SBA size standard
600 employees
Measured by average number of employees over the last 24 months
SBA table effective March 2023
Official definition
This U.S. industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing measuring and controlling devices (except search, detection, navigation, guidance, aeronautical, and nautical instruments and systems; automatic environmental controls for residential, commercial, and appliance use; instruments for measurement, display, and control of industrial process variables; totalizing fluid meters and counting devices; instruments for measuring and testing electricity and electrical signals; analytical laboratory instruments; irradiation equipment; and electromedical and electrotherapeutic apparatus).
FY2025 federal spending
The Department of Defense bought 78% of the $735.5M obligated under 334519 in FY2025.
- Contract awards
- 9,342
- Contract vehicles (IDVs)
- 574
Top buying agencies
- Department of Defense$571.5M
- General Services Administration$79.8M
- Department of Commerce$22.1M
- Department of Transportation$21.5M
- Department of Justice$13.0M
FY2025 federal contract obligations, USAspending.gov
NAICS 334519 obligated $736 million in FY2025 across 9,342 contract awards. DoD is $572 million, GSA $80 million, Commerce $22 million, DOT $21 million, DOJ $13 million. The GSA share is notable for an instrument code and reflects test and measurement equipment moving through schedule catalogs rather than program buys, which is the most accessible path into this code for a commercial manufacturer.
What belongs here
Measuring and controlling devices that fall outside the named instrument industries: not search and navigation systems, not residential and commercial environmental controls, not industrial process instruments, not totalizing fluid meters, and not electricity test instruments.
- Electricity and electrical signal test instruments are 334515.
- Laboratory analytical instruments are 334516.
- Radar, sonar, and navigation systems are 334511.
Competing in this code
574 IDVs support 9,342 awards at an average near $79,000, which is catalog volume. The 600-employee size standard is among the lowest employee-based standards in the manufacturing sector, which means the small business pool here really is small manufacturers. Calibration traceability is the practical differentiator: federal buyers of measuring devices increasingly require NIST-traceable calibration certificates delivered with the instrument, and manufacturers who ship that documentation by default win repeat orders from technicians who do not want to source it separately.
NAICS 334519 FAQ
What is the SBA size standard for NAICS 334519?
SBA sets it at 600 employees, counted as a 24-month average headcount across your company and every affiliate, not revenue. At or under that number you are small on NAICS 334519 solicitations and eligible for the set-asides in this code.
Which agencies buy measuring and controlling devices under NAICS 334519?
FY2025 obligations: DoD ($572 million), GSA ($80 million), Commerce ($22 million), DOT ($21 million), DOJ ($13 million). GSA's $80 million is schedule catalog buying, and it is the most accessible entry point for a commercial instrument manufacturer.
How is NAICS 334519 different from 334515?
334515 is specifically instruments that measure and test electricity and electrical signals: multimeters, wattmeters, continuity testers, semiconductor test equipment. 334519 is everything else in measuring and controlling that no named instrument industry covers. The two codes obligated $455 million and $736 million respectively in FY2025 and reach different buyers.
What makes an instrument competitive on federal catalog buys?
NIST-traceable calibration documentation shipped with the unit. Federal technicians increasingly need that certificate for their own quality programs, and sourcing it separately is a burden. Manufacturers who include it by default see repeat orders in a code where the average FY2025 award was near $79,000.