On September 26, 2025, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council released the much-anticipated rewrite of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 19, formerly titled Small Business Programs, as part of the broader Revolutionary FAR Overhaul initiative. To the pleasant surprise of many in the government contracting community, much of Part 19’s original content remains intact considering other more significant changes to other parts of the FAR. Still, several notable revisions—most prominently, retention of the Rule of Two—carry significant implications for small business contractors. PilieroMazza summarizes the new FAR Part 19 rewrite and identifies key changes for small business prime and subcontractors.
Structural Reorganization of FAR Part 19
The newly issued FAR Part 19, now retitled simply “Small Business,” was reorganized to track the acquisition lifecycle. It is divided into three streamlined subparts: 19.1 Presolicitation, 19.2 Evaluation and Award, and 19.3 Postaward. Additionally, Section 19.001, Definitions, consolidates terms that were previously scattered throughout the old Part 19 into a single location.
Consistent with other recent FAR overhauls, the revised Part 19 is significantly streamlined in the hopes of improving clarity, usability, and implementation by the acquisition workforce. Notably, the rewrite cuts more than 12,000 words—over one-quarter of the prior text—making it far more concise.
Core Small Business Policy Preserved
Despite this substantial reduction in verbiage, the general policy of Part 19 remains unchanged. The FAR continues to emphasize that:
“It is the Government’s policy to provide maximum practicable opportunities in its acquisitions to small business and other small business socioeconomic categories (i.e. veteran-owned small business [(VOSB)], service-disabled veteran-owned small business [(SDVOSB)], HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business concerns [(WOSB)]).”
One noteworthy shift, however, is the removal of a formal preference for socioeconomic categories. The new FAR Part 19 instead adopts a broader preference for small businesses generally. Importantly, the socioeconomic programs and protest procedures themselves remain substantively unchanged.
Key Revisions in the Rewrite
While the overarching policy is preserved, three key changes stand out in the revised Part 19.
1. The Rule of Two: Preserved but Modified
For months, small business contractors and practitioners expressed uncertainty regarding the future of the non-statutory Rule of Two. The FAR Council confirmed that the Rule of Two remains—albeit with modifications. The new FAR 19.104-1 requires that all acquisitions above the micro-purchase threshold must be set-aside for small businesses if there is a reasonable expectation of obtaining offers:
- from two or more responsible small business concerns; and
- that are competitive in terms of fair market prices, quality, and delivery.
While this language preserves the essence of the Rule of Two, the rewrite eliminates the prior requirement for contracting officers to consider socioeconomic set-asides before general small business set-asides. Contracting officers may still issue socioeconomic set-asides or sole-source awards, but they are no longer required to prioritize them.
The new FAR 19.111-2 also clarifies that contracting officers have discretion—but not an obligation—to set aside orders under multiple-award contracts, including Federal Supply Schedules. Moreover, the decision whether or not to set aside an order is expressly not subject to protest.
Partial set-aside procedures remain, but they are consolidated into FAR 19.104-2 rather than spread across separate provisions for single- and multiple-award contracts.
2. 8(a) Contracts Open to Other Set Asides Programs with Competition Emphasized Over Sole Source Awards
Previously, contracts awarded under the 8(a) Program were required to remain in the 8(a) Program unless released by the Small Business Administration (SBA) or subject to a mandatory source under FAR Part 8. The new FAR 19.108-11 makes follow-on 8(a) contracts available for set asides under the HUBZone, SDVOSB, or WOSB programs—without SBA approval. This represents a departure from a long-established rule that “Once 8(a), Always 8(a).”
In addition, the new rules prioritize competition over sole-sourcing. Under FAR 19.108, contracting officers must first attempt to conduct competition for procurements below the competitive thresholds ($8.5 million for manufacturing and $5.5 million for other industries, effective October 1, 2025) by competing 8(a) orders using government-wide vehicles. Sole-source awards may only be pursued if competition is not feasible.
3. Recertification Now Limited to Contract Level
Another significant change is the elimination of order-level rerepresentations for small businesses under multiple-award contracts. Under the new FAR 19.201-1, Representations, size and status are determined at the contract level and must only be updated for specific contract-level events, such as novations, mergers, or long-term contract option exercises.
Unlike the SBA’s current regulations at 13 C.F.R. § 125.12(c)—which permit contracting officers to request recertifications at the order level—the new FAR contains no such authority. This omission creates a discrepancy with existing SBA regulations. PilieroMazza’s Sam Finnerty provides a detailed analysis of this change and its potential impact on recertification requirements in his blog linked here. It is our understanding that SBA collaborated closely with the FAR Council on these revisions and is expected to release updates to resolve these inconsistencies before the end of the year.
Preserved SBA Oversight and Advocacy Amid FAR Part 19 Revisions
The revised FAR Part 19 removes many specifics regarding SBA’s direct role in promoting small business contracting. At first glance, the substantial reorganization suggests a reduction in SBA’s oversight and advocacy. However, a closer examination of the regulation reveals that SBA retains the same level of oversight as it had under the previous version of FAR Part 19.
For example, the previous FAR 19.707, which outlined SBA’s role in the Subcontracting Plan Program, appears to have been completely removed in the Practitioner Album line-out. Nevertheless, the core requirements for SBA’s involvement in reviewing subcontracting plans during solicitation, proposal evaluation, and post-award monitoring remain intact. These responsibilities have simply been redistributed across the subparts dealing with Presolicitation, Evaluation and Award, and Postaward.
Similarly, the previous FAR 19.602-3, which addressed procedures for when an agency and SBA disagreed on a small business concern’s ability to perform, is also absent in the new version. However, the obligation for contracting officers to forward responsibility determinations of small business concerns to SBA, and SBA’s authority to issue Certificates of Competency, are still preserved. Indeed, the new regulation confirms SBA’s Certificates of Competency are final with respect to all elements of responsibility.
Another change is the elimination of detailed descriptions of the duties of procurement center representatives and the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, which were previously outlined in FAR 19.201. Instead of repeating these duties within the FAR, the updated regulations refer to SBA’s regulations, where the detailed provisions were retained.
While the revisions to FAR Part 19 remove specific references to SBA’s direct involvement, SBA’s oversight remains largely unchanged. These updates align with the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul’s broader trend of reducing unnecessary complexity, reflected in both streamlined language and removal of redundant regulations. Only time will determine whether these revisions ultimately lead to a more efficient procurement process.
Takeaways
- The Rule of Two Survives—but with Less Priority for Socioeconomic Set-Asides. Small businesses remain protected, but contracting officers are no longer required to prioritize HUBZone, SDVOSB, WOSB, or 8(a) set-asides over general small business set-asides. Indeed, the new regulation indicates that small business set asides take priority over other program set asides. This could reduce opportunities for socioeconomic categories in some procurements as contracting officers may seek competition among a larger pool of small businesses. However, contracting officers retain discretion in determining whether to set-aside a requirement and may choose to limit the pool of competitors due to resource constraints within procurement offices. With less personnel to review proposals from a large number of small businesses, as opposed to a smaller, targeted group under a socioeconomic set-aside, procurement officials may find set asides to WOSB, SDVOSB, HUBZone and 8(a) firms to be a more efficient way to conduct competitions among highly qualified firms.
- 8(a) Program Flexibility. Follow-on 8(a) contracts may now transition into other socioeconomic set-asides without SBA approval, creating new contracting opportunities for HUBZone, SDVOSB, and WOSB firms.
- No More Order-Level Recertifications. Size and status will now be locked in at the contract level, which may benefit incumbents but limit opportunities for new small businesses to challenge size at the order level.
- SBA Regulations Still Pending. Expect updates from SBA to reconcile inconsistencies—especially around recertification. Contractors should monitor these developments closely.
- FAR Council Accepting Feedback on All FAR Parts. The public is invited to submit feedback on the recently revised FAR Parts, including Part 19, by November 3, 2025, at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. While the FAR Council will not provide formal responses to individual submissions, all feedback will be considered as the Council moves forward with the official rulemaking process.
If you have questions about SBA’s changes to FAR Part 19 and how it may impact your business, please contact Tony Franco or another member of PilieroMazza’s Government Contracts Group. Special thanks to Krissy Cralle for her assistance with this client alert.
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