The Federal Highway Administration moves money at a scale most agencies cannot match. FHWA distributes roughly $48 billion per year in federal-aid grants to state departments of transportation, and those state DOTs turn around and contract with construction firms, engineering consultants, surveyors, environmental specialists, and technology vendors to build and maintain the national highway system. If your business touches infrastructure in any serious way, FHWA is worth understanding well.
This guide explains what FHWA actually buys, which set-asides apply, how to register, and where to find the opportunities that most small businesses miss.
What FHWA actually buys
FHWA's direct procurement budget is modest compared to the grant flow. The agency's own contracts cover IT systems, program support, research, policy analysis, and administrative services. Most of the real infrastructure spend passes through state DOTs via formula grants under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), signed in November 2021, which authorized $550 billion in new infrastructure spending over five years.
For your business, the practical spend categories break down into two buckets.
Direct FHWA contracts (awarded by FHWA's contracting officers in Washington, D.C., and 52 field offices) cover: - Management and program analysis - IT support and software development - Engineering and technical studies - Environmental compliance consulting - Training and technical assistance
Contract sizes at the direct level run from small purchases under $250,000 to multi-year task order contracts in the $5–25 million range. FHWA uses BPAs and IDIQs frequently, so a single vehicle award can generate multiple task orders over several years.
State DOT subcontracting (the larger bucket) is where construction, design, and civil work actually happens. When a state DOT receives federal-aid highway funds, federal rules under 23 CFR Part 230 require the state to maintain a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program. That means prime contractors on federally funded highway projects must make good-faith efforts to subcontract work to DBE-certified firms. This is statutory, not voluntary, and it survived the 2024–2025 DEI rollbacks because it is rooted in civil rights law, not executive discretion.
Primary NAICS codes for FHWA work
Three codes cover most of the contracting activity relevant to small businesses:
237310 – Highway, Street, and Bridge Construction. This is the core construction code for road building, paving, grading, and bridge work. If you do ground-up highway construction or major rehabilitation, this is your primary code.
541330 – Engineering Services. FHWA and state DOTs use engineering firms for design, inspection, traffic engineering, geotechnical analysis, and construction management. This code covers the bulk of professional services spending on highway projects.
237990 – Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction. Retaining walls, drainage systems, noise barriers, and specialty civil work that does not fit cleanly into 237310 falls here.
Beyond these three, watch for 541620 (environmental consulting), 541512 (computer systems design), and 561210 (facilities support services) if your business works in adjacent areas.
How to register and get into the vendor ecosystem
Start with SAM.gov. Every vendor seeking a federal contract must be registered and active in the System for Award Management. Registration is free. Your UEI (Unique Entity Identifier) lives in SAM, and it is what contracting officers use to look you up. An expired SAM registration disqualifies you from award.
Once registered, set up a capability profile in SBA's Dynamic Small Business Search (DSBS). Contracting officers and prime contractors use DSBS to find small business subcontractors, and it costs nothing to maintain a profile. Spend time on the narrative fields; generic descriptions get ignored.
For work with state DOTs on federally funded highway projects, you need a separate DBE certification through the relevant state DOT. Each state runs its own Unified Certification Program (UCP) as required by 49 CFR Part 26. You apply directly to the state DOT in the state where your principal place of business is located. DBE certification is free. Processing times vary by state, from six weeks to six months.
DBE eligibility is based on personal net worth (under $1.32 million per the current threshold), business size (under $26.29 million gross receipts for most categories), and ownership by individuals who are socially and economically disadvantaged under the federal definition. African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Asian Pacific Americans, and women are presumed disadvantaged. Others can apply with evidence.
Set-aside and diversity opportunities
At the direct FHWA contracting level, the standard federal small business set-asides apply. Acquisitions between $10,000 and $250,000 are automatically set aside for small businesses. Above that threshold, contracting officers evaluate whether a set-aside is appropriate. FHWA uses 8(a) set-asides, HUBZone set-asides, WOSB/EDWOSB set-asides, and SDVOSB set-asides on eligible procurements.
The more consistently applied diversity mechanism is the DBE program on state-administered federal-aid projects. DBE contract goals are set on individual projects, typically between 10% and 25% of total contract value depending on the state and the availability analysis. Prime contractors who win those projects are contractually obligated to meet the goal or document good-faith efforts.
FHWA also administers the Minority Business Enterprise program separately from DBE at the state level through the Office of Civil Rights. If your state DOT has a state-funded DBE program that runs in parallel, you may need both a federal DBE certification and a state-level MBE or WBE certification. Check with your state DOT's civil rights office for specifics.
Where to find the contracts
Search SAM.gov using your NAICS codes. Set up email alerts for relevant codes so new solicitations reach you before the window closes. Most federal solicitations post for 30 days or fewer; some small purchases post for as little as five days.
For state DOT subcontracting work, go to your state DOT's Office of Civil Rights or the Small Business/DBE office directly. Most state DOTs post federally funded project advertisements with DBE goals on their websites. FHWA's website at fhwa.dot.gov maintains a list of state DBE program contacts by state.
The small business office at FHWA
FHWA sits within the U.S. Department of Transportation. DOT's Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) is your primary point of contact for direct FHWA procurement questions. OSDBU advises small businesses on certification, connects firms with contracting opportunities, and hosts vendor outreach events. Their contact information is on dot.gov/osdbu.
FHWA's own contracting office, the Office of Acquisition Management in Washington, D.C., handles the agency's direct contracts. Field Division Offices also award contracts for locally administered work. Reach contracting staff through the agency's official website rather than cold outreach; most Division Offices post their acquisition plans and forecast data annually.
One practical tip for your first contract
Start with the state DOT, not FHWA headquarters. Direct FHWA contracts are competitive and relatively few. The DBE subcontracting pipeline on federally funded state highway projects is far larger, moves continuously, and has a statutory diversity requirement built in. Get your DBE certification, identify two or three active prime contractors working in your state through state DOT award databases, and contact their supplier diversity or DBE compliance teams directly. Primes have DBE utilization targets to hit. They need certified vendors. A short email with your UEI, your DBE certificate number, your NAICS codes, and your bonding capacity gets read.
After you have one or two subcontract completions documented, go back to SAM.gov and apply for direct FHWA task orders. Past performance on state DOT work counts.
