You cannot bid a federal construction contract without an active registration in the System for Award Management, SAM.gov. FAR 4.1102 requires offerors to be registered in SAM when they submit an offer, with narrow exceptions such as some purchase-card buys and emergency awards. The SAM provision used in solicitations, FAR 52.204-7, requires you to be registered when you submit the offer and again at the time of award, and the maintenance clause, FAR 52.204-13, requires you to keep the registration current through final payment.
Registration costs nothing. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's guidance on paid SAM assistance puts it plainly: SAM is a free-to-use federal website, there is no cost to register, and help with registration is free. GSA tells registrants to allow up to 10 business days after submitting for the registration to become active, on its "Register your business" page last updated July 22, 2024. Errors and validation problems can make it take longer.
An earlier version of this article was written as a first-person account and included a 42-day registration, a $2,400 fee paid by a named San Antonio drywall contractor, a paving contractor who lost a $1.4 million task order, and fee ranges for third-party registration firms. We could not verify any of those, and they have been removed. It also stated the 8(a) sole-source threshold as $4.5 million; the current competitive threshold for non-manufacturing work under FAR 19.805-1 is $5.5 million.
What SAM.gov registration is
The Unique Entity ID
SAM.gov is the federal government's vendor registration system. When you register, SAM assigns you a Unique Entity ID (UEI), a 12-character alphanumeric identifier, according to SBA's contracting guide. The UEI replaced the Dun & Bradstreet DUNS number. GSA announced on March 16, 2022 that SAM.gov and other GSA systems would switch to the UEI as the authoritative entity identifier on April 4, 2022, and stop using DUNS numbers. If a checklist still tells you to get a DUNS number first, it is out of date.
You can request a UEI without completing a full registration. That is enough for some purposes, such as reporting as a subawardee, but not for bidding. To submit offers on federal contracts you need a full entity registration.
What "registered" means
FAR 52.204-7 defines being registered in SAM as meeting four conditions:
- You have entered all mandatory information, including the UEI, your Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code and the data required under the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act.
- You have completed the Core, Assertions, Representations and Certifications, and Points of Contact sections.
- The government has validated the mandatory fields, including validation of your Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) with the IRS.
- The record is marked "Active."
Until all four are done, you are not registered for bidding purposes.
What you need before you start
GSA's registration page lists the information to have ready:
- Your Taxpayer Identification Number.
- Any CAGE codes already assigned to you.
- Financial and banking information for electronic funds transfer, which is how the government pays you.
- The NAICS codes that best describe your business.
You will also need a SAM.gov user account, which uses Login.gov for sign-in, and your legal business name and physical address exactly as they appear in IRS and state records. SAM.gov links an Entity Registration Checklist from its registration page.
Where registrations get stuck
Name, address and TIN mismatches
SAM validates your entity against outside records and your TIN against the IRS. The simplest way to avoid delays is to make sure your legal business name, TIN and physical address match exactly across your IRS records (your EIN confirmation letter or most recent return), your state business registration, and what you type into SAM. Punctuation and abbreviations count. Fix a mismatch at the source, with the IRS or the state, before you submit.
Wrong purpose of registration
SAM asks what kind of awards you are registering for. Contractors who want to bid on contracts need a registration that covers contracts, not one limited to federal assistance (grants and loans). Check this before you submit; an assistance-only registration will not let you bid.
Representations and certifications
The representations and certifications section is where you state your size status for each NAICS code and answer the standard FAR certifications. A registration is not complete without it, and the answers carry legal weight. Read each question.
The notarized letter
Most registrants never need a notary. GSA still uses a notarized letter in one situation: appointing an Entity Administrator for an existing registration when no administrator is available to do it. In a Federal Register notice published November 9, 2021, GSA described the letter as one in which an officer or other signatory authority formally appoints the administrator, submitted electronically to the Federal Service Desk. GSA tied the requirement to a GSA Inspector General investigation of bad actors who had impersonated legitimate entities in SAM.
This is the scenario to avoid: the only person with administrator access to your registration leaves the company. Keep at least two people in your company with administrator access, and update roles whenever someone leaves.
NAICS codes and size standards
Construction NAICS codes
Construction is NAICS sector 23, split three ways:
- 236 Construction of buildings, including 236220 commercial and institutional building construction.
- 237 Heavy and civil engineering construction, including 237110 water and sewer line construction and 237310 highway, street and bridge construction.
- 238 Specialty trade contractors, including 238160 roofing, 238210 electrical and 238220 plumbing and HVAC.
List every code you can legitimately perform. Each solicitation names one NAICS code, and your size status is measured against that code.
Size standards decide set-aside eligibility
Under 13 CFR 121.201, as published on eCFR for October 1, 2026, the size standard is $45.0 million in average annual receipts for 236220 and 237310, and $19.0 million for most specialty trade codes, including 238160, 238210 and 238220. A firm can be small under one code and large under another. If your average receipts sit between those two numbers, you can compete in small business set-asides under building and heavy civil codes but not under most specialty trade codes.
Under 15 U.S.C. 644(g), the government-wide goal is at least 23% of prime contract dollars to small businesses each fiscal year, with separate goals for service-disabled veteran-owned, HUBZone, small disadvantaged and women-owned small businesses. Getting your size status right in SAM is how you get into those set-asides.
Keeping your registration active
Renew every 365 days
SAM.gov says you must renew your registration every 365 days to keep it active. Renewal is not automatic and goes back through validation, so start well before the expiration date. Set two calendar reminders a few months and a few weeks ahead, and assign one person to own it.
The timing matters because FAR 52.204-7 requires registration when you submit an offer and at award, and FAR 52.204-13 requires you to keep it current through final payment. Agencies pay through the banking information in SAM, so an expired or incorrect registration can hold up payments on jobs you already have.
Update when things change
Update SAM when your bank account, address, ownership, points of contact or size status changes. A wrong routing number will not stop the registration from going active, but it will stop your payments.
Ignore anyone who charges for it
Registration, renewal and updates are free on SAM.gov. USDA's guidance warns that if you receive an email from a company claiming to represent SAM and asking you to pay, be cautious, and it recommends against using a paid service. Free help is available from the Federal Service Desk (FSD.gov) and from APEX Accelerators, the program formerly known as Procurement Technical Assistance Centers. The official site ends in .gov.
After your registration goes active
Set up searches
Agencies must post notices of proposed contract actions expected to exceed $25,000 on SAM.gov Contract Opportunities under FAR 5.101. Save searches by NAICS code, place of performance and set-aside type, and turn on email alerts. Buildermuse's free federal construction bid board pulls the same notices and lets you filter by state, such as Texas federal construction bids.
Read the market research notices too. Sources sought and requests for information are how contracting officers decide whether to set work aside, so a short capability statement can change who gets to bid. When a real solicitation appears, our guide on how to read a federal construction solicitation covers what to check first.
Research buyers
USAspending.gov shows federal awards by agency, recipient, NAICS code and place of performance. Look at which agencies near you award work in your codes and at what size before you spend time marketing.
Line up bonding early
Federal construction contracts over $150,000 require performance and payment bonds under FAR 28.102-1, and a required bid guarantee must be at least 20% of the bid price, capped at $3 million, under FAR 28.101-2. If you have never been bonded, setting up a surety relationship takes time. Our construction bonding guide explains how it works, and SBA's Surety Bond Guarantee program covers contracts up to $9 million non-federal and $14 million federal, according to SBA.
Consider SBA certifications
If you qualify, SBA's 8(a), HUBZone, women-owned and service-disabled veteran-owned programs open additional set-asides. Under FAR 19.805-1, 8(a) construction requirements above $5.5 million are generally competed among 8(a) firms, while smaller ones can be awarded sole source. HUBZone firms also get a 10% price evaluation preference in full and open competitions under FAR 19.1307. Each program has its own application through SBA, and an active SAM registration is part of every one.
For the full bidding process, see how to bid federal construction contracts.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does SAM.gov registration cost?
Nothing. Registration, renewal and updates on SAM.gov are free. USDA's guidance on paid SAM assistance says there is no cost to register and that help with registration is free through the Federal Service Desk and local procurement assistance centers. Anyone charging a fee is a private company, not the government.
How long does SAM.gov registration take?
GSA says to allow up to 10 business days after you submit your registration for it to become active. Mismatches between your SAM entries and your IRS or state records, or problems with entity validation, can add time. You can sign in and check status at any point after submitting.
Do I still need a DUNS number?
No. On April 4, 2022, SAM.gov and other GSA systems switched to the Unique Entity ID as the authoritative identifier and stopped using DUNS numbers, per GSA. SAM assigns your UEI, a 12-character alphanumeric ID, when you register.
How often do I have to renew?
Every 365 days, according to SAM.gov. Renewal is not automatic. Start early, because FAR 52.204-7 requires an active registration when you submit an offer and at award, and FAR 52.204-13 requires you to keep it current through final payment.
Which NAICS code should a general contractor use?
Most general contractors bidding commercial and institutional buildings use 236220, which has a $45.0 million size standard under 13 CFR 121.201. List every code you actually perform, such as 237310 for highway work or 238 codes for specialty trades, which mostly carry a $19.0 million standard.
When do I need a notarized letter?
Rarely. GSA uses a notarized letter when an Entity Administrator has to be appointed for an existing registration and no current administrator is available. Keep at least two administrators on your registration so you never need it.
