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.

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66 sections with “8(a) participant”: the first 40

  • FAR 52.219-18 Notification of Competition Limited to Eligible 8(a) Participants.
    …-3(d), insert the following clause: Notification of Competition Limited to Eligible 8(a) Participants (OCT 2022) (a) Offers are solicited only from— (1) Small business concerns expressly certified by the Small Business Administration (SB…
  • FAR 19.813 Protesting an 8(a) participant's eligibility or size status.
    (a) The eligibility of an 8(a) participant for a sole source or competitive 8(a) requirement may not be challenged by another 8(a) participant or any other party, either to SBA or any administrative forum as part of a bid or other contract …
  • DFARS 252.219-7010 Notification of Competition Limited to Eligible 8(a) Participants—Partnership Agreement
    …811-3(2), use the following clause: Notification of Competition Limited to Eligible 8(A) Participants—Partnership Agreement (OCT 2019) (a) Offers are solicited only from small business concerns expressly certified by the Small Business Ad…
  • FAR 19.803 Selecting acquisitions for the 8(a) program.
    …orts, the SBA and an agency match the agency's requirements with the capabilities of 8(a) participants to establish a basis for the agency to contract with the SBA under the program. Selection is initiated in one of three ways: (a) The SBA…
  • FAR 19.804-1 Agency evaluation.
    …d evaluate— (a) Current and future plans to acquire the specific items or work that 8(a) participants are seeking to provide, identified in terms of— (1) Estimated quantities of the supplies or services required or the estimated number of…
  • FAR 19.804-2 Agency offering.
    …cerns, or a set-aside under the WOSB Program. (10) Identification of any particular 8(a) participant designated for consideration, including a brief justification, such as— (i) The 8(a) participant, through its own efforts, marketed the r…
  • FAR 19.804-3 SBA acceptance.
    …en the contracting office makes an offer to the 8(a) program on behalf of a specific 8(a) participant and does not receive a reply to its offering letter within two working days, the contracting office may assume the offer is accepted and p…
  • FAR 19.805-2 Procedures.
    …a (see 13 CFR 124.501(g) and 19.816(c)). For a two-step design-build procurement, an 8(a) participant must be eligible for award under the 8(a) program on the initial date for receipt of phase one offers specified in the solicitation (see 1…
  • FAR 19.808-1 Sole source.
    …eeable, the SBA may authorize the contracting officer to negotiate directly with the 8(a) participant. Whether or not direct negotiations take place, the SBA is responsible for approving the resulting contract before award. (d) An 8(a) par…
  • FAR 19.809-2 Limitations on subcontracting and nonmanufacturer rule.
    …ons on subcontracting. To be awarded a contract or order under the 8(a) program, the 8(a) participant is required to perform— (1) For services (except construction), at least 50 percent of the cost incurred for personnel with its own emplo…
  • FAR 5.205 Special situations.
    …en a requirement is being considered for competitive acquisition limited to eligible 8(a) participants under subpart 19.8, the contracting officer must transmit a synopsis of the proposed contract action to the GPE. The synopsis may be tran…
  • FAR 19.800 General.
    …he “8(a) program.” A small business that is accepted into the 8(a) program is known as a “participant.” SBA's subcontractors are referred to as “8(a) contractors.” As used in this subpart, an 8(a) contractor is an 8(a) participant that is c…
  • FAR 19.805-1 General.
    …er the 8(a) program shall be awarded on the basis of competition limited to eligible 8(a) participants when— (1) There is a reasonable expectation that at least two eligible and responsible 8(a) participants will submit offers and that awa…
  • FAR 19.804-5 Basic ordering agreements and blanket purchase agreements.
    …ific BOA or BPA to exceed the competitive threshold amount in 19.805-1. (c) Once an 8(a) participant's program term expires, the participant otherwise exits the 8(a) program, or becomes other than small for the NAICS code assigned under th…
  • FAR 19.814 Requesting a formal size determination (8(a) sole source requirements).
    (a) If the size status of an 8(a) participant nominated for award of an 8(a) sole source contract is called into question, a request for a formal size determination may be submitted to SBA pursuant to 13 CFR 121.1001(b)(2)(ii) by— (1) The …
  • FAR 31.001 Definitions.
    …ts and administrative expenses over the present value of future normal costs for all plan participants and beneficiaries. The excess of the actuarial accrued liability over the actuarial value of the assets of a pension plan is the unfunded…
  • FAR 31.205-6 Compensation for personal services.
    …ragraph (j)(6) of this subsection, one-time-only pension supplements not available to all participants of the basic plan are not allowable as pension costs, unless the supplemental benefits represent a separate pension plan and the benefits…
  • FAR 52.219-14 Limitations on Subcontracting.
    …d in paragraph (e) of this clause will be performed by the aggregate of the joint venture participants. (1) In a joint venture comprised of a small business protégé and its mentor approved by the Small Business Administration, the small bu…
  • FAR 6.204 Section 8(a) competition.
    …mended by Public Law 100-656, contracting officers may limit competition to eligible 8(a) participants (see subpart 19.8). (b) No separate justification or determination and findings is required under this part to limit competition to elig…
  • FAR 19.802 Determining eligibility for the 8(a) program.
    Determining the eligibility of a small business to be a participant in the 8(a) program is the responsibility of the SBA. SBA's regulations on eligibility requirements for participation in the 8(a) program are found at 13 CFR 124.101 throug…
  • FAR 19.804-4 Repetitive acquisitions.
    …e— (a) Whether the requirement should be a competitive 8(a) award; (b) A nominated 8(a) participant's eligibility, and whether or not it is the same 8(a) participant that performed the previous contract; (c) The effect that contract awar…
  • FAR 19.804-6 Indefinite-delivery contracts.
    …when— (1) The multiple-award contract was set aside for exclusive competition among 8(a) participants; (2) The order has an estimated value less than or equal to the dollar thresholds set forth at 19.805-1(a)(2); and (3) The offering and…
  • FAR 19.808-2 Competitive.
    …o part 15, the contracting officer conducts negotiations directly with the competing 8(a) participants. Conducting competitive negotiations among eligible 8(a) participants prior to SBA's formal acceptance of the acquisition for the 8(a) pr…
  • FAR 19.809-1 Preaward survey.
    The contracting officer should request a preaward survey of the 8(a) participant whenever considered useful. If the results of the preaward survey or other information available to the contracting officer raise substantial doubt as to the p…
  • FAR 19.810 SBA appeals.
    …d under the 8(a) Program. (2) A contracting officer's decision to reject a specific 8(a) participant for award of an 8(a) contract after SBA's acceptance of the requirement for the 8(a) program. (3) The terms and conditions of a proposed …
  • FAR 19.811-1 Sole source.
    …b) The contracting officer shall prepare the contract that the SBA will award to the 8(a) participant in accordance with agency procedures, as if awarding the contract directly to the 8(a) participant, except for the following: (1) The awa…
  • FAR 19.811-3 Contract clauses.
    …hall insert the clause at 52.219-18, Notification of Competition Limited to Eligible 8(a) Participants, in competitive solicitations and contracts when the acquisition is accomplished using the procedures of 19.805. Use the clause at 52.219…
  • FAR 19.812 Contract administration.
    …contracting officer shall verify in DSBS or SAM that the concern is an SBA-certified 8(a) participant no more than 120 days prior to the end of the fifth year of the contract. If the concern is not an SBA-certified 8(a) participant, the con…
  • FAR 19.815 Release and notification requirements for non-8(a) procurement.
    …ng an existing, limited competition contracting vehicle that is not available to all 8(a) participants, and the current or previous 8(a) contract was available to all 8(a) participants, the contracting officer shall coordinate with and subm…
  • FAR 52.217-12 Reverse Auction Services.
    … shall— (1) Not assert or imply that it can or will obtain a Government contract for the participants of a reverse auction; (2) Allow entities to register, at no cost, as potential offerors for any reverse auction conducted on behalf of t…
  • DFARS 219.800 General.
    …e Small Business Act to award the performance of those contracts to eligible 8(a) Program participants. However, the SBA remains the prime contractor on all 8(a) contracts, continues to determine eligibility of concerns for contract award, …
  • DFARS 219.811-3 Contract clauses.
    … (2) Use the clause at 252.219-7010, Notification of Competition Limited to Eligible 8(a) Participants-Partnership Agreement, in lieu of the clause at FAR 52.219-18, Notification of Competition Limited to Eligible 8(a) Participants, in comp…
  • FAR 8.004 Use of other sources.
    …wned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business (including 8(a) participants), and women-owned small business concerns. (a)(1) Supplies. Federal Supply Schedules, Governmentwide acquisition contracts, multi-agency…
  • FAR 18.114 Contracting with the Small Business Administration (The 8(a) Program).
    …ay be awarded to the Small Business Administration (SBA) for performance by eligible 8(a) participants on either a sole source or competitive basis. (See Subpart 19.8.)
  • FAR 19.000 Scope of part.
    …ide, in total or in part, for exclusive competitive participation by small business, 8(a) participants, HUBZone small business concerns, service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) concerns eligible under the SDVOSB Program, and …
  • FAR 19.816 Exiting the 8(a) program.
    …cipation in the 8(a) program may be awarded a competitive 8(a) contract if it was an 8(a) participant eligible for award of the contract on the initial date specified for receipt of offers contained in the solicitation, and if the contracto…
  • FAR 19.1304 Exclusions.
    …scretionary set-asides of orders); (d) Requirements currently being performed by an 8(a) participant or requirements SBA has accepted for performance under the authority of the 8(a) program, unless SBA has consented to release the requirem…
  • FAR 19.1306 HUBZone sole-source awards.
    …n all other NAICS codes; (3) The requirement is not currently being performed by an 8(a) participant under the provisions of subpart 19.8 or has been accepted as a requirement by SBA under subpart 19.8. (4) The HUBZone small business conc…
  • FAR 19.1404 Exclusions.
    …etionary set-asides of orders); or (d) Requirements currently being performed by an 8(a) participant or requirements SBA has accepted for performance under the authority of the 8(a) program, unless SBA has consented to release the requirem…
  • FAR 19.1406 Sole-source awards.
    …in any other NAICS code; (3) The requirement is not currently being performed by an 8(a) participant under the provisions of subpart 19.8 or has been accepted as a requirement by SBA under subpart 19.8; (4) The service-disabled veteran-ow…

FAR (chapter 1)

DFARS (chapter 2, Defense)

Source: eCFR, 48 CFR chapters 1 and 2 (GPO GovInfo bulk data) ↗. Rule changes in progress: FAR, DFARS. Terms: glossary.