[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 48, Volume 1]
[Revised as of October 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 48CFR19.501]

[Page 353-354]
 
            TITLE 48--FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATIONS SYSTEM
 
                CHAPTER 1--FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION
 
PART 19--SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS--Table of Contents
 
               Subpart 19.5--Set-Asides for Small Business
 
Sec. 19.501  General.


    (a) The purpose of small business set-asides is to award certain 
acquisitions exclusively to small business concerns. A ``set-aside for 
small business'' is the reserving of an acquisition exclusively for 
participation by small business concerns. A small business set-aside may 
be open to all small businesses. A small business set-aside of a single 
acquisition or a class of acquisitions may be total or partial.
    (b) The determination to make a small business set-aside may be 
unilateral or joint. A unilateral determination is one that is made by 
the contracting officer. A joint determination is one that is 
recommended by the Small Business Administration (SBA) procurement 
center representative and concurred in by the contracting officer.
    (c) For acquisitions exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, 
the requirement to set aside an acquisition for HUBZone small business 
concerns (see 19.1305) takes priority over the requirement to set aside 
the acquisition for small business concerns.
    (d) The contracting officer shall review acquisitions to determine 
if they

[[Page 354]]

can be set aside for small business, giving consideration to the 
recommendations of agency personnel having cognizance of the agency's 
small business programs. The contracting officer shall document why a 
small business set-aside is inappropriate when an acquisition is not set 
aside for small business, unless a HUBZone small business set-aside or 
HUBZone small business sole source award is anticipated. If the 
acquisition is set aside for small business based on this review, it is 
a unilateral set-aside by the contracting officer. Agencies may 
establish threshold levels for this review depending upon their needs.
    (e) At the request of an SBA procurement center representative, the 
contracting officer shall make available for review at the contracting 
office (to the extent of the SBA representative's security clearance) 
all proposed acquisitions in excess of the micro-purchase threshold that 
have not been unilaterally set aside for small business.
    (f) To the extent practicable, unilateral determinations initiated 
by a contracting officer shall be used as the basis for small business 
set-asides rather than joint determinations by an SBA procurement center 
representative and a contracting officer.
    (g) All solicitations involving set-asides must specify the 
applicable small business size standard and NAICS code (see 19.303).
    (h) Except as authorized by law, a contract may not be awarded as a 
result of a small business set-aside if the cost to the awarding agency 
exceeds the fair market price.

[48 FR 42240, Sept. 19, 1983]

    Editorial Note: For Federal Register citations affecting section 
19.501, see the List of CFR Sections Affected which appears in the 
Finding Aids section of the printed volume and on GPO Access.