SBA's Office of Size Standards develops and recommends small business size standards to the Administrator of SBA. These include recommendations on small business definitions that other Federal agencies propose. Federal agencies must obtain the approval of the SBA Administrator before adopting a size standard different from SBA's size standard.

Requests to change existing size standards or establish new ones are handled by the Office of Size Standards, which reviews industry and other relevant information and makes recommendations to the Administrator. Important factors SBA considers when revising a size standard include the structure of the industry and the effect of the size standard on Federal procurement. Periodically, SBA revises its monetary based size standards to account for the effects of inflation in the economy. Changes to size standards must follow the rulemaking procedures of the Administrative Procedure Act.  A proposed rule changing a size standard is first published in the Federal Register, allowing for public comment. It must include documentation establishing that a significant problem exists that requires a revision of the size standard, plus an economic analysis of the change. Comments from the public, plus any other new information, are reviewed and evaluated before a final rule is promulgated establishing a new size standard.
 
For further information, contact:

Office of Size Standards
U.S. Small Business Administration
409 3rd St., SW
Washington, DC 20416
Phone: (202) 205-6618
Fax: (202) 205-6390
E-mail: sizestandards@sba.gov