Small Business & Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise

• Must be independently owned and operated
• Must not be dominant in its field of operation
• Must have its principal located in California
• Must be owned by a resident of California (Note: If your business is incorporated, its officers must be California residents.)
• Must have no more than 100 employees and average annual gross receipts of $15 million or less over the past three tax years or be a manufacturer with 100 or fewer employees

• Must be independently owned and operated
• Must not be dominant in its field of operation
• Must have its principal located in California
• Must be owned by a resident of California
• Must have no more than 25 employees and average annual gross receipts of $5 million or less over the past three tax years

• Must be a veteran of the U.S. military, naval, or air service
• Must have a service-connected disability of at least 10%
• Must be a California resident
• Must be at least 51% owned by one or more disabled veterans
• Must be 100% owned by one or more disabled veterans and the veteran(s) must have a permanent home in California
• Must have one or more disabled veterans managing and controlling the daily business operations
• Must have its home office located in the U.S.

SB, MB, and DVBEs who meet the certification criteria and have never been certified to do business with the State of California should do the following:

• Register your firm in Cal eProcure to do business with the State of California.
  • Find registration instructions (PDF)
• Certify your business
  • Access the video to learn how to certify your business on Cal eProcure.
  • Complete required documents for SB (PDF) certification.
  • Complete required documents for DVBE (PDF) certification.

After you certify your business, access a list of current bid opportunities.

SB, SB micro, and DVBEs who meet the certification criteria and would like to renew their certification should do the following:

• Log in to Cal eProcure to complete and submit the online application along with the requested supporting documentation.
  • Complete required documents for SB (PDF) certification.
  • Complete required documents for DVBE (PDF) certification.

If you need assistance logging in to your Cal eProcure profile, contact the FI$Cal Service Center at (855) 421-6355.

After you certify your business, access a list of current bid opportunities.

To partner with a DVBE on your contract, the Prime contractor will need to fill out a DVBE Contract Participation Form. If your contract is exempt, you can still choose to opt in by filling out a DVBE Exempt Contract Participation Form.

The form must be submitted with a STD 843 – DVBE Declaration Form, signed by the subcontracting vendor, and a printout of a valid certification profile for each subcontractor named on the participation form.

Access the DVBE Participation Forms & Requirements (PDF) to review how to correctly fill out the DVBE Participation Form and other required documentation.

The CalPERS SBDVBE Advocate provides advocacy, outreach, and help with certification and finding a subcontractor. For more information, email sb_dvbeadvocate@calpers.ca.gov.

Once there is an official contract in place, it's important for the primary contract owner (Prime) to be aware of the following requirements to maintain compliance –

• Prime vendors must meet the DVBE participation percentage specified on their DVBE Contract Participation form, even if it exceeds our minimum requirement of 3%. Compliance is based on the contracted percentage, not just the minimum threshold.
• The total amount owed to the DVBE(s) listed on the DVBE Contract Participation Form is based on the total value of the entire contract, regardless of exemptions.
• All invoices must be submitted to us with a DVBE Expenditure Report Form, regardless if DVBE expenses were paid.
• Prime vendors with a Spring-Fed Pool (SPF) contract who have been awarded an official Letter of Engagement (LOE), must meet their DVBE commitment on each LOE.
• Submit a completed STD 817 – Prime Contractor’s Certification form, self-certifying the details below by the end of the contract term (in accordance with Senate Bill (SB) 588, California Code of Regulations section 1896.78, and State Contracting Manual, Vol. 2 – Section 1203.1).
  • Total amount the Prime contractor received for work done
  • Name(s) and address(es) of the DVBE partner(s) the Prime vendor subcontracted with to fulfill the contractual DVBE commitment
  • Amount each DVBE received from the Prime contractor that all payments under the contract have been made to the DVBE partner
  • Detailed explanation for why the DVBE commitment was not met (if applicable)

Note: The SBDVBE Advocate will send reminders closer to the end of the contract and will supply the Prime vendor with a partially completed form to be verified and completed.

• Communicate regularly with your subcontractor (Sub) to ensure everyone is on the same page about the contract’s status and expectations.
• Save all correspondence between you and your Sub(s) and cc the SBDVBE Advocate if needed.
• Follow up via email detailing key takeaways and next steps discussed if conversations are had over the phone or video chat, and cc the SBDVBE Advocate if needed.
• Track all DVBE expenses on a continuous basis, over the lifetime of each contract.
• Monitor continuously the California certification status of any subcontractor you’re partnered with; report loss of status to the SBDVBE Advocate.
• Aim to meet your DVBE participation goal on each Letter of Engagement (LOE) or Purchase Order.
• Apply for DVBE exemptions as a last resort, not a first option.
• Communicate early and often with your contract manager and the SBDVBE Advocate if any of the following instances arise –
  • If you’re not going to be able to meet your DVBE commitment for any reason.
  • If you’re unable to work with the DVBE firm(s) listed on the DVBE Participation Form submitted with your proposal for any reason.
  • If the Statement of Work (SOW) is updated, or if the types of services you plan to offer to complete work on a given contract changes and impacts your ability to use the DVBEs on your contract and meet your DVBE commitment, you’re required to promptly contact your contract manager and the SBDVBE Advocate at sb_dvbeadvocate@calpers.ca.gov.
  • If, for any reason, the DVBE subcontractor(s) becomes unresponsive, is unable to provide services or commodities, becomes uncertified, provides substandard service, or is unwilling to provide subcontracting services, immediately notify the CalPERS SBDVBE Advocate at sb_dvbeadvocate@calpers.ca.gov (Note: Reference your CalPERS contract number in the email).

• Communicate regularly with the primary contract owner (Prime).
• Save all correspondence between you and the Prime and cc the SBDVBE Advocate if needed.
• Follow up via email detailing key takeaways and next steps discussed if conversations are had over the phone or video chat, and cc the SBDVBE Advocate if needed.
• Track all payments received from the Prime, over the lifetime of the contract.
• Continuously monitor your CA certification status and report loss of status to the Prime.
• Immediately notify the CalPERS SBDVBE Advocate at sb_dvbeadvocate@calpers.ca.gov if any of the following instances arise:
  • Prime becomes unresponsive.
  • You’d like to be removed from a contract for any reason.
  • You’d like to report program abuse by the Prime vendor or another subcontractor.

Prime vendors are required to utilize the DVBE subcontractor(s) listed on the original DVBE Contract Participation Form submitted with their proposal (often, this is Attachment G). If for any reason, the original DVBE(s) needs to be changed, the Prime must formally request an amendment by emailing the CalPERS SBDVBE Advocate at sb_dvbeadvocate@calpers.ca.gov. Provide the following information:

• Contract No.
• LOE No. (if applicable)
• Prime Vendor Name(s)
• Prime Vendor Email Address(es)
• DVBE Commitment %
• DVBE Subcontractor Name(s)
• Description of the Situation / Reason for Amendment

The advocate will respond with a detailed list of everything needed to request an amendment. Once all the materials are received, the advocate will review, verify, and allow the original vendors a chance respond to the amendment. If the Sub(s) approve, the advocate will reach out and let you know the amendment is approved. If the Sub(s) do not approve, the advocate will do a more thorough investigation before officially deciding whether to approve or deny the amendment request.

In very special circumstances, a DVBE exemption may be granted for individual Letters of Engagement (LOEs) under an awarded SFP contract given contract if it’s determined and confirmed by the CalPERS SBDVBE Advocate that there's no opportunity for DVBE subcontracting. To request an LOE exemption, Primes should contact their contract manager and the SBDVBE Advocate at sb_dvbeadvocate@calpers.ca.gov to start the process. Make sure to include the reasoning for requesting the exemption and the Statement of Work (SOW) in the email.

Note: Simply searching for a DVBE and being unable to locate one on your own is not considered a valid reason for failing to meet your DVBE commitment. Additionally, not meeting your DVBE commitment because you weren’t awarded more than one LOE is also not a sufficient reason for failing to meet your DVBE commitment. Proactive communication and engagement are essential to fulfilling this requirement.

If, after working with the SBDVBE Advocate, it's determined there's no opportunity for subcontracting with a DVBE, then an exemption could be granted.

Micro Business Exemptions

Prime vendors with an active micro business certification from the State of California can choose to opt out of DVBE participation on the DVBE Contract Participation form.

However, if the Prime does not opt out, they are required to meet the DVBE commitment agreed to in the contract for each LOE received. They cannot decide to opt out of DVBE participation using the MB exemption on individual LOEs later on.

How DVBE Exemptions Work for Letters of Engagement (LOE)

Vendors with an SFP contract who have been awarded an official LOE are required to commit the DVBE percentage indicated on their contract to the DVBE(s) listed on their DVBE Contract Participation Form for the total contract value for each LOE.

For example, if a vendor has two LOEs under the same SFP contract number, and both LOE #1 and LOE #2 have a value of $5,000, the total contract value is $10,000. This means the Prime must pay their selected DVBE(s) 5% of the $10,000 total. However, the vendor is required to achieve 5% DVBE participation on each LOE, making the total DVBE payout for each LOE $250.

If an LOE exemption is approved, it's important to note the exempted amount must be made up on a future LOE under the same SFP contract.

In this case, using the example, if LOE #1 is exempted, the vendor is still required to pay 5% of $10,000. This means the vendor would need to pay the following from LOE #2 to be compliant:

• 5% of the total value of LOE #2
• 5% of the total value of LOE #1

However, it's important to note that LOEs are not guaranteed. So, if you exempt a LOE, and no additional LOEs are received, you'll be contractually incompliant at the end of the contract term, and subject to penalties including fines, possible program abuse violations, possible suspensions from contract opportunities with CalPERS, etc.

For this reason, DVBE exemptions requested at the LOE level should only be considered as a last option.

Access the DVBE Exemption Examples (PDF), to review compliant and non-compliant LOE exemption scenarios.