FAR 7.107-5—Notifications.
Plain-English Summary
FAR 7.107-5 sets out the notice requirements that apply when an agency bundles, consolidates, or substantially bundles contract requirements. It covers advance notice to current small business contractors, optional public notice of the rationale for bundling, mandatory public notices for consolidation and substantial bundling, special notice to SBA for follow-on bundled or consolidated requirements, annual public posting of bundled requirements and their rationale, and publication of the agency’s bundling policy. In practice, this section is designed to increase transparency, give small businesses and SBA an opportunity to respond before a procurement is bundled, and ensure agencies document and publicly explain why combining requirements is justified. It also creates timing rules that can affect when a solicitation may be issued, so contracting officers must coordinate carefully with requiring activities, SBA, and public posting requirements. For contractors, these notices can provide early warning of a bundled procurement and a chance to raise concerns or seek small business participation opportunities. For agencies, the section is both a compliance requirement and a recordkeeping obligation tied to acquisition strategy, contract file documentation, and public accountability.
Key Rules
Advance notice to small businesses
Before issuing a solicitation for a bundled requirement, the contracting officer must notify each small business currently performing the contract at least 30 days in advance. The notice must include the SBA procurement center representative’s contact information, or if no PCR is assigned, the appropriate SBA Area Office contact.
Document the notice
The contracting officer must document the advance notification in the contract file. This creates an audit trail showing that affected small businesses were properly informed before the bundled solicitation was released.
Optional public rationale for bundling
The agency is encouraged to post the rationale for any bundled requirement in the Governmentwide Point of Entry before issuing the solicitation. This is not mandatory, but it promotes transparency and gives the public and industry an early explanation of why bundling is being used.
Mandatory notice for consolidation
When the agency determines that consolidation is necessary and justified, the Senior Procurement Executive or Chief Acquisition Officer must publish a notice in the GPE within 7 days. The solicitation cannot be publicized until 7 days after that notice, and the determination must be published with the solicitation.
Mandatory notice for substantial bundling
If the head of the agency determines that a procurement involves substantial bundling, the agency must publish a notice in the GPE within 7 days of the determination. The solicitation cannot be publicized until 7 days after the notice, and the rationale for substantial bundling must be published with the solicitation.
SBA notice for follow-on actions
For each follow-on bundled or consolidated requirement, the contracting officer must gather specified information from the requiring activity and notify the SBA PCR at least 30 days before solicitation issuance. The notice must address savings and benefits from the prior action, whether those benefits will continue, whether greater savings would result from separate solicitations, and what requirements were added or deleted.
Annual public posting
Each agency must publish on its website a list and rationale for any bundled requirement for which it solicited offers or made an award. This annual posting must occur within 30 days after the agency’s FPDS data certification to OFPP.
Agency bundling policy publication
Agencies must publish their Governmentwide bundling policy on their website, including policy on the solicitation of teaming arrangements and joint ventures. This requirement comes from statute and is intended to make agency bundling policy publicly accessible.
Responsibilities
Contracting Officer
Provide at least 30 days’ advance notice to each affected small business contractor before issuing a solicitation for a bundled requirement; include SBA PCR or Area Office contact information; document the notice in the contract file; and for follow-on bundled or consolidated requirements, collect the required information from the requiring activity and notify the SBA PCR at least 30 days before solicitation issuance.
Senior Procurement Executive (SPE)
Publish in the GPE a notice that the agency has determined consolidation is necessary and justified within 7 days after the determination, and ensure the solicitation is not publicized until the required waiting period has passed.
Chief Acquisition Officer (CAO)
Perform the same publication duty as the SPE for consolidation determinations: publish the notice in the GPE within 7 days and ensure the solicitation timing complies with the 7-day delay requirement.
Head of the Agency
Publish in the GPE a notice of substantial bundling within 7 days after the determination, ensure the solicitation is not publicized until 7 days after that notice, and publish the rationale for substantial bundling with the solicitation.
Requiring Activity
Provide the contracting officer with the information needed for follow-on bundled or consolidated requirement notices, including savings, benefits, continuation of benefits, comparison to separate solicitations, and changes in requirements.
SBA Procurement Center Representative (PCR)
Receive advance notice of bundling and follow-on bundled or consolidated requirements so SBA can review and, where appropriate, advise or intervene on behalf of small business interests.
Agency Public Affairs / Acquisition Policy Staff
Support publication of required notices and annual website postings, and maintain the agency’s publicly posted bundling policy and rationale materials.
Agency
Encourage public posting of bundling rationale, publish required notices and annual lists on the agency website, and maintain a publicly available bundling policy that addresses teaming and joint ventures.
Practical Implications
This section can delay solicitation release because several notices must be posted before the solicitation is publicized, especially for consolidation and substantial bundling.
Contracting officers need to coordinate early with the requiring activity and SBA; missing the 30-day advance notice or the 7-day publication window can create compliance problems and protest risk.
The required rationale and savings/benefits information should be assembled before the acquisition strategy is finalized, because the same information often feeds both internal approvals and public notices.
Small businesses should watch for these notices as an early signal that a requirement may be bundled or consolidated, which may affect teaming, subcontracting, or protest strategy.
A common pitfall is incomplete documentation: agencies may send the notice but fail to place proof in the contract file or fail to publish the rationale with the solicitation, both of which can undermine compliance.
Official Regulatory Text
(a) Notifications to current small business contractors of agency's intent to bundle . (1) The contracting officer shall notify each small business performing a contract that it intends to bundle the requirement at least 30 days prior to the issuance of the solicitation for the bundled requirement. (2) The notification shall provide the name, phone number and address of the applicable SBA procurement center representative (PCR), or if an SBA PCR is not assigned to the procuring activity, the SBA Office of Government Contracting Area Office serving the area in which the buying activity is located. (3) This notification shall be documented in the contract file. (b) Notification to public of rationale for bundled requirement . The agency is encouraged to provide notification of the rationale for any bundled requirement to the GPE, before issuance of the solicitation (see 5.201 ). (c) Notification to the public of consolidation of contract requirements . The SPE or CAO shall publish in the GPE— (1) A notice that the agency has determined a consolidation of contract requirements is necessary and justified (see 7.107-2 ) no later than 7 days after making the determination; the solicitation may not be publicized prior to 7 days after publication of the notice of the agency determination; and (2) The determination that consolidation is necessary and justified with the publication of the solicitation. See 7.107-2 for the required content of the determination. (d) Notification to the public of substantial bundling of contract requirements . The head of the agency shall publish in the GPE— (1) A notice that the agency has determined that a procurement involves substantial bundling (see 7.107-4 ) no later than 7 days after such determination has been made; the solicitation may not be publicized prior to 7 days after the publication of the notice of the determination; and (2) The rationale for substantial bundling with the publication of the solicitation. The rationale is the information required for inclusion in the acquisition strategy at 7.107-4 (b). (e) Notification to SBA of follow-on bundled or consolidated requirements . For each follow-on bundled or consolidated requirement, the contracting officer shall obtain the following from the requiring activity and notify the SBA PCR no later than 30 days prior to issuance of the solicitation: (1) The amount of savings and benefits achieved under the prior consolidation or bundling. (2) Whether such savings and benefits will continue to be realized if the contract remains consolidated or bundled. (3) Whether such savings and benefits would be greater if the procurement requirements were divided into separate solicitations suitable for award to small business concerns. (4) List of requirements that have been added or deleted for the follow-on. (f) Annual notification to the public of the rationale for bundled requirements. The agency shall publish on its website a list and rationale for any bundled requirement for which the agency solicited offers or issued an award. The notification shall be made annually within 30 days of the agency's data certification regarding the validity and verification of data entered in the Federal Procurement Data System to the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (see 4.604 ). (g) Notification to public of bundling policy . In accordance with 15 U.S.C. 644(q)(2)(A)(ii) , agencies shall publish the Governmentwide policy regarding contract bundling, including regarding the solicitation of teaming and joint ventures, on their agency website.