SAM.gov (System for Award Management)

How It Works

SAM.gov, operated by GSA's Integrated Award Environment, is the single front door for doing business with the federal government. Any organization that wants to receive a federal contract, grant, or other assistance must first register in SAM.gov at no cost. Registration requires providing legal business name, physical address, Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), banking information for electronic funds transfer, NAICS codes, size certifications, and representations and certifications covering roughly 30 statutory and regulatory requirements (e.g., Buy American, non-segregated facilities, lobbying disclosures, debarment status). Each entity receives a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), a 12-character alphanumeric ID that replaced the DUNS Number in April 2022 when the government transitioned away from the Dun & Bradstreet-proprietary system. SAM.gov also hosts Contract Opportunities (the solicitation posting system that replaced FedBizOpps in November 2019), the Exclusions database (listing debarred and suspended entities that agencies must check before any award under FAR 9.404), the Wage Determinations database for Service Contract Act and Davis-Bacon requirements, and the Federal Hierarchy showing every agency code. Registration must be renewed annually or the entity becomes ineligible for new awards. As of 2024 SAM.gov has roughly 750,000 active registrations. SAM.gov fraud (particularly identity theft registrations used to intercept payments by redirecting banking information) has been a focus of GSA IG and Secret Service investigations since 2023, with GSA implementing enhanced multi-factor authentication and notarized Entity Administrator letters to harden the registration process. Contracting officers verify every prospective awardee's SAM.gov status (active registration, no active exclusions, Representations and Certifications on file) before signing any award, under FAR 4.1103 and 9.404.

Related Terms

• NAICS Code, The North American Industry Classification System code, a 6-digit number that classifies a business by the type of economic activity it performs, used to determine small business size standards.
• Competitive Bidding (Full and Open Competition), The standard procurement process where the government publicly solicits proposals from multiple vendors and selects the best offer based on price, quality, and capability.
• USASpending.gov, The official U.S. government website that tracks all federal spending, contracts, grants, loans, and other financial assistance, searchable by agency, recipient, and location.
• Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) / DUNS Number, The 12-character alphanumeric ID that SAM.gov assigns to every entity doing business with the federal government, which replaced the 9-digit DUNS Number in April 2022.
• CAGE Code (Commercial and Government Entity), A 5-character alphanumeric identifier assigned by the Defense Logistics Agency to companies that do business with the federal government, used for contract administration and cataloging.