Small Business & GovCon Compliance

SBA's final rule removing the rebuttable presumption of social disadvantage became effective 10 September 2026 and applies to pending applications from individually owned firms. SBA is returning those applications through its Return to Business system, has restored the potential for success review, and will prioritize ten defense-critical NAICS codes.

FAR Case 2026-011 would remove contractor team arrangements from the FAR entirely and, implementing section 812(a)(6) of the FY2026 NDAA, excuse the Department of War from paying for a small business to undergo qualification testing where fewer than two manufacturers could compete. Civilian agencies keep that obligation.

FAR Case 2026-011, published 18 September 2026, would replace the FAR's SBIR data rights coverage with DFARS-based coverage, set a single non-extendable 20-year protection period, grant the Government purpose rights rather than unlimited rights after it expires, and add STTR coverage the FAR has never had.

Class Deviation 2026-O0037, Revision 1, issued 24 July 2026, absorbs the standalone SDVOSB class deviation, points eligibility verification at SBA's certification search, and corrects the sole-source 8(a) threshold to $100 million.

Class Deviation 2026-O0052, issued 4 August 2026, revises DFARS subpart 270.1 so that awards under the employee-owned business pilot no longer require a separate justification and approval.

A final rule published 11 August 2026 removes the rebuttable presumption of social disadvantage for individually owned 8(a) firms and replaces it with a group-discrimination showing plus certification. Effective 10 September 2026, it applies to applications already in the queue. Entity-owned firms are not affected.

A proposed rule published 20 August 2026 collapses roughly 1,000 size standards down to 338, defaults to employee-based measurement, adds a productivity adjustment to monetary standards, and reduces nothing. SBA has extended the comment period from 21 September to 20 November 2026.

Published the same day as the size standards proposal, the 2026 Revised Methodology replaces SBA's seven-factor analysis with a single average market size measure and removes the explicit maximum size standard. Comments, originally due 21 September, now close 20 November 2026.

A notice published 2 September 2026 replaces the 2013 SBIR commercialization benchmark with a non-SBIR revenue share test: 33 percent for the FY2027 assessment, 50 percent from FY2028. Firms that fail lose Phase I and Direct-to-Phase-II eligibility for a year.

A final rule effective 31 August 2026 removes 13 CFR 101.108, the 1974-era policy under which SBA gave the public notice and comment even where the APA exempts it. Contracting program rules are inside the exemption SBA just reclaimed.

The provisions deferred until January 2026 are live. A disqualifying recertification can now cost a firm its eligibility for set-aside orders and option exercises under a multiple-award contract.

The Department of War suspended CMMC Phase II on 13 July 2026 and stood up a reform task force. The self-assessment requirements that took effect in November 2025 are untouched. Updated 14 September 2026: the 60-day review milestone has passed with nothing published, and the operative acquisition instruction is now Class Deviation 2026-O0025, Revision 3.