What Is a Teaming Agreement?
A teaming agreement is a written deal between companies to pursue a government contract together, as a joint venture or as a prime with subcontractors.
Teaming agreement in plain English
The FAR calls these contractor team arrangements. There are two forms: two or more companies form a partnership or joint venture to act as the prime contractor, or a prime agrees to use the other companies as subcontractors on a specific contract (FAR 9.601). The government recognizes a team arrangement as long as it's identified and the relationships are fully disclosed in the offer (FAR 9.603). Those are the codified FAR sections. The FAR overhaul text has no subpart 9.6; it moved this guidance into its non-regulatory FAR Companion.
The agreement itself is a private contract between the companies. The government isn't a party to it, so have a lawyer review yours before you sign. It typically says who will be the prime, who does which work, and how the team will price and share the work if it wins.
On small business set-asides, the team's structure matters. A joint venture can bid as a small business only if each member is small for the contract's NAICS code or fits an exception to affiliation, such as the one for an SBA-approved mentor and protégé (13 CFR 125.8). A small prime must also stay within the limitations on subcontracting.
Related terms
- Subcontractor: A subcontractor is a business hired by a prime contractor to do part of a government contract. Your customer is the prime, not the agency.
- Prime contractor: A prime contractor is the business that holds a contract directly with the government. It's responsible for all the work, including any it subcontracts.
- Mentor-protégé program: SBA's Mentor-Protégé Program pairs a small business with an experienced mentor firm. The two can bid together as a joint venture that counts as small.
- Limitations on subcontracting: The limitations on subcontracting rule caps how much of a set-aside contract a small business can pay other firms to perform. On services, the cap is 50%.
- Affiliation: Affiliation means SBA adds another company's size to yours because one of you controls or can control the other, or a third party controls both.
Put it to work
- How to become a government subcontractor
- The limitations on subcontracting rule
- Codified FAR subpart 9.6, contractor team arrangements
- 13 CFR 125.8, joint ventures on small business contracts
Looking for another term? Browse the full glossary or the government contracting glossary guide.
Cyrus Hakimi writes and edits these definitions, using AI tools to help research and draft them, from the FAR, SBA rules and SAM.gov documentation. They're general information, not legal advice. Rules and thresholds change, so confirm the numbers on the official source before you act.