Comment Period on Proposed Size Standards and Methodology Extended to November 20, 2026

Source: SmallGovCon

Back on August 19, 2026, SBA issued proposed rules–one covering what would change and one covering the underlying methodology. This would, in most cases, monumentally increase the size standards for the various industries that perform federal contracts, along with simplifying how industries are categorized and switching several industries from receipts-based to employee-based size standards. Indeed, we had two separate posts on these changes, one exploring the actual size standard increases and the other exploring the recategorization and switch to employee-based size standards. SBA initially set a deadline of September 21, 2026, for comments on these changes. Now, it is extending that date, as we’ll explore briefly below.

When SBA issued the above proposed rules, it was almost immediately deluged by comments. The main rule received over 60,000 comments (at least that’s what the Federal Register says, whether it is actually that number is hard to tell as only approximately 2,700 comments have been published) by the time of the initial September 21, 2026, deadline. We have, of course, not been able to review each and every comment, but from what we have seen, the response to SBA’s proposal has been sharply negative. Indeed, SBA quickly announced and conducted a virtual town hall on September 17, 2026, to get feedback on its proposed rules. It is our understanding that an overwhelming majority of commentators disapproved of SBA’s plans.

On September 20, 2026, right before the comments deadline, SBA issued a memorandum extending the comment period to November 20, 2026. In this memorandum, SBA stated: 

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