VA Contracts: How to Win Work With the Department of Veterans Affairs

Most federal agencies give small businesses a preference. The VA gives veteran-owned businesses a mandate. Under the Veterans First Contracting Program — backed by a 2016 Supreme Court ruling — the VA must consider set-asides for veteran-owned businesses on every acquisition before turning to any other procurement method. That includes orders placed on GSA Federal Supply Schedules, which most agencies can place without any set-aside consideration at all.

The numbers back it up. In FY2024, the VA awarded $10.2 billion — 23% of all prime contract dollars— to Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs). That's more than four times the statutory 5% goal. Over 2,300 SDVOSB firms received awards, a 3% increase over the prior year. The VA earned a straight "A" on the SBA's FY2024 small business procurement scorecard.

The VA's FY2026 budget is $445.5 billion — a 12.4% increase over FY2025, with $133.2 billion in discretionary funding for medical care, IT, and infrastructure. That discretionary bucket is where contracts live. The VA is one of the fastest-growing federal buyers: spending increased 29% in Q1 2025 even as other agencies tightened budgets. For a certified veteran-owned business, that trajectory matters.

The VA is not the largest federal buyer — the DoD is, by a factor of ten. But the VA is the most veteran-friendly federal buyer by law. For an SDVOSB or VOSB, the structural advantage at the VA doesn't exist anywhere else in the federal government to the same degree. That makes it the right starting point for most veteran-owned businesses entering the federal market.

There's a catch: you have to be certified. Self-certification was eliminated in December 2024. Every SDVOSB and VOSB pursuing VA set-asides now requires a valid certification through the SBA's VetCert program — and that certification must be active at both the time you submit your offer and when the contract is awarded. We'll cover the certification process in Section 3. But understand that this is a hard gate — no VetCert, no access to the Veterans First preference system.

The Veterans First Contracting Program (codified in 38 U.S.C. § 8127-8128) creates a mandatory priority ordering for VA acquisitions. Before the VA can use any other procurement method, it must consider each of these options in sequence. Only if the current tier can't produce at least two qualifying competitors at a fair price can it move to the next one.

The Rule of Two is the trigger. If the contracting officer can reasonably expect two certified SDVOSBs to submit offers at fair market price, the set-aside is mandatory. "Reasonable expectation" is not a high bar — the CO doesn't need two confirmed competitors. They need to believe two exist based on market research.

This creates a concrete action for your business development: make sure VA contracting officers know you exist. Respond to every Sources Sought notice in your NAICS codes. Attend VA industry days. Submit your capability statement to VA contracting offices and program managers before solicitations are released. Your response to a Sources Sought can directly trigger an SDVOSB set-aside that would otherwise default to open competition.

The VA Acquisition Regulation (VAAR) governs how contracting officers implement the Veterans First Program. Contracting officers who bypass the mandatory priority sequence without documentation risk bid protests and GAO oversight — giving you real enforcement leverage if you see VA procurement that should have been set aside.

Self-certification for SDVOSB status ended on December 22, 2024. Since then, SBA VetCert certification is the only path to VA Veterans First set-asides. The SBA manages certification through its Veteran Small Business Certification (VetCert) portal at veterans.certify.sba.gov. In November 2025, SBA announced it cleared the certification backlog — average processing time now runs just 12 days, down from 60-90 days in early 2024.

If you qualify for SDVOSB, pursue it — don't settle for VOSB. SDVOSB unlocks the VA's top priority tier, governmentwide set-asides, and a 5% statutory spending goal across all federal agencies. The sole difference is the service-connected disability requirement — and if you have it, the additional contracting access is significant.

The VetCert application process, step by step:

One eligibility detail that catches businesses off-guard: unresolved federal tax liens or defaulted government loans block VetCert approval. If you have either, get on an approved payment plan before applying. The SBA won't approve certifications with unresolved federal financial obligations.

Use the CapturePilot Quick Checker to see which certifications you may qualify for and what documentation you'll need. If you hold multiple certifications — SDVOSB and 8(a) together, for instance — you become a significantly more attractive teaming partner to larger primes looking to satisfy their set-aside subcontracting obligations.

The VA is the largest integrated healthcare system in the United States, operating over 1,700 facilities including medical centers, outpatient clinics, and community care sites. It also runs a nationwide network of benefits offices, national cemeteries, and IT infrastructure supporting millions of veterans. That operational footprint drives a broad and consistent procurement need across multiple categories.

The biggest dollar opportunity is healthcare services — specifically the VA's Community Care Network. The VA is preparing a new contract vehicle for veterans' private-sector healthcare access, with a potential value of $700 billion over ten years. Even a small slice of task orders under that vehicle represents significant revenue for qualified healthcare services firms.

IT is the fastest-growing category. The VA's Electronic Health Record Modernization program — a $894 million commitment in FY2025 — is generating ongoing software development, integration, and support contracting. The VA's Healthcare Transformation IDIQ (VHA IHT 2.0), a $14 billion IDIQ awarded to nine SDVOSB firms, is another active vehicle producing task orders for health IT and clinical transformation services. Both are active now.

Construction is accessible and consistent. The VA runs major and minor construction programs every year, with minor construction contracts (under $10 million) frequently set aside for small businesses. Janitorial, grounds, and facilities maintenance contracts cover the VA's 1,700+ facility footprint and recur on regular cycles.

Use the VA's Forecast of Contracting Opportunities at vendorportal.ecms.va.govto see upcoming procurements. The forecast is updated regularly and includes procurement category, estimated value, and planned set-aside type — the closest thing to advance notice you'll get before a solicitation hits SAM.gov. Pair this with CapturePilot Intelligence to track VA spending patterns in your NAICS codes and identify which facilities are active buyers.

Set-aside competitions require multiple bidders. Sole source contracts don't. At the VA, certified SDVOSBs and VOSBs can receive direct contract awards — no competition — for requirements between $250,000 and $5 million. This is the fastest way to close your first VA contract, and it's a mechanism that most veteran-owned businesses dramatically underuse.

The VA's sole source authority under VAAR 819.7008 allows contracting officers to award directly to a certified SDVOSB (or VOSB under 819.7007) when: the award will be made at a fair and reasonable price, the requirement exceeds the simplified acquisition threshold ($250,000), and the award value doesn't exceed the legislative cap ($5 million for most categories, $3 million for IT and research). Split requirements to reach sole source threshold is explicitly prohibited.

Getting a sole source award starts with a relationship. VA contracting officers don't randomly reach out to unknown vendors for sole source justifications. They go to firms they already know, who have responded to Sources Sought notices, attended industry days, and submitted capability statements to the right program offices. The sole source mechanism rewards firms that have already done the visibility work.

When you identify a VA requirement that falls in the sole source range — through the VA forecast, a Sources Sought notice, or a program office conversation — position your firm as the logical single-source solution. Your capability statement should clearly establish your unique qualifications, relevant past performance, and why no other certified VOSB or SDVOSB can deliver the same result. Make it easy for the contracting officer to document the justification.

Sole source is also how many VA contractors begin a multi-year relationship. A single sole source award becomes past performance for the next contract cycle — including recompetes that run through full competition. Win the first one on a sole source, deliver well, and the next award becomes a lot easier to win even when competitors show up.

The VA is not a single monolithic buyer. Procurement is distributed across major organizational components, each with its own contracting offices, program managers, and buying patterns. Knowing which office buys what — and which small business liaison to contact — focuses your business development instead of scattering it.

The VA's Office of Small & Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) is your navigation point across all of these components. OSDBU runs industry days, maintains a small business database, and connects certified veteran-owned firms with the right program offices before solicitations are released. Contact them at vetbiz@va.gov or 1-866-584-2344.

Geographically, target the VA facilities closest to your business first — where you can deliver directly and build personal relationships. The VA's contractor network is smaller and more relationship-driven than the DoD's. A trusted incumbent at one VAMC often gets referrals to sister facilities in the same region. Local presence and proven delivery are your credibility signals.

VA contract cycles are more predictable than most agencies. Healthcare and facilities contracts run on annual or multi-year cycles, and the recompete schedule is largely visible if you know where to look. Build your pipeline around three horizons: active opportunities to bid now, upcoming recompetes to position for, and relationship development with program offices that are 12-18 months from procurement.

Managing this pipeline manually is difficult. Tracking VA forecasts, SAM.gov Sources Sought, USASpending.gov recompetes, and facility-level relationship notes across multiple targets quickly outgrows a spreadsheet. CapturePilot's pipeline management keeps VA opportunities organized from Sources Sought through award, with automated alerts when relevant solicitations post or incumbents' periods expire.

If you're new to VA contracting, start with contracts under $2 million at facilities in your region. Win one. Deliver well. That performance record becomes the foundation for every subsequent VA bid — and it significantly strengthens any sole source justification a contracting officer might write for your firm on future work.

The VA market is highly structured — which means mistakes that might slide by at other agencies are disqualifying here. These are the errors that cost veteran-owned businesses VA contracts most often.

The VA market rewards discipline. The structural advantage of Veterans First is real, but it only applies to certified firms that show up to the right procurements, submit compliant proposals, and deliver well. Most SDVOSB firms that consistently win VA work aren't doing anything magical — they're keeping their certifications current, responding to Sources Sought, attending industry days, and building relationships at the program office level before solicitations drop.

Use the CapturePilot matching engine to surface VA opportunities that match your VetCert status and NAICS codes daily. And before you submit your next proposal, run through our bid checklist to catch compliance issues before they disqualify your submission.