What the registration actually involves, where it tends to stall, and how to get to "Active" without surprises.
Last reviewed on May 12, 2026.
The System for Award Management (SAM.gov) is the federal government's central vendor database. To receive a federal contract, grant, or assistance award, an entity must have an active SAM registration. Registration is free; the only money you should spend on this process is your own time. Third-party "SAM registration services" are not affiliated with the government and are not required.
Three things happen during registration. The system issues a Unique Entity ID (UEI), validates that the legal entity actually exists at the address you claim, and records the representations and certifications (reps and certs) that flow into every solicitation you respond to.
The registration form is long but not difficult. Most people who get stuck were missing one of the items below. Gather these first:
Inside SAM, choose "Get Started" and then "Register Entity." The first action is requesting a Unique Entity ID. The UEI replaced the DUNS number, which is no longer issued by SAM. You will not need to contact Dun & Bradstreet for federal registration anymore — the UEI is issued by SAM directly.
The UEI request triggers entity validation, where SAM compares the legal name, address, and date of incorporation you entered against third-party validation sources. If you receive a message that the entity could not be validated, see the troubleshooting section below.
Core data is the bulk of the form. Plan an hour to fill it in carefully; errors here lead to delays in the validation steps that follow. Sections include:
Assertions describe what your business offers: NAICS codes, products and services, and pricing or fee structure where applicable. You will be asked whether you accept federal credit cards, your geographic service area, and similar marketplace information. This section feeds the SAM vendor search that contracting officers use.
This is the section that has the most lasting effect on your contracting work. Reps and certs answer roughly a hundred FAR-required questions covering ownership, debarment, environmental compliance, labor law compliance, equal opportunity, and similar topics. Most answers are straightforward (yes/no, addresses, statements of compliance). A few common ones to read carefully:
Answers persist year-to-year. Update them whenever your situation changes, not just at annual renewal.
You will designate an Entity Administrator (the person who can change registration data) and other points of contact (electronic business, government business, past performance). The Entity Administrator role is sensitive — anyone with this access can change bank information. Use a person who will remain at the company and keep the role current when employees turn over.
Once submitted, the registration moves through external validation steps:
Most clean registrations reach Active status in 7–10 business days. Registrations with name mismatches or unusual entity types can take longer.
SAM registrations expire every 365 days. An expired registration makes you ineligible for new awards and can hold up payments on existing contracts. Practical maintenance:
An active SAM registration makes you eligible to receive an award. It does not, on its own, generate opportunities, prove past performance, or substitute for set-aside certifications. To compete effectively, layer on:
The UEI is issued by SAM.gov itself — there is no separate application and no fee. You request it during entity registration, and it is assigned once SAM validates your entity's legal business name and physical address against its records. You can also obtain a UEI without completing a full registration if you only need to be identified (for example as a subcontractor or grant sub-recipient), but a UEI alone does not make you eligible for a federal award. The UEI replaced the DUNS number, so any guidance still telling you to obtain a DUNS from a third party is out of date.
Registration moves through entity validation (proving your legal name and address), core data (business types, financial and banking information, and your CAGE code assignment), assertions (NAICS codes, size metrics, and what you sell), representations and certifications (the FAR and DFARS reps, including Section 889), and points of contact. After submission the registration goes through IRS taxpayer identification validation and CAGE code assignment by the Defense Logistics Agency before the status becomes Active.
Plan for weeks rather than days. The data entry itself can be completed in a few hours if you have your information ready, but the government-side validation steps — entity validation, IRS TIN matching, and CAGE code assignment — run on their own timelines. Entity validation is the step most likely to stall, usually because the legal business name or address in SAM does not exactly match the documentation on file. Register well before you need to submit a bid; an inactive registration at the time of award is disqualifying.
Your entity record in SAM.gov shows the registration status and expiration date, and the public entity page can be viewed and printed as evidence. Contracting officers and prime contractors generally verify status directly in SAM rather than accepting a document from you, so the practical answer to "send me proof of active registration" is usually to give them your UEI and CAGE code so they can check the record themselves.
Yes — registration must be renewed annually, and it lapses if you miss the date. A lapsed registration makes you ineligible for award and can interrupt payment on contracts you already hold. Renewal is not automatic and the reminder emails go to the addresses on file, so keep your points of contact current and diarize the expiration date independently rather than relying on the notifications.
No. Registration, the UEI, and renewal are all free and can be completed by the business itself at SAM.gov. Third-party firms that charge for registration are selling a service, not access — some are legitimate consultants, others are misleading. There is no paid tier, no expedited option, and no requirement to use an intermediary.
The annual representation under FAR 52.204-26 asks two things: whether your entity provides covered telecommunications equipment or services as part of what it sells (the Part A question), and whether your entity uses such equipment or services (the Part B question). Both are entity-wide, not contract-specific. See Section 889 compliance for what counts as covered equipment and what a "does use" answer means for your eligibility.