Vendor, awardee, recipient, and subcontractor roles
How to interpret organization roles such as vendor, awardee, recipient, prime contractor, subcontractor, grantee, subrecipient, parent, and consortium member in GovTribe.
GovTribe uses Vendor data type records for organizations that appear in government-market data. The field name tells you the organization's role on a specific record.
Quick model
| Role | Meaning | Use when asking |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | The organization profile GovTribe stores. | What organization is this? |
| Awardee or recipient | The organization directly awarded a prime contract, IDV, grant, or assistance record. | Who won or received the prime award? |
| Prime contractor or prime grantee | The upstream prime organization on a reported sub-award. | Which prime reported or passed through the work? |
| Subcontractor or sub-grantee | The downstream organization on a reported sub-award. | Who received downstream work or pass-through funding? |
| Parent of awardee | Corporate or parent organization context tied to the awardee. | What larger organization is associated with the awardee? |
| Primary consortium member | A vendor role used when source context identifies a leading member of a consortium. | Which consortium member should I treat as the primary participant? |
Which field should I use?
| Question | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Who won this contract award, IDV, or grant award? | awardee or awardee_name | This is the direct award party on prime award-style records. |
| Who received a grant or assistance award? | awardee on grant award records. | GovTribe uses the shared vendor relationship for grant recipients as well as contract awardees. |
| Who is the prime on a reported subcontract? | prime_contractor | This is the upstream prime contractor on federal contract sub-awards. |
| Who is the subcontractor? | sub_contractor | This is the downstream subcontractor on federal contract sub-awards. |
| Who is the prime recipient on a grant sub-award? | prime_grantee | This is the upstream grant recipient or pass-through entity. |
| Who is the subrecipient? | sub_grantee | This is the downstream recipient on federal grant sub-awards. |
| What vendor profile should I join to? | The linked Vendor data type record, often by govtribe_id or uei when available. | The role field explains the relationship, while the vendor record stores organization identity and enrichment. |
GovTribe field mapping
| GovTribe field | Appears on | Role |
|---|---|---|
awardee | Federal contract awards, federal contract IDVs, federal grant awards, federal transactions. | Direct awardee or recipient. |
awardee_name | State and local contract awards and IDVs. | Source-provided awardee relationship. |
parent_of_awardee | Federal contract awards, IDVs, and grant awards. | Parent organization context for the direct awardee. |
primary_consortia_member | Federal contract awards and IDVs. | Primary consortium participant when available. |
prime_contractor | Federal contract sub-awards. | Prime contractor reporting or associated with downstream subcontracting. |
sub_contractor | Federal contract sub-awards. | Downstream subcontractor. |
prime_grantee | Federal grant sub-awards. | Prime grant recipient or pass-through entity. |
sub_grantee | Federal grant sub-awards. | Downstream grant subrecipient. |
Official source notes
- USAspending Federal Spending Guide distinguishes prime awards from sub-awards and explains recipient and award-spending concepts.
- SAM.gov entity registration and UEI explains entity registration, Unique Entity IDs, and when an organization may need only a UEI.
- GSA Unique Entity ID guidance identifies UEI as the federal award identifier of record across IAE systems.
- SAM.gov Contracting covers contract opportunities, awards, and subcontract reports in SAM.gov.
Related articles
- Vendor data type: Review the organization record used for vendors, awardees, recipients, and suppliers.
- Vendor attribute: Review the shared relationship attribute used by organization role fields.
- Federal contract sub-award: Review reported subcontracting records.
- Federal grant sub-award: Review reported pass-through assistance records.
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