SDV Eligibility Is Up To SBA The Small Business Administration has exclusive authority to decide whether a contractor qualifies as a service-disabled veteran-owned business, the Government Accountability Office says. GAO sustained a bid protest by Singleton Enterprises-GMT Mechanical Joint Venture. The Veterans Affairs Department rejected the JV’s bid because the department ruled that it was not an SDV business. “[W]here an agency has a question regarding a bidder’s status as an (SDV-owned small business), the SBA, not the procuring agency, is responsible for determining whether a firm is an eligible SDVOSBC,” GAO said. GAO said SBA regulations permit any interested party, including a contracting officer, to protest a company’s eligibility for SDV status, and such protests are resolved by SBA. The case is Matter of: Singleton Enterprises-GMT Mechanical, A Joint Venture, File B-310552.