As prescribed in 19.708(b),
(1) Insert the clause at 52.219-9, Small Business Subcontracting Plan, in solicitations and contracts that offer subcontracting possibilities, are expected to exceed $750,000 ($1.5 million for construction of any public facility), and are required to include the clause at 52.219-8, Utilization of Small Business Concerns, unless the acquisition is set aside or is to be accomplished under the 8(a) program. When-
(i) Contracting by sealed bidding rather than by negotiation, the contracting officer shall use the clause with its Alternate I;
(ii) Contracting by negotiation, and subcontracting plans are required with initial proposals as provided for in 19.705-2(d), the contracting officer shall use the clause with its Alternate II;
(iii) The contract action will not be reported in the Federal Procurement Data System pursuant to 4.606(c)(5), or (c)(6), the contracting officer shall use the clause with its Alternate III; or
(iv) Incorporating a subcontracting plan due to a modification as provided for in 19.702(a)(1)(iii), the contracting officer shall use the clause with its Alternate IV.
Small Business Subcontracting Plan (Sep 2021) Alternate IV (Sep 2021)
Alternate IV (Sep 2021). As prescribed in 19.708(b)(1)(iv), substitute the following paragraphs (c) and (d) for paragraphs (c) and (d) of the basic clause:
(c)(1) The Contractor, upon request by the Contracting Officer, shall submit and negotiate a subcontracting plan, where applicable, that separately addresses subcontracting with small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business concerns. If the Contractor is submitting an individual subcontracting plan, the plan shall separately address subcontracting with small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business concerns, with a separate part for the basic contract and separate parts for each option (if any). The subcontracting plan shall be incorporated into the contract. The subcontracting plan shall be negotiated within the time specified by the Contracting Officer. The subcontracting plan does not apply retroactively.
(2)(i) The prime Contractor may accept a subcontractor's written representations of its size and socioeconomic status as a small business, small disadvantaged business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, or a women-owned small business if the subcontractor represents that the size and socioeconomic status representations with its offer are current, accurate, and complete as of the date of the offer for the subcontract.
(ii) The Contractor may accept a subcontractor's representations of its size and socioeconomic status as a small business, small disadvantaged business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, or a women-owned small business in the System for Award Management (SAM) if–
(A) The subcontractor is registered in SAM; and
(B) The subcontractor represents that the size and socioeconomic status representations made in SAM are current, accurate and complete as of the date of the offer for the subcontract.
(iii) The Contractor may not require the use of SAM for the purposes of representing size or socioeconomic status in connection with a subcontract.
(iv) In accordance with 13 CFR 121.411, 124.1015, 125.29, 126.900, and 127.700, a contractor acting in good faith is not liable for misrepresentations made by its subcontractors regarding the subcontractor's size or socioeconomic status.
(d) The Contractor's subcontracting plan shall include the following:
(1) Separate goals, expressed in terms of total dollars subcontracted and as a percentage of total planned subcontracting dollars, for the use of small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business concerns as subcontractors. For individual subcontracting plans, and if required by the Contracting Officer, goals shall also be expressed in terms of percentage of total contract dollars, in addition to the goals expressed as a percentage of total subcontract dollars. The Contractor shall include all subcontracts that contribute to contract performance, and may include a proportionate share of products and services that are normally allocated as indirect costs. In accordance with 43 U.S.C. 1626–
(i) Subcontracts awarded to an ANC or Indian tribe shall be counted towards the subcontracting goals for small business and small disadvantaged business concerns, regardless of the size or Small Business Administration certification status of the ANC or Indian tribe; and
(ii) Where one or more subcontractors are in the subcontract tier between the prime Contractor and the ANC or Indian tribe, the ANC or Indian tribe shall designate the appropriate Contractor(s) to count the subcontract towards its small business and small disadvantaged business subcontracting goals.
(A) In most cases, the appropriate Contractor is the Contractor that awarded the subcontract to the ANC or Indian tribe.
(B) If the ANC or Indian tribe designates more than one Contractor to count the subcontract toward its goals, the ANC or Indian tribe shall designate only a portion of the total subcontract award to each Contractor. The sum of the amounts designated to various Contractors cannot exceed the total value of the subcontract.
(C) The ANC or Indian tribe shall give a copy of the written designation to the Contracting Officer, the Contractor, and the subcontractors in between the prime Contractor and the ANC or Indian tribe within 30 days of the date of the subcontract award.
(D) If the Contracting Officer does not receive a copy of the ANC's or the Indian tribe's written designation within 30 days of the subcontract award, the Contractor that awarded the subcontract to the ANC or Indian tribe will be considered the designated Contractor.
(2) A statement of–
(i) Total dollars planned to be subcontracted for an individual subcontracting plan; or the Contractor's total projected sales, expressed in dollars, and the total value of projected subcontracts to support the sales for a commercial plan, including all indirect costs, with the exception of those such as the following: Employee salaries and benefits; payments for petty cash; depreciation; interest; income taxes; property taxes; lease payments; bank fees; fines, claims, and dues; original equipment manufacturer relationships during warranty periods (negotiated up front with the product); utilities and other services purchased from a municipality or an entity solely authorized by the municipality to provide those services in a particular geographical region; and philanthropic contributions;
(iii) Total dollars planned to be subcontracted to veteran-owned small business concerns; (iv) Total dollars planned to be subcontracted to service-disabled veteran-owned small business; (v) Total dollars planned to be subcontracted to HUBZone small business concerns; (vi) Total dollars planned to be subcontracted to small disadvantaged business concerns (including ANCs and Indian tribes); and (vii) Total dollars planned to be subcontracted to women-owned small business concerns.
(3) A description of the principal types of supplies and services to be subcontracted, and an identification of the types planned for subcontracting to
(i) Small business concerns;
(ii) Veteran-owned small business concerns;
(iii) Service-disabled veteran-owned small business concerns;
(iv) HUBZone small business concerns;
(v) Small disadvantaged business concerns; and
(vi) Women-owned small business concerns.
(4) A description of the method used to develop the subcontracting goals in paragraph (d)(1) of this clause.
(5) A description of the method used to identify potential sources for solicitation purposes (e.g., existing company source lists, SAM, veterans service organizations, the National Minority Purchasing Council Vendor Information Service, the Research and Information Division of the Minority Business Development Agency in the Department of Commerce, or small, HUBZone, small disadvantaged, and women-owned small business trade associations). The Contractor may rely on the information contained in SAM as an accurate representation of a concern's size and ownership characteristics for the purposes of maintaining a small, veteran-owned small, service-disabled veteran-owned small, HUBZone small, small disadvantaged, and women-owned small business source list. Use of SAM as its source list does not relieve a firm of its responsibilities (e.g., outreach, assistance, counseling, or publicizing subcontracting opportunities) in this clause.
(6) A statement as to whether or not the Contractor included indirect costs in establishing subcontracting goals, and a description of the method used to determine the proportionate share of indirect costs to be incurred with–
(i) Small business concerns (including ANC and Indian tribes);
(ii) Veteran-owned small business concerns;
(iii) Service-disabled veteran-owned small business concerns;
(iv) HUBZone small business concerns;
(v) Small disadvantaged business concerns (including ANC and Indian tribes); and
(vi) Women-owned small business concerns.
(7) The name of the individual employed by the Contractor who will administer the Contractor's subcontracting program, and a description of the duties of the individual.
(8) A description of the efforts the Contractor will make to assure that small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business concerns have an equitable opportunity to compete for subcontracts.
(9) Assurances that the Contractor will include the clause of this contract entitled "Utilization of Small Business Concerns" in all subcontracts that offer further subcontracting opportunities, and that the Contractor will require all subcontractors (except small business concerns) that receive subcontracts in excess of the applicable threshold specified in FAR 19.702(a) on the date of subcontract award, with further subcontracting possibilities to adopt a subcontracting plan that complies with the requirements of this clause.
(10) Assurances that the Contractor will–
(i) Cooperate in any studies or surveys as may be required;
(ii) Submit periodic reports so that the Government can determine the extent of compliance by the Contractor with the subcontracting plan;
(iii) After November 30, 2017, include subcontracting data for each order when reporting subcontracting achievements for an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts with individual subcontracting plans where the contract is intended for use by multiple agencies;
(iv) Submit the Individual Subcontract Report (ISR) and/or the Summary Subcontract Report (SSR), in accordance with paragraph (l) of this clause using the Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System (eSRS) at http://www.esrs.gov. The reports shall provide information on subcontract awards to small business concerns (including ANCs and Indian tribes that are not small businesses), veteran-owned small business concerns, service-disabled veteran-owned small business concerns, HUBZone small business concerns, small disadvantaged business concerns (including ANCs and Indian tribes that have not been certified by SBA as small disadvantaged businesses), women-owned small business concerns, and for NASA only, Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Institutions. Reporting shall be in accordance with this clause, or as provided in agency regulations;
(v) Ensure that its subcontractors with subcontracting plans agree to submit the ISR and/or the SSR using eSRS;
(vi) Provide its prime contract number, its unique entity identifier, and the e-mail address of the Contractor's official responsible for acknowledging receipt of or rejecting the ISRs, to all first-tier subcontractors with subcontracting plans so they can enter this information into the eSRS when submitting their ISRs; and
(vii) Require that each subcontractor with a subcontracting plan provide the prime contract number, its own unique entity identifier, and the e-mail address of the subcontractor's official responsible for acknowledging receipt of or rejecting the ISRs, to its subcontractors with subcontracting plans.
(11) A description of the types of records that will be maintained concerning procedures that have been adopted to comply with the requirements and goals in the plan, including establishing source lists; and a description of the Contractor's efforts to locate small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business concerns and award subcontracts to them. The records shall include at least the following (on a plant-wide or company-wide basis, unless otherwise indicated):
(i) Source lists (e.g., SAM), guides, and other data that identify small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business concerns.
(ii) Organizations contacted in an attempt to locate sources that are small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, or women-owned small business concerns.
(iii) Records on each subcontract solicitation resulting in an award of more than the simplified acquisition threshold, as defined in FAR 2.101 on the date of subcontract award, indicating–
(A) Whether small business concerns were solicited and, if not, why not;
(B) Whether veteran-owned small business concerns were solicited and, if not, why not;
(C) Whether service-disabled veteran-owned small business concerns were solicited and, if not, why not;
(D) Whether HUBZone small business concerns were solicited and, if not, why not;
(E) Whether small disadvantaged business concerns were solicited and, if not, why not;
(F) Whether women-owned small business concerns were solicited and, if not, why not; and
(G) If applicable, the reason award was not made to a small business concern.
(iv) Records of any outreach efforts to contact–
(A) Trade associations;
(B) Business development organizations;
(C) Conferences and trade fairs to locate small, HUBZone small, small disadvantaged, service-disabled veteran-owned, and women-owned small business sources; and
(D) Veterans service organizations.
(v) Records of internal guidance and encouragement provided to buyers through–
(A) Workshops, seminars, training, etc.; and
(B) Monitoring performance to evaluate compliance with the program's requirements.
(vi) On a contract-by-contract basis, records to support award data submitted by the Contractor to the Government, including the name, address, and business size of each subcontractor. Contractors having commercial plans need not comply with this requirement.
(12) Assurances that the Contractor will make a good faith effort to acquire articles, equipment, supplies, services, or materials, or obtain the performance of construction work from the small business concerns that it used in preparing the proposal for the modification, in the same or greater scope, amount, and quality used in preparing and submitting the modification proposal. Responding to a request for a quote does not constitute use in preparing a proposal. The Contractor used a small business concern in preparing the proposal for a modification if–
(i) The Contractor identifies the small business concern as a subcontractor in the proposal or associated small business subcontracting plan, to furnish certain supplies or perform a portion of the subcontract; or(ii) The Contractor used the small business concern's pricing or cost information or technical expertise in preparing the proposal, where there is written evidence of an intent or understanding that the small business concern will be awarded a subcontract for the related work when the modification is executed.
(13) Assurances that the Contractor will provide the Contracting Officer with a written explanation if the Contractor fails to acquire articles, equipment, supplies, services or materials or obtain the performance of construction work as described in (d)(12) of this clause. This written explanation must be submitted to the Contracting Officer within 30 days of contract completion.
(14) Assurances that the Contractor will not prohibit a subcontractor from discussing with the contracting officer any material matter pertaining to the payment to or utilization of a subcontractor.
(15) Assurances that the offeror will pay its small business subcontractors on time and in accordance with the terms and conditions of the underlying subcontract, and notify the contracting officer when the prime contractor makes either a reduced or an untimely payment to a small business subcontractor (see 52.242-5).
(j) Subcontracting plans are not required from subcontractors when the prime contract contains the clause at 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items, or when the subcontractor provides a commercial item subject to the clause at 52.244-6, Subcontracts for Commercial Items, under a prime contract.
(k) The failure of the Contractor or subcontractor to comply in good faith with (1) the clause of this contract entitled “Utilization Of Small Business Concerns;” or (2) an approved plan required by this clause, shall be a material breach of the contract and may be considered in any past performance evaluation of the Contractor.