NAICS code

01What the codes are

NAICS is the industry classification the United States, Canada and Mexico use for business statistics. The U.S. Census Bureau maintains the U.S. version and revises it every five years. The codes are hierarchical: the first two digits are the sector and each further digit narrows the industry.

02How contracting uses them

• In your registration: you list the NAICS codes for the work you do in SAM.gov, and agencies and prime contractors search registrations by code.
• In each solicitation: FAR 19.102 has the contracting officer choose the NAICS code that best describes the principal purpose of the acquisition and put the code and its size standard in the solicitation.
• For size: SBA sets a size standard for each code in 13 CFR 121.201, expressed either as average annual receipts or as number of employees. A firm can be small under one code and other than small under another, so check the size standard of the code on each solicitation, not just your primary code.

03How size is measured

• Receipts-based standards (13 CFR 121.104): average annual receipts are the total receipts of your most recently completed 5 fiscal years divided by 5. A firm in business for less than 5 complete fiscal years divides its receipts by the weeks it has been in business and multiplies by 52.
• Employee-based standards (13 CFR 121.106): the average number of employees over the pay periods of the preceding completed 24 calendar months.
• Affiliates count: the receipts or employees of affiliates are added to your own, and SBA's affiliation rules (13 CFR 121.103) decide who is an affiliate.

04Size standards for common codes

From SBA's table in 13 CFR 121.201. Dollar figures are average annual receipts in millions of dollars; SBA adjusts the table from time to time, so check the current version before relying on a number.

05Exceptions and the nonmanufacturer rule

Some codes carry exceptions with their own standard for a narrower activity: 541519, for example, has an exception for information technology value added resellers at 150 employees. On supply contracts, a firm that does not make the product it supplies can still qualify as small under the nonmanufacturer rule in 13 CFR 121.406, which applies a 500-employee standard along with other conditions.

06Appealing a NAICS code

If the code on a solicitation looks wrong for the work, an appeal goes to SBA's Office of Hearings and Appeals and must be filed within 10 calendar days after the solicitation, or an amendment affecting the code, is issued (13 CFR 121.1103). After that window the code stands for that procurement.

07Choosing your codes

List every code you can credibly perform under, and pick one primary code. Use the codes buyers in your market actually assign: past awards and open solicitations for your type of work show which codes are used. Each of our response templates names the NAICS code typical for its industry.