WOSB and EDWOSB appeals

Time limits for filing an appeal

You must file your WOSB appeal with OHA within 10 business days of receiving the protest determination (13 C.F.R. 134.703). OHA must receive your appeal by 5 p.m. ET on the 10th business day.

Where to file

We accept appeals by email at ohafilings@sba.gov or fax at 202-205-7059. Appeals sent to other email addresses and other fax numbers are not formal filings.

We also accept appeals via the Hearing and Appeals Submission Upload (HASU) Application. Please note that submitting an appeal using HASU is not required and HASU is only used to transmit the appeal to OHA. The submitter is responsible for serving a copy of the appeal to all appropriate parties. If you submitted your appeal using another method (email, fax, mail), you do not need to submit the appeal using HASU.

Submissions via HASU must be in PDF format and cannot be larger than 100 MB. Please call OHA at 202-401-8200 to confirm that we received your filing.

Additional steps

In  addition to filing your appeal at OHA, you must send a copy of the appeal petition and all attachments to:

• The U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Director, Office of Government Contracting,
• The contracting officer responsible for the procurement,
• The protested concern or protestor, and
• SBA’s Office of General Counsel, Associate General Counsel for Procurement Law, 13 C.F.R. 134.705(b)(4).

What to include with the appeal

• A certificate of service. 13 C.F.R. 134.204(d). The certificate of service shows that you sent a copy of your appeal to the people in the paragraph above. View a sample certificate of service for a WOSB or EDWOSB appeal.
• A copy of the protest determination being appealed.

Appeal contents

Your appeal should contain:

• The solicitation number,
• The contracting officer’s name and contact information,
• Your name and contact information, and
• The factual basis of your case, statement and supporting legal argument as to why the protest determination is in error, and requested relief (how you want OHA to decide the case), 13 C.F.R. 134.203 and 705.

Rules and regulations

The WOSB and EDWOSB program regulations are available at 13 C.F.R. Part 127. OHA’s regulations are available at 13 C.F.R. 134.101-229 and 701-715. You may search OHA’s decisions interpreting these regulations in our database and cite these decisions in your appeal.

Response time

The OHA judge assigned to your appeal will issue a notice and order setting a date for the close of record. All arguments and supporting documents must be received at OHA by this date. If you do not receive a notice and order within a few days, call OHA at 202-401-8200. If practicable, the judge will decide the case and issue a written decision within 15 business days of the close of record.