(f) The nonmanufacturer rule may be restated as follows. When an acquisition has been set aside for award to small business, and a small contractor proposes to furnish to the Government items made by an entity other than itself, both the offeror and the manufacturer/producer of the items must be small businesses, and the items must be produced in the United States. This rule is subject to waiver and exception, as provided below.
(4) When the particular product or class of products being acquired is not currently produced by small domestic businesses (as determined authoritatively by the SBA), the SBA may grant a class waiver. In this case, the small nonmanufacturer/offeror will not have to furnish the product of a small business; it may provide any firm’s product. The contracting officer may initiate action with the SBA to have the nonmanufacturer rule waived for a class of products.
(5) The contracting officer may also request a waiver of the nonmanufacturer rule for a specific solicitation if no small domestic manufacturer/processor can reasonably be expected to fulfill the requirement at that time.
(7) An “exception” (rather than a waiver) to the nonmanufacturer rule applies when: the procurement is accomplished using the simplified procedures of Part 13; the buy is set aside for small business; and the anticipated dollar value will not exceed $25,000. Even though the small business offering on this procurement is not obligated to provide the product of another small concern, the items themselves must have been manufactured or produced in the United States.
(90) In simplified acquisitions for supplies having a total value of less than $25,000, an exception to the nonmanufacturer rule takes precedence over a waiver of the rule. Under these circumstances, a nonmanufacturer is expected to provide the end-product of a domestic producer.
