SAM.gov - General Instructions and Tips for Registering.docx

General Instructions and Tips for Registering on SAM.gov

For actions at or above $30,000, for work performed outside the United States, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) at FAR 4.11 requires all foreign contractors to be registered in the SAM database prior to award of a contract. Registration is free of charge.

During the registration process you will be assigned a Unique Entity ID – this is a 12-character alphanumeric value which is assigned, managed and owned by the US Federal Government. Sam.gov is the system that assigns it.

If you have not previously registered in SAM.gov, read all instructions below first before you start the registration process in these systems.

Some helpful tips for SAM registration:

Before you start, please read all the instructions carefully.

1. Request an NCAGE Code

Prior to registering in SAM, you need to request an NCAGE code.

Go to the NCAGE Request Tool at https://www.nato.int/structur/ac/135/welcome.htm and click on “Online NCAGE Request”, then on “Request New”

Please note: All the information you enter here MUST be IDENTICAL to what you enter when registering on SAM.gov, or the SAM system will not accept the registration. We suggest saving all the information which you enter for NCAGE into a Word document and copying and pasting your information from there into SAM.

· Please DO NOT enter any periods or special characters anywhere in the form, including a + or ( ) in the phone number. Invalid characters include > < ( ) # % { } + ;

THE ACCEPTED FORMAT FOR THE TELEPHONE NUMBER IS : 0027-0121234567

· You cannot have unequal spacing between words in the primary contact information fields. Be very precise when entering all data.

· The address has to be written using the English spelling and not local spelling with characters or symbols on the letters

2. Registering on SAM.gov

Go to www.sam.gov and click on “Get Started” to set up your SAM.gov user account.

A registration allows you to bid on government contracts and apply for federal assistance. You will be asked whether you want to Register, or only get a Unique Entity ID.

Please select the option to Register for “All Awards” and as part of your registration, you will be assigned a Unique Entity ID.

You do not have to register for a DUNS number- the UEI has replaced the DUNS number, but you must register for a NCAGE number.

When you request a UEI, your company/organization’s legal business name and address will be validated and it requires assertions, representations, certifications and other information about your business. Validation is a verification that your organization is what you say it is and it is used to verify the existence and uniqueness of an entity.

The difference between only getting a UEI and registering your entity for “All Awards”, is that a registration allows your organization the opportunity to receive a contract or assistance directly from the US Federal Government. You must register your entity when you want to bid on Federal contracts as a prime contractor.

Only after a SAM registration is completed and fully validated can a vendor be considered to have a current, active registration in SAM.

When registering in SAM, overseas vendors should keep in mind that SAM is used to register for U.S. Federal Government business opportunities, therefore many of the questions asked are from the U.S. point of view.

For example:

· When SAM asks whether the vendor is a small business, this refers only to small businesses based in the U.S. Foreign vendors are always considered to be “other than small” or “large.”

· Only fill in the Tax ID number if it is a U.S. Tax ID number. Otherwise, leave it blank.

Please refer to the documents titled “Entity Registration Checklist” and “SAM Entity Registration walk-though, All Awards” when completing your registration.

Video: (235) How to Register for a UEI - YouTube Video: (235) Entity Registration and Entity Management - YouTube Video: (235) Validating Your Entity in SAM.gov - YouTube Video: (235) Entity Registration - Core Data - YouTube Video: (235) Role Requests and Assignments - YouTube These documents and videos have useful information to guide you through the registration process and also indicate which questions are for U.S Vendors only, which are for non-U.S. Vendors and which questions are optional.

The SAM.gov website also has helpful information and guidance.

To check the status of your registration, sign in to the SAM.gov webpage and go to the “Workspace” widget at the top right-hand corner of the screen.

Keep monitoring your emails to check the status of your validation/registration.

Keep your SAM Registration current and active:

The SAM registration is valid for 1 year only and must be renewed annually in order to stay active. It is therefore advisable to keep your usernames and passwords somewhere safe and to share this information with more than one person.

If you lose the login details, or the person who originally did the registration did not share the login details with anyone else, you may battle for weeks trying to get access to your account.

It’s also a good idea to list at least 2 people as company contacts and to assign Administrator roles to both. The roles are assigned as part of the registration process, but can also be updated later. This will ensure that there is always at least one person who can manage your SAM registration, should the other one be on leave, or has left the company.

You do not need to update your SAM.gov entity registration unless it is expiring soon, or your information has changed.

If you do not update and renew your registration annually, it will expire and you will no longer be eligible for contracts or grants exceeding $30 000.00, until your registration is active again.

Please keep us updated on your progress and forward your Unique Entity ID as soon as you receive it.

image3.png image4.png image1.png image2.png