When sending out an RFP, we include the NAICS on it. If one supplier comes back and says they don't have that NAICS listed in their SAM, but they have this one and that's the one they'd prefer to use... would we need to send out an updated RFP with the other NAICS listed on it to keep competition?

1 hour ago, Tammy Sheridan said:

When sending out an RFP, we include the NAICS on it. If one supplier comes back and says they don't have that NAICS listed in their SAM, but they have this one and that's the one they'd prefer to use... would we need to send out an updated RFP with the other NAICS listed on it to keep competition?

To accomodate the offeror yes but should you? Remember it is up to you, as the Federal agency, to make a determination of what NAICS applies to the solicitation. Take a read of FAR 19.102(b).

And a further thought. If the originally listed NAICS is considered to be the appropriate one and the supplier might qualify under it but does not have it listed in SAM have both you and the supplier considered FAR 52.204-8 paragraph (d)?

Reference FAR 19.102(b).

The NAICS should be selected based upon the one which best describes the principal purpose of the supply or service being acquired. The selection is at the discretion of the Contracting Officer, but see also FAR 19.103 which addresses appeals to the NAICS code selection. It is the discretion of the contracting officer to change the NAICS if there is a determination that the initial selection does not best represent the principal purpose of the NAICS initially selected.

As a side note, there is a common misconception that an offeror must include the NAICS for an offer in their SAM registration, but this is not true.

It is conceivable that the interested party is asking the question due to a lack of understanding, but it is also possible they may also not qualify as a small business in the selected NAICS and hope to have it changed to a different NAICS under which they would be considered small.

2 hours ago, ricroy said:

As a side note, there is a common misconception that an offeror must include the NAICS for an offer in their SAM registration, but this is not true.

It is conceivable that the interested party is asking the question due to a lack of understanding, but it is also possible they may also not qualify as a small business in the selected NAICS and hope to have it changed to a different NAICS under which they would be considered small.

I agree. I am not aware of any requirement that mandates an offeror have the specific NAICS code associated with a solicitation listed in their SAM.gov registration. According to FAR 52.204-7, the only requirement is that the offeror be actively registered in SAM at the time they submit their offer and remain registered through award. The clause states: "An Offeror is required to be registered in SAM when submitting an offer or quotation and at the time of award (see FAR 52.204-13 for the requirement to maintain SAM registration during performance and through final payment)."

The Government's focus should be on verifying that the offeror fully understands the scope of work and can clearly demonstrate their ability to perform it. As a best practice, I would recommend the offeror update their SAM.gov registration to include the relevant NAICS code as soon as possible, provided they are capable and interested in performing work under that classification.

Additionally, under FAR 52.212-3 (Reps and Certs) in SAM, there is an expandable section, indicated by a plus sign, that will reveal additional NAICS codes if you click on it. It’s worth checking whether the applicable code is already listed there as part of that collapsible content.

@Tammy Sheridan Really good question, and agree with @ricroy and @Guardian above. I'd add:

I would not change the NAICS to accommodate the interested vendor, unless market research on the official NAICS Manual (also see the NAICS Association site search) and in the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) shows that your agency consistently uses a different NAICS for this type of acquisition. Otherwise, it looks like you're making the change to favor a specific vendor, not because it's the appropriate thing to do under the FAR. As commented above, a business is not required to list a specific NAICS to be eligible for award, so they can still submit a bid/quote/proposal and be considered for award. If you need backup, here's what GAO said in denying a protest claiming that the winning vendor did not list the solicitation's NAICS in its SAM profile. (Name of case is hyperlink to full decision on GAO's website).

"The Small Business Administration (SBA) establishes small business size standards on an industry-by-industry basis. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) § 19.102(a)(1). The SBA identifies the size standards using NAICS codes. 13 C.F.R. § 121.201. The FAR provides that size standards are "applied" by classifying the product or service being acquired under the NAICS code that best describes it; identifying the size standard SBA established for that industry; and specifying the size standard in the solicitation so that offerors can appropriately represent themselves as large or small. FAR § 19.102(b). So long as a company meets the applicable size standard, we are aware of no statutory or regulatory requirement that it have the particular NAICS code identified in the solicitation as its primary code." Veterans Electric, B-413198, Aug. 16, 2016, citing High Plains Computing, Inc. d/b/a HPC Solutions, B-409736.2, Dec. 22, 2014, 2014 CPD ¶ 379 at 6-7." (Don't think that's changed since. Read the second half of the GAO decision, its short and useful).

Some extra tips (apologies if you know all this, posting for other beginners):

1. The NAICS Association site link above is extremely useful, as is the PSC manual and search tools there. I especially like that for NAICS you can search for one or more keywords or phrases (see the search rules), and clicking on a NAICS lets you see the full description plus examples of services that belong under that code, and those that actually should be coded elsewhere. Note that NAICS is a drilldown code: the first two digits are general industrial groups, the third and fourth digits are subgroups, and so on. "9" is a catchall designator for "other" services/supplies within a group. Don't use it unless none of the other NAICS apply.

2. In both SAM and FPDS, you can do market research by NAICS and/or PSC, plus additional terms. I find FPDS is more helpful for determining the NAICS code if not obvious. You can search by DODAAD (first six standard numbers/letters of your office's contract numbers) and also NAICS and PSC to see exactly what your office has purchased for a NAICS in the past decade. For example, a search for XXXXXX 238610 (where the X's are your office's DODAAD) will show every historical acquisition for NAICS 238610, roofing construction, for your office. Sometimes you need to add the PSC to be more limiting. You can also cross-check your research by searching just the PSC or known vendors for a NAICS (identified in SAM), then looking at awards in FPDS by your agency, to see if a NAICS has consistently been used. Once you have your possible list, LOOK AT THE IGE AND LINE ITEM ESTIMATES, along with FAR part 19, to determine which NAICS is the primary one. A printout of the NAICS code page, SAM and FPDS research, and IGE for similar acquisitions, are quick to find and pretty solid homework for market research, NAICS determination, and quickly defending protests. (For more advanced research, you can also search the SBA's OHA decision site for NAICS protests at https://www.sba.gov/about-sba/oversight-advocacy/office-hearings-appeals/oha-decisions. At the bottom under Boolean search, select "NAICS & SIC" under "Decision Type" and type in search terms (such as the NAICS or a keyword). Appeals of NAICS decisions are either GRANTED or DENIED. You can see where other contracting officers were vindicated or had to start over, and why. File this link away ... I promise you'll use it one day.)

3. NAICS selection is incredibly important. It governs the SBA size standards applicable (meaning the threshold for small vs. large business) and affects the type of contract (service, supply, construction, etc.), related clauses, and limitations on subcontracting requirements. It is also one of the key fields utilized by federal agencies and state governments for statistical analysis, for example, every 5 years when the SBA reconsiders size standard thresholds, or in some states for business registration. For more about NAICS, see the SBA's website on size standards.

4. If a vendor fails to register for a NAICS code, they may be overlooked in market research. That's the vendor's problem, not the government's. You should be careful about making recommendations to vendors about listing a specific NAICS--definitely not your lane, and high chance of being misconstrued as favoritism. Instead, refer them to your office's SB rep or competition advocate, that's who should be talking to them about SAM registration and how to be generally competitive for solicitations in your office. They are outside the source selection and can provide weblinks to SBA size standards, NAICS, PSC, and FPDS so vendors can research and decide for themselves ... and keeps your hands clean. You can also see in SAM exactly when a vendor changes their NAICS listings (under past reps/certs). But it only potentially affects market research, not the ability to submit a technically capable quote/proposal/bid.

5. If considering award to a contractor who's not registered for the solicitation's NAICS, you should have written findings explaining why they're A) technically acceptable, and B) why they are small under that NAICS. Look at what GAO said in the protest decision linked above, where it found the contracting officer acted reasonably in making an award to a vendor like this: A) "... a review of the record provides us no basis to question the agency’s evaluation of [the] technical proposal or its determination that the firm’s proposal was technically acceptable. B) "The contracting officer explains that while he observed that [the vendor] did not have the specified NAICS code listed in its SAM profile, he “verified that several of the NAICS codes they did have listed ... had the same size standards as [the unlisted] NAICS code ... Based on this, he “determined that this was sufficient evidence to support that [the vendor] met the applicable size standard for [the unlisted NAICS code ...". The CO verified this by checking the SBA size standards table above for the NAICS listed in the vendor's profile, and noticed they all listed the same dollar threshold (or a higher one). For technical acceptability, I especially recommend verifying any particular licenses or accreditations to do the work, as well as other technical criteria, and making sure these are clear in the solicitation. A vendor can list or not list the NAICS in SAM, but can they actually do the work?

13 hours ago, 6K Petunias said:

NAICS selection is incredibly important. It governs the SBA size standards applicable (meaning the threshold for small vs. large business) and affects the type of contract (service, supply, construction, etc.), related clauses, and limitations on subcontracting requirements. It is also one of the key fields utilized by federal agencies and state governments for statistical analysis, for example, every 5 years when the SBA reconsiders size standard thresholds, or in some states for business registration. For more about NAICS, see the SBA's website on size standards.

Using the most appropriate NAICS is important as well as it would hopefully equalize the competition amongst those most interested as it would hopefully reach those contractors that are usually doing the kind of work represented by the NAICS. Remember contractors can setup SAM creating search agent criteria for notification of a particular solicitation based on NAICS.

Ya'll are all awesome! Thank you so much!!! Wonderful and helpful feedback!

On 4/29/2025 at 1:03 PM, Tammy Sheridan said:

would we need to send out an updated RFP with the other NAICS listed on it to keep competition?

Your question was about competition but you did not provide information about the nature of the procurement for anyone to determine what the facts are about competition. While your issue may have been resolved concerning adding the NAICS code to the solicitation, are you still interested in the issue of obtaining competition?

I think I ended up answering my own question. Since we are including it in the RFQ, any change to the RFQ should be sent out to all solicitors again.

I am curious - does your OSDBU review packages or require any sort of approval prior to a project/requirement?

8 hours ago, Motorcity said:

I am curious - does your OSDBU review packages or require any sort of approval prior to a project/requirement?

No, we don't do that. Usually the program will go out and get quotes then send us the quote they want to use and we then issue an official RFQ and receive new quotes. The only approval we really need is COR approval for a purchase.