FAR 19.705—Responsibilities of the contracting officer under the subcontracting assistance program.

General.

FAR 19.705-1 explains how contracting officers may use subcontracting incentives and when subcontracting plans are required for indefinite-delivery contracting. It covers monetary incentives for increased subcontracting opportunities, including payments based on actual subcontracting achievement and award-fee approaches, and points to the Incentive Subcontracting Program clause at 52.219-10 and the related prescription in 19.708(c). It also sets limits on incentive provisions by requiring realistic goals and rewards that are proportional to the extra effort the contractor would not otherwise have made, and it says these incentives should normally be negotiated only after the subcontracting plan is finalized. In addition, it addresses subcontracting plan requirements for IDIQ contracts, including task and delivery order contracts, Federal Supply Schedule contracts, GWACs, and MACs, when the contract value meets the threshold and subcontracting opportunities exist, except where the contractor has a commercial plan. Finally, it clarifies that ordering contracting officers may set small business subcontracting goals for individual orders, but those goals cannot be turned into a new subcontracting plan because a contract may have only one plan.

Determining the need for a subcontracting plan.

FAR 19.705-2 tells the contracting officer how to decide whether a proposed contract action must include a subcontracting plan and how that plan should be handled if required. It covers the threshold test under FAR 19.702(a), the analysis of whether subcontracting opportunities actually exist, the documentation and approval required when the answer is no, and the timing rules for requiring plans in negotiated acquisitions. It also addresses how many subcontracting plans a contract may have, when goals must be revised because of a modification or option exercise, and how those revised goals apply going forward rather than retroactively. Finally, it explains how to treat a plan added later because of a modification or size rerepresentation, including when goals start and how performance is reported on the ISR or SF-294. In practice, this section is the contracting officer’s roadmap for deciding whether subcontracting planning is required, ensuring the decision is supportable, and making sure small business participation goals are set and tracked correctly over the life of the contract.

Preparing the solicitation.

FAR 19.705-3 addresses the pre-issuance review process for solicitations that will require a subcontracting plan. It requires the contracting officer to give the Small Business Administration’s procurement center representative (PCR), or another SBA representative if no PCR is assigned under FAR 19.402(a), a reasonable period of time to review the solicitation and provide advisory findings before the solicitation is released. The section is about early coordination, not approval authority: the SBA representative’s role is to review and advise, while the contracting officer remains responsible for issuing the solicitation. In practice, this rule helps ensure that subcontracting plan requirements are properly included, that small business considerations are identified early, and that avoidable errors are caught before the procurement is public. It also supports compliance with small business subcontracting policy by building SBA input into the solicitation development timeline.

Reviewing the subcontracting plan.

FAR 19.705-4 explains how the contracting officer must review a proposed subcontracting plan for adequacy before award. It covers the required content of the plan, how the review differs in sealed bidding versus negotiated acquisitions, and what factors the contracting officer must consider when judging whether the plan is realistic and acceptable. The section also ties the review to past subcontracting performance, available subcontracting opportunities, the contractor’s make-or-buy policies, the availability of small business subcontractors, and the need to coordinate with SBA and agency small business officials. In practice, this rule is meant to prevent paper-only plans and ensure subcontracting goals are achievable, supported by good-faith efforts, and consistent with the contractor’s actual performance capability and the Government’s acquisition needs. It also helps protect the Government from accepting unrealistically low goals designed to avoid compliance burdens or liquidated damages, while avoiding goals so high that they would raise costs or interfere with contract performance.

Awards involving subcontracting plans.

FAR 19.705-5 explains the contracting officer’s duties when awarding a contract that requires a subcontracting plan. It covers five core topics: checking the contractor’s past compliance with subcontracting plans, confirming that a required plan was actually submitted, giving the SBA procurement center representative an opportunity to review the proposed contract and plan, determining any fee tied to a subcontracting incentive, and making sure an acceptable plan is incorporated into the contract as a material term. It also addresses letter contracts and other undefinitized instruments, requiring at least a preliminary basic plan and a final negotiated plan within 90 days after award or before definitization, whichever comes first. In practice, this section is about ensuring subcontracting plan requirements are not treated as a paperwork afterthought; they are part of the award decision, the contract file, and the enforceable contract terms. It also protects the government’s small business subcontracting policy by making sure plans are reviewed, accepted, and tracked before award or, for undefinitized actions, promptly after award.

Postaward responsibilities of the contracting officer.

FAR 19.705-6 lays out the contracting officer’s postaward duties when a contract or contract modification includes a subcontracting plan, or when an existing plan is amended. It covers the required notifications and document transmittals to the SBA, including notice of award, forwarding commercial plans and approvals, providing plans to the SBA procurement center representative, and notifying the PCR about contract modifications. It also requires the contracting officer to send plans or no-plan determinations to the cognizant contract administration office. Beyond paperwork, the section assigns ongoing oversight responsibilities: monitoring subcontracting report submission in eSRS, reviewing ISR and SSR reports on time, acknowledging or rejecting reports, evaluating good faith effort and explanations for missed subcontracting use, initiating liquidated damages when warranted, and enforcing contract terms when the contract administration office raises compliance issues. In practice, this section is the postaward compliance framework that keeps small business subcontracting commitments visible, reviewable, and enforceable throughout contract performance.

Compliance with the subcontracting plan.

FAR 19.705-7 explains how the Government evaluates and enforces compliance with a subcontracting plan after award. It covers the national policy favoring maximum practicable use of small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business concerns; the standard for determining whether a contractor made a good faith effort; examples of actions that support or undermine that finding; how the contracting officer documents the record when goals are missed; and the notice process when a failure to make a good faith effort is found. In practice, this section matters because missing subcontracting goals alone is not automatically a violation, but poor planning, weak outreach, bad recordkeeping, or failure to follow the plan can trigger a formal finding of noncompliance. The section also ties directly to liquidated damages under statute when a contractor does not make a good faith effort. For contractors, it is a roadmap for what compliance looks like in day-to-day subcontracting management; for contracting officers, it is the framework for evaluating performance fairly and consistently.