Small Business Subcontracting Plans: An Introduction
This page is intended to provide guidance on the preparation and reporting required for such plans, and to set out the responsibilities of the various parties involved in their preparation and submission.
The Small Business Subcontracting Program was designed to ensure that prime contractors further the goals of increasing participation of small businesses in federal procurement. A small business subcontracting plan is required on federal contracts that contain FAR 52.219-9 and/or DFARS 219.7 that are expected to total an estimated cost of $750,000 ($1.5 million for construction), for the entire period of performance. A small business subcontracting plan is also required of any subrecipient whose total dollar subcontract amount is expected to exceed total costs of $750,000 for the entire period of performance. Certain percentages of the direct cost expenditures must be spent with suppliers in small business categories.
The small business supplier categories and the federal prime contract percentage goals are:
Note: SDB, WBE, HUBZone, VOSB, and SDVOSB goals are subsets of SMB and are counted and reported in multiple categories, as appropriate.
Any non-personnel (non-salaried) supplies or services required for performance of the contract are legitimate expenses to consider for a subcontracting plan. The principal products/services subject to the purposes of a small business subcontracting plan include direct costs such as: lab supplies, lab equipment, travel, printing, and livery services that may be sponsored by the contract. Any work included in your budget which will be formally subcontracted (i.e., a portion of the scope of work is contracted out to a subrecipient via a subcontract) to another entity, may also be included in the plan to use a small business.
A sample form for a small business subcontracting plan is usually incorporated as an attachment link to a federal contract solicitation (RFP).
A small business subcontracting plan is generally required to be submitted with the proposal, and it is subject to negotiation during the negotiation phase of a proposal. Federal agencies have established subcontracting goals and generally include them with each RFP; the goals are also often set out in the sample form for a subcontracting plan. At the time of the proposal, it is generally sufficient to prepare the subcontracting plan for the total cost of a multi-year proposal.
Quick Reference
How to Prepare a Plan I Small Business Subcontracting Plans FAQs I Other Resources
Responsibilities of University Parties
Please view the tabs below to understand how the responsibilities related to Small Business Subcontracting Plans are split and shared across different entities within the University:
MaineStreet and MaineStreet Marketplace Supplier Search Options
MaineStreet and MaineStreet Marketplace can be used to assist in the identification of small business suppliers for inclusion and use under the small business subcontracting plan:
- Instructions for identifying suppliers in MaineStreet Marketplace with a specific diversity classification
- Instructions for viewing all active MaineStreet Marketplace vendors with designated diversity class codes to satisfy the small business subcontracting plan requirements (Note: Enter the date 01/01/1900 the first time running this query).
