How to Maintain Your WOSB Certification

Once your firm is certified through the SBA's Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Federal Contract Program, maintaining that status is an ongoing obligation, not a one-time event. The program runs on a three-year cycle anchored by a formal program examination, and missing a deadline can lead to decertification — which removes you from set-aside and sole-source eligibility. This guide walks through what keeps your certification valid.

How long does WOSB certification last before I have to recertify?

Under 13 CFR 127.400, a certified WOSB or EDWOSB must undergo a program examination every three years — conducted by the SBA or an approved third-party certifier three years after initial certification or after the last examination, whichever is later.

You must recertify with the SBA (or notify the SBA of a completed third-party examination) within 90 calendar days of the end of your eligibility period. If you miss that window, the SBA will decertify the firm. There is a narrow reinstatement path if you recertify within 30 days of the period ending.

What do I have to keep true to stay eligible?

Maintenance is mostly about continuing to meet the same eligibility rules you met at certification. If any of these stops being true, your firm may no longer qualify:

• The business stays a small business under the SBA size standard for the NAICS codes in its SAM.gov profile.
• At least 51% remains unconditionally and directly owned and controlled by one or more women who are U.S. citizens (13 CFR 127.200, 127.201).
• The qualifying woman or women continue to manage day-to-day operations and make long-term decisions.
• Your SAM.gov registration stays active, with UEI, EIN, and MPIN matching — and the profile updated at least annually so your Small Business Search listing stays current.

If you hold EDWOSB, the economic-disadvantage tests still apply

EDWOSB firms must continue to meet the economic-disadvantage thresholds for the qualifying owner under 13 CFR 127.203: personal net worth less than $850,000; adjusted gross income of $400,000 or less averaged over the prior three years; and total assets of $6.5 million or less. (These figures took effect December 19, 2022 — older sources citing $750,000 / $350,000 / $6 million are outdated.)

What happens during the three-year program examination?

The program examination verifies that your firm still meets the ownership, control, and (for EDWOSB) economic-disadvantage requirements. In practice, you re-supply the same categories of evidence you provided at certification, refreshed to the current year:

• Proof of U.S. citizenship for the qualifying individuals (birth certificate, naturalization certificate, or unexpired U.S. passport), plus name-change documentation if applicable.
• Current business formation and governance documents — operating agreement, bylaws, shareholder agreements, signed recent meeting minutes electing officers and directors.
• Business tax returns (up to three years, depending on time in business).
• For EDWOSB: three years of personal tax returns and personal financial information supporting the economic-disadvantage thresholds.

See the SBA's document checklist for the current, authoritative list before you assemble your packet.

Does it cost anything to recertify?

No. 13 CFR 127.300 states plainly that there is no cost to apply to the SBA for certification, and the SBA describes MySBA Certifications as its free online process. If you certified through an approved third-party certifier (WBENC, U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce, NWBOC, or the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce), the WOSB certification itself is also provided at no charge — though a certifier's separate proprietary credential, such as WBENC's WBE certification, may carry its own fee.

Is WBENC certification the same thing, and does it renew the same way?

No — and conflating them is a common mistake. WBENC's WBE certification is a corporate supplier-diversity credential aimed at private-sector procurement; it renews annually with a site-visit cycle. The SBA WOSB/EDWOSB certification is the federal contracting credential and runs on the three-year examination cycle. WBENC is one of four SBA-approved third-party certifiers, and a firm applying for WBE can pursue WOSB at the same time — but holding one does not automatically maintain the other. Track each renewal date separately.

Keep your public profiles in sync

Your WOSB status is verified by buyers and contracting officers through the SBA's Small Business Search, so a lapsed or stale profile costs you visibility. The same discipline applies to a private directory listing. Womyn Owned tracks 5,581 SBA-certified WOSB and EDWOSB B2B vendors — of which 1,831 hold EDWOSB and 945 show federal contract activity totaling roughly $2.83 billion in obligations — sourced from the SBA Small Business Search and USAspending.gov. Keeping your certification current is what keeps your listing credible to the buyers searching it.