Small-business programs
What is an SBA size standard?
A size standard is the maximum size — stated as average annual receipts or as number of employees — at which a business still counts as small for a particular NAICS code, and it is what decides whether you may compete for a small-business set-aside.
Also written as: SBA size standard, am I a small business, small business size standard.
SBA publishes a standard for every NAICS code in its table of small business size standards, implemented at 13 CFR 121.201. Some industries are measured by receipts, others by employees, and the thresholds vary widely between codes that look adjacent — sibling codes within one NAICS family do not always share a standard.
Size is determined per solicitation, against the NAICS code the buyer assigned to that requirement. The same firm can be small for a contract coded 238220 and other than small for one coded 236220. Affiliation rules under 13 CFR 121.103 can also pull in the receipts or employees of related entities, which is where firms with common ownership are most often caught out.
You self-certify size in SAM.gov, and a self-certification that turns out to be wrong is not a clerical matter — size status can be protested by a competitor, and misrepresentation carries real consequences.
What this means when you bid
Look your exact six digits up in SBA's table before you self-certify. A neighbouring code's threshold is not evidence about yours.
Size standard compared with the terms it gets confused with
Size standard vs NAICS code
The NAICS code classifies the work; the size standard attached to that code decides whether you count as small for it.
What NAICS codemeans →Where this definition comes from
Federal contracting is one of the few fields where the authoritative answer is free, public and one click away. These are the sources this page is built from — go and read them.
- SBA table of small business size standards→
- 13 CFR 121→
SBA size regulations.
- FAR 19.102→
Size standards.
This page explains a term in plain English and cites the authority it comes from. It is not legal advice, and the regulation governs where this page and the regulation differ.
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Size standard— common questions
- What is an SBA size standard?
- A size standard is the maximum size — stated as average annual receipts or as number of employees — at which a business still counts as small for a particular NAICS code, and it is what decides whether you may compete for a small-business set-aside.
- What is the difference between Size standard and NAICS code?
- The NAICS code classifies the work; the size standard attached to that code decides whether you count as small for it.
- Why does a size standard matter when you are bidding?
- Look your exact six digits up in SBA's table before you self-certify. A neighbouring code's threshold is not evidence about yours.
Related terms
- NAICS code — North American Industry Classification System code
- Set-aside
- Rule of two
- SAM.gov registration
- 8(a) — 8(a) Business Development program