The nonmanufacturer rule requires, among other things, that the prime contractor supply the end items of a small business manufacturer, or obtain a SBA waiver of that requirement. Compliance with the nonmanufacturer rule is determined as of the date of the final proposal–and a subsequent switch in manufacturers won’t be recognized by the SBA.
In a recent decision, the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals held that the SBA had erred by evaluating a prospective prime contractor’s nonmanufacturer rule compliance because the small business end manufacturer in question had not provided a quotation to the prime until well after the prime’s proposal had been submitted.
OHA’s decision in Size Appeal of Sea Box, Inc., SBA No. SIZ-5699 (2015) involved an Army solicitation for twelve QuadCons (a type of metal container). The solicitation was issued as a small business set-aside under NAICS code 332312 (Fabricated Structural Metal Manufacturing). Bids were due on September 11, 2015.
Keep reading this article at: http://smallgovcon.com/sbaohadecisions/nonmanufacturer-rule-post-proposal-substitutions-dont-work/
