At the discretion of the buying contracting officer, orders and blanket purchase agreements (BPA) may be set aside for small businesses for any of the socioeconomic categories listed at FAR 19.000(a)(3), if market research shows that three or more such firms are capable of providing the products and/or services required. However, for 8(a) set-asides, the Small Business Administration (SBA) offer and acceptance process must be accomplished at the order level.

 

General Services Administration (GSA) Schedule set-asides are conducted under Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) 8.405-5 procedures, which states that the ordering procedures at FAR 8.405-1, -2, and -3 must be followed when setting aside an order or establishing a set-aside BPA. These procedures require that the ordering activity get three quotes or place the solicitation on GSA eBuy. Since FAR Part 19 procedures do not apply to Schedule orders, the “rule of two” is not applicable in the Schedule environment.