On Monday, April 4, 2022, SAM.gov and all other General Services Administration (GSA) systems will switch to the new Unique Entity ID (SAM) as the authoritative government entity identifier. This means SAM.gov and other GSA systems will no longer use the DUNS number for identifying entities.
All entities that do business with the government, including any individual, company, or institution, need a way for the government to uniquely identify them. This identifier has been generated by a third party external to the government for many years.
“We’re bringing the entity identification process in-house and getting rid of an extra step,” said Meredith (Memi) Whitehead, deputy assistant commissioner of GSA’s Integrated Award Environment, which manages SAM.gov. “This is just one way GSA is modernizing our systems to support government-wide technology modernization initiatives.”
April 4 transition
Ahead of the April 4 transition, here’s what GSA system users should know:
- SAM.gov will be down for maintenance the weekend of April 1. Users should plan ahead.
- Other GSA systems will be down that weekend as well; more information will be shared on Interact.
- If you are currently registered in SAM.gov (even if your registration is not active), you already have a Unique Entity ID (SAM). Visit SAM.gov to view it now.
- There are actions that some GSA system users need to take prior to April 4, including:
- Update your saved searches in SAM.gov;
- Update your ad hoc reports in SAM.gov; and
- Make sure that sub-awardees get their Unique Entity ID (SAM) before April 4 to make reporting in FSRS.gov easier. Primes should discuss this with their subs directly.
Resources for users
Many resources are available to help users transition to the Unique Entity ID (SAM). Articles, how-to videos, frequently asked questions, and other items are available at both SAM.gov and at the Federal Service Desk, FSD.gov (SAM.gov’s help desk).
“We recognize this new process will be a change for users who have done business with the federal government in the past,” Whitehead explained. “We encourage everybody who will be impacted to become familiar with the changes by using all the resources available on SAM.gov.”
Registered entities in SAM.gov (active or not) have had access to their new Unique Entity ID (SAM) since June 2021. To date, SAM.gov has generated more than 2.5 million unique entity IDs in total, including active and inactive registration records.
How to get a Unique Entity ID (SAM)
- If you are already registered in SAM.gov, you do not need to do anything to get your Unique Entity ID (SAM); you can view it in SAM.gov today.
- If you are a sub awardee who currently requires a DUNS Number for subaward reporting but are not registered in SAM.gov, you need to go to SAM.gov to claim your Unique Entity ID (SAM). You’ll only need to complete a short process to establish your entity affiliation with the new Unique Entity ID (SAM), not a full SAM.gov registration.
If you have questions about the move to Unique Entity ID (SAM), visit SAM.gov and FSD.gov for more information.
