(a) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, to be eligible as a subcontractor under the program, a concern must represent itself as a small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, or women-owned small business concern.

(1) To represent itself as a small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, or women-owned small business concern, a concern must meet the appropriate definition (see 2.101 and 19.001). For subcontracting purposes, a concern is small if it does not exceed the size standard for the NAICS code that the prime contractor determines best describes the product or service being acquired by the subcontract.

(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, HUBZone small business, or a women-owned small business, if the subcontractor represents that the size and socioeconomic status representation with its offer are current, accurate, and complete as of the date of the offer for the subcontracts; or

(ii) The prime contractor may accept a subcontractor's representation of its size and socioeconomic status as a small business, small disadvantaged business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone 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 prime 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, 126.900, 127.700, and 128.600, a prime contractor acting in good faith is not liable for misrepresentations made by its subcontractors regarding the subcontractor's size or socioeconomic status.

(b) The contractor, the contracting officer, or any other interested party can challenge a subcontractor's size status representation by filing a protest, in accordance with 13 CFR 121.1001 through 121.1008.

(c)

(1) In accordance with 43 U.S.C. 1626, the following procedures apply:

(i) Subcontracts awarded to an ANC or Indian tribe shall be counted towards the subcontracting goals for small business and small disadvantaged business (SDB) concerns, regardless of the size or Small Business Administration certification status of the ANC or Indian tribe.

(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 prime 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 contractor acting in good faith may rely on the written representation of an ANC or an Indian tribe as to the status of the ANC or Indian tribe unless an interested party challenges its status or the contracting officer has independent reason to question its status. In the event of a challenge of a representation of an ANC or Indian tribe, the interested parties shall follow the procedures at 26.103(b) through (e).

(d) Protests challenging the socioeconomic status of a HUBZone small business concern must be filed in accordance with 13 CFR 126.801.