What Is a Total Small Business Set-Aside?
A total set-aside reserves the whole contract for small businesses: only companies that are small under the notice's NAICS code can win it.
Total set-aside in plain English
Agencies set aside the whole buy when they expect offers from at least two small businesses at a fair price (the rule of two). It's the most common kind of set-aside on SAM.gov.
Related terms
- Set-aside: A set-aside is a contract reserved for small businesses, or for one type of small business such as HUBZone or women-owned firms. Others can't bid.
- Partial set-aside: A partial set-aside reserves only part of a contract's work, such as some of its line items or quantity, for small businesses; the rest is open to any company.
- Rule of two: The rule of two requires a set-aside for small businesses when at least two responsible small businesses are expected to offer at fair market prices.
- Small business size standard: A size standard is SBA's cutoff for counting as a small business in an industry. SBA sets one per NAICS code, in average annual receipts or employees.
Put it to work
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.