Federal Subcontracts and Subgrants

How to Identify and Compete for Relevant Potential Federal Subcontracting Opportunities

Searching For Potential Subcontract Opportunities

Contract Search

The quickest way to search for potential subcontract opportunities is to go to the Contracts search page under Market Intelligence --> Contracts or click here and select the Subcontract Opps Quick filter. This will filter for contracts that have recently been awarded with a required subcontracting plan. You can add your own filters such as Agency, NAICS, or Set Aside to further focus on the most relevant contracts for your business.

Subcontracting Plans

By selecting the Contract award ID and scrolling down to the Other Categorizations section, you can see the type of associated Subcontracting plan. Subcontracting plans are typically put in place by the government to encourage or require the Prime contractor to subcontract with companies that meet small business or other set aside requirements.

The most common Subcontracting Plan categorizations are:

• Individual Subcontract Plan: Subcontracting plan that covers the entire contract period (including option periods), applies to a specific contract, and has goals that are based on the offeror’s planned subcontracting in support of the specific contract

• Commercial Subcontract Plan: Subcontracting plan (including goals) that covers the fiscal year and that applies to the entire production of commercial products and performance of commercial services

• DOD Comprehensive Subcontract Plan: The Defense Contract Management Agency will designate the contracting officer who shall negotiate and approve comprehensive subcontracting plans with eligible participants on an annual basis

Analyzing Potential Prime Partners

Awardee Page

Once you have identified a potential subcontract opportunity, you can research more information about how the prime Awardee pursues subcontracting. On the Awardee page, you can see the Awardee's existing known Teaming Partners (prime and sub), Mentor-Protégé relationships, and Joint Ventures (if they have any) as well as more general information about the Awardee that can be helpful in determining fit and how best to pursue a relationship.

Learn more about researching Awardees here:

Research Federal Contractors and Grant Recipients

Existing Subcontracts

To find subcontracts that the Awardee has made in the past, go to Market Intelligence --> Contracts (or click here) and select the Prime Awardee (Sub Only) filter and search for the relevant Awardee.

Please note that subcontract data is reported by Prime contractors and the consistency and quality of data will vary. To enhance the quality and reliability of this data, HigherGov removes or adjusts a significant percentage of reported subcontracts that are likely duplicates or otherwise inaccurate.

Potential Subgrants

The quickest way to search for potential subgrant opportunities is to go to the Grants search page under Market Intelligence -> Awards -> Grants (or click here) and select the Subcontract Opportunities Quick filter. This will filter for Grants that have characteristics that make them more likely to have subgrant opportunities. You can add your own filters such as Agency, Place of Performance, Grant Program or other filters to further focus on the most relevant grants for your organization.

Additional Resources

Federal ContractsFind Teaming Partners