How federal set-asides work for small cleaning and landscaping firms

Are you small?

"Small" depends on the NAICS code on the solicitation, not on your company in general. For most services, SBA measures size by average annual receipts, generally over the last five completed fiscal years (13 CFR 121.104), including affiliates. Current limits for common facilities codes:

Check the current table on SBA's size standards page before you rely on these. You certify your size in SAM.gov and on each offer.

The set-aside types

• Total Small Business: open to any business that's small under the solicitation's NAICS code. No certification needed beyond your own representation in SAM.gov.
• Partial small business: part of the work is reserved for small businesses.
• 8(a): for firms in SBA's 8(a) Business Development program, which is for small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. Admission is through SBA, and the program's rules have been changing, so check SBA's 8(a) page for current status. Some 8(a) contracts are awarded without competition.
• HUBZone: for certified firms whose principal office is in a Historically Underutilized Business Zone and at least 35% of whose employees live in one. Check addresses with SBA's HUBZone map. HUBZone firms can also get a price evaluation preference in some full-and-open competitions.
• Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) and Economically Disadvantaged WOSB (EDWOSB): for certified firms at least 51% owned and controlled by women. These set-asides are only used in industries SBA has designated, so check whether your NAICS code is on SBA's WOSB program page.
• Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB): for firms at least 51% owned and controlled by one or more service-disabled veterans, certified through SBA's Veteran Small Business Certification (VetCert) program. The Department of Veterans Affairs gives veteran-owned and service-disabled veteran-owned firms first priority on many of its contracts.

On SAM.gov, each notice's Set Aside field shows which applies. Our open-bids tracker lets you filter by set-aside.

Rules that come with a set-aside

• You have to do much of the work. On a small-business set-aside for services, the prime generally can't pay more than 50% of what the government pays it to subcontractors that aren't "similarly situated" (that is, not in the same program), under SBA's limitations on subcontracting. You can't win a set-aside and hand the whole job to a large company.
• Size and status can be protested. Competitors can challenge whether the winner was small or eligible, and SBA decides.
• Your representations must be accurate. Misrepresenting size or status carries serious penalties.
• The solicitation's clauses control. The federal acquisition rules are being rewritten under the FAR overhaul, and agencies have adopted the new small-business text through their own deviations on different dates. Read the set-aside and subcontracting clauses in the solicitation itself.

Which bids to target

• Start with set-asides you qualify for, near you, in a size you can staff.
• Don't skip unrestricted bids: small businesses can win those too, especially smaller local jobs.
• Answer Sources Sought notices. When the agency hears from enough capable small businesses, it can decide to set the contract aside.
• Look at the large prime contractors on base operations contracts; they often need small-business subcontractors.

Free help

APEX Accelerators and SBA's local assistance network (district offices, Small Business Development Centers, Women's Business Centers and Veterans Business Outreach Centers) give free help with certifications and bids. SBA's federal contracting guide covers the programs in more depth.

General information from the Bid Brief team, not legal or contracting advice. Program rules change; check SBA's current rules and the solicitation, which control. We aren't affiliated with SBA, SAM.gov or any government agency. Last reviewed Nov 4, 2026.